In the vicinity of the small village of Pawāyā in Madhya Pradesh lie the ruins of Padmāvatī, an important city in ancient times. To date, only one large mound has been excavated at the site, revealing a monumental pyramidal brick structure built in two stages with the earliest phase of construction dating either to the late Nāga or early Gupta period. A temple dedicated to Viṣṇu once crowned the terraces, and although this temple is lost, many interesting and unusual stone and terracotta sculptural fragments survive, most notably an extraordinary lintel once belonging to a gateway of the temple. The aim of this paper is to build up a picture of the architectural form of the terraces and the iconographic themes of the temple. Moreover, insofar as is possible at present, the monument will be situated within its historical context.