As I stood watching them in awe, there were several questions on my mind… why build so many temples? Who were the artists who built them? What are the erotic sculptures doing on their walls? Were these from the Kamasutra?
I was overwhelmed by the huge mountain-like monuments, with each square inch of their surface covered with the most exquisite artistry in stone. It was simply poetry in stone!
Kandariya Mahadev Temple
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| Kandariya Mahadev Temple |
The largest among the surviving temples is the Kandariya Mahadev temple. It gets its name from the word kandara which means cave. According to historian Devangana Desai there are about 646 figures on the exterior of this temple and 226 on its interior.
The temples of Khajuraho were built between 900 and 1150
AD during the rule of the Chandela dynasty.
Travellers of the medieval period had interesting accounts of Khajuraho.
However, by the 16th century, Khajuraho had vanished into oblivion.
It was only in the 19th century (in 1838) that Khajuraho was re-discovered
by a British engineer, Captain T.S.Burt.
For the sake of convenience, the Khajuraho Monuments have
been divided into three groups – Western Group, Eastern, Group and Southern Group
The Devi Jagadamba Temple, like the Kandariya Mahadev
Temple is part of the Western Group of Monuments.
According to eminent art historian Devangana Desai, the Devi Jagadamba Temple was originally dedicated to Vishnu. She points out that this fact is known from the central image of Vishnu on the door lintel of its sanctum. Now however, the temple houses an image of the Devi who is worshipped by locals on festive occasions. The “yagna kunda” for rituals was added by the Maharaja of Chhatrapur in the mid-nineteenth century.
We often associate
Khajuraho with just erotic sculptures... But Khajuraho is much more than just
that... In fact the erotic sculptures are barely less than 10% of the exquisite
artistry of the monuments.....
Part of the main Western Group of temples is the magnificent and colossal Lakshmana Temple. According to historian Devangana Desai, this is one of the most refined and well-planned temples, not only in Khajuraho but in all of India. It enshrines a rare and esoteric form of Vishnu called Vaikuntha. This majestic image with three faces – lion, man and boar, stands four feet tall.
The architect of this temple was the first to place erotic groups on the juncture wall of the ‘mahamandapa’ and the sanctum. In a kind of visual pun, he has put conjoint figures on this architectural juncture. Other puns have also been employed by the architect. There are many such gems of information hidden in these marvellous monuments…
Varaha Pavillion
According to Hindu
mythology “Varaha” or wild boar is one of the ten incarnations of lord Vishnu. Vishnu
in the form of “varaha” enters the primeval waters and lifts the Earth (“Bhudevi”)
from the nether region.
The Varaha sanctuary,
facing the Lakshmana Temple, is an open pavilion with a
pyramidical roof. It enshrines India’s most powerful icon of Varaha. The
massive boar measuring almost 3 by 2 meters is carved out of a single piece of
solid sandstone. The canopy has an exquisite lotus ceiling. More than 675
miniature figures are carved into the body of the Varaha. They depict all the
important divinities of Hinduism. In fact, the Varaha or boar himself
represents the cosmic form or “Vishwaroopa” embodying all beings. There was
also an image of the Earth goddess (“Bhudevi”) which is now missing. Only her
feet can be seen attached to the pedestal.
Devi Temple
There is another small
structure adjacent to the Varaha pavilion facing the colossal Lakshmana Temple.
It now contains an image of goddess Brahmani, but it originally housed
Vishnu's mount Garuda, the solar bird.
Vishwanath Temple
This is one of the three grand temples of Khajuraho (the others being Laskshmana and Kandariya Mahadev). It has a long inscription stating that King Dhangadev (who built this temple in 999 AD) installed an emerald ‘linga’ along with another in stone. This precious linga was however, already missing by 1864. It is important to note here that the inscription mentions the name of the architect, Sutradhar Chhichchha, who was well-versed in the architectural tradition of Vishvakarma. It was heartening to see this as the architects and artists of our magnificent monuments don’t even find any mention anywhere. Another thing that is significant here is that this is the only temple at Khajuraho that has its Nandi Mandapa (pavillion of the Nandi or bull mount of Shiva) intact. A magnificent Nandi sits facing this temple.
Originally the Vishwanath temple was also five-shrined like the Lakshmana temple, but now only two subsidiary shrines survive.
Chitragupta temple
The only Surya (Sun) temple on this site is the Chitragupta temple. This temple is also part of the Western group. The icon of Surya stands seven feet tall. This statue too has been vandalised as are so many others on this site.
Pratapeshwar Temple
This temple was built during the reign of Raja Pratap
Singh of Chhatrapur state between 1784 and 1854. Built in medieval
architectural style it is devoid of any ornamentation and is unlike any of the other
Khajuraho temples.
The temple is an interesting conglomeration of three architectural
styles. It has a Rajputana dome in the front, a pagoda style shikhara in the
middle and a typical Brahminical shikhara at the back.
It enshrines a small ‘shivlinga’.
Located some distance from the main Western Group of monuments is the Southern group which comprises Chaturbhuj Temple and Dulhadev Temple.
Chaturbhuj Temple
This temple faces the west, unlike most of the
Khajuraho temples which are east oriented. The temple has an unusual ascetic
form of Vishnu in its sanctum. It is truly of the most majestic images I’ve
seen in Khajuraho. Standing 9 feet tall this charming image standing in
“tribhanga”, decorated with beautiful ornaments is Chaturbhuj or “the
four-armed one”.
Some restoration has been done to the exterior of this
temple. Some rare images such as one of goddess Narasimhi with a lion’s face
and human body and a magnificent Ardhanareshwar can be seen in the niches.
Dulhadev Temple
Chronologically this is the last of Khajuraho’s great
temples. It is markedly different from the others in style and architecture.
Here the figures have sharper features and angular postures and are heavily ornamented.
The name Dulhadev refers to local tribal myth of
Dulhadev who is wedded and slain amidst marriage celebrations as part of
fertility rituals. Such amazing stories lay hidden amongst these magnificent
monuments!
Ten minutes from the main Western Group of monuments
lies the Eastern group. Among this group are the Brahma, Vamana and Jawari as
well as the Jain group of temples. There is also a statue of Hanuman considered
part of the Eastern group. It now stands inside a white washed structure that
was recently built. This image coated with red lead, is still worshipped by
locals.
Brahma Temple
This is a humble little temple situated on a pretty
spot next to the Khajur Sagar lake. Actually this temple is wrongly attributed
to Brahma as it presently has a four-faced Shiva Linga. The temple was
originally dedicated to Vishnu. There is an image of Vishnu on the lintel to
indicate this. Also, the temple doesn’t have the usual sculptural adornment on
its walls.
In the midst of fields stand the Vamana and Javari temples.
Vamana Temple
(a Vishnu shrine)
Dedicated to the Vamana (dwarf) incarnation of Vishnu this temple has a cute chubby image of Vamana! This is an interesting temple as not many temples are dedicated to this form of Vishnu. However, Khajuraho was a major centre for the worship of Vamana. According to historian Devangana Desai, a brick complex excavated in the late 1990s, to the north of this temple has yielded exquisite statutes of Vamana.
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Part of the Eastern group, the Jain Temples comprise
of Adinath, Parshavnath and Shantinath Temples.
Parshavnath
This is the largest among the Jain temples. According
to historian Devangana Desai, this temple was originally dedicated to Adinath,
the first Thirthankara, but the present image of Parshavnath was installed in
1860 when some renovation work was undertaken.
Adinath
This is a single-spired temple. The crisp chaitya-arch
designs on the spire create interesting light and shade effects.
This is the principal site of Jain worship at
Khajuraho. The temple complex has several small shrines and consists of
components from older temples and sculptures. These small shrines were built
into a composite structure only about a hundred years ago. There is a 14 feet
tall, polished statue of Shantinath within the main sanctuary.
It was therefore heartening to read prolific Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand's book, 'Homage to Khajuraho'. An excerpt :
