The Majestic Temples of Khajuraho

 

The temples of Khajuraho are some of the grandest of ancient India. A cluster of around 10 temples comprising the "Western Group of Temples" lie in close proximity inside a well-maintained archaeological park, and they can be covered in an evening's outing at a leisurely pace. 

Most of these temples were built by the rulers of the Chandela Dynasty between the 10th and 11th century AD in the "Nagara" style, and marks the culmination of central Indian temple building. Khajuraho has earned a dubious reputation for the erotic sculptures, which constitutes only a tiny fraction of what you see here, but it gets drummed up and magnified in media channels. I  am not sharing the racy content here, for there's plenty of it available online. 

There's also an "Eastern Group" and "Southern Group" of temples in Khajuraho, but they are scattered all over the old town and villages, and requires significantly more time and energy to see. So I had skipped those. Besides, from an architectural perspective, they do not add anything more, and are generally smaller and less ornate than the ones in the "Western Group".

Join me on this photo-journey to some of the most majestic temples of India.

The massive Kandariya Mahadeva Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva - the god of yoga, siddhis, meditation and liberation - stands next to the smaller Jagadambi Temple dedicated to his wife Parvati, the goddess of strength, protection, fertility and abundance. 

The Kandariya Mahadeva is the largest and loftiest temple of Khajuraho built in the Nagara style. It has three entrance halls (mandapas) leading to the inner sanctuary (garbagriha) which contains the idol and lies beneath the highest temple spire (shikhara). 

A beautifully carved makara-torana (arched gateway with makara motif) frames the entrance.

The lion-warrior (i.e. a warrior battling a lion) was the symbolic emblem of the Chandela dynasty.

The pillar capitals are carved with dwarfs (yakshas), also known as bharavahakas i.e. load-bearers, who support the temple beams with their hands. This motif appears in sacred architecture across the world, and suggests an important role played by the dwarfs in temple building.

Looks like this god got bored in his little niche and wants to leave.

Kandariya Mahadev Temple and Jagadambi Temple

The Visvanatha Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is regarded as the finest and best preserved specimen of Chandela architecture. The white stone temple adjacent to it is the Parvati Temple.

The Parvati Temple - a simple, elegant stand-alone temple with exquisite carvings on the door lintel.

An enormous, monolithic Nandi bull - the vahana of Shiva - looks towards the Visvanatha Temple from the Nandi pavilion.

The Nandi Pavilion is a square pavilion with twelve pillars and a pyramidal roof.

The Pratapeshwar Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, was built much later, in the late 18th century, in the medieval architectural style. The three spires (shikhara) of the temple have different designs - dome-shaped, pyramidal and nagara pattern.

The Lakshmi Temple and the Varaha Temple.

A colossal, monolithic, sandstone sculpture of Varaha - the boar avatar of Lord Vishnu.

The body of Varaha is carved with images of various celestial beings.

The Lakshmana Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu in his form as the three-headed Vishnu-Vaikuntha, having a human central head and side heads of boar and lion.

A beautifully carved makara-torana ( i.e. arched gateway with makara motif) above the entrance to the Lakshmana temple. 

The Chitragupta Temple dedicated to Surya, the sun god.

 

That's it for this photo journey. I hope you enjoyed the photographs of these magnificent monuments. 

I know that many Indian families avoid going to Khajuraho because the media has led them to believe that the place is crawling with erotic sculptures depicting all kinds abnormal behavior. Far from it! You have to literally hunt around to find these carvings, and most people wouldn't even notice them, since they are so high up. 

So, leave aside your worries and do visit this remarkable place if you get a chance. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site for a reason.