Khajuraho is one of the World Heritage sites declared by UNESCO. The place is connected by railway service from Delhi. However, it is accessible via Satna. The name is belived to be derived from the Khajura tree (in the past there were many date palm trees in Khajuraho).

King Chandraburman started to build temples according to his mother’s dream all over and later during 950 -1050AD the Chandela Kings built some 85 temples made of sandstone in Indo Aryan style in Khajuraho. King Yashoburman had created the structures for most of the temples. The city was the cultural capital of Chandela Rajputs, a Hindu dynasty that ruled this part of India from the 10-12th centuries. The political capital of Chandelas was Kalinjar. The Khajuraho temples were built over a span of 200 years, from 950 to 1150. The Chandela capital was moved to Mahoba after this time, but Khajuraho continued to flourish for some time. Khajuraho has no forts because the Chandela Kings never lived in their cultural capital.

The whole area was enclosed by a wall with eight gates, each flanked by two golden palm trees. There were originally over 80 Hindu temples, of which only 25 now stand in a reasonable state of preservation, scattered over an area of about 20 square kilometres (8 sq mi). Today, the temples serve as fine examples of Indian architectural styles that have gained popularity due to their explicit depiction of sexual life during medieval times.

Lord Vishnu, the creator and Shiva, the Lord of destruction are the idols in those temples. Muslim invasion in the 11^th century was responsible for the defeat of warrior kings of Chandela dynasty and after the downfall of their empire Khajuraho lost its glory. For more than 600 yrs Khajuraho had to remain buried under swamps & jungles, a lost city swallowed by the elements. British survey team discovered Khajuraho in 1819 while surveying the area. Khajuraho was unearthed in 1923 by gradual excavation. The immortal sculptures of 22 temples, curved by skillful artists still remind us the motto of Indian heritage ‘Love the Universe’. The temples of Khajuraho are specimens of the Nagara style of temple architecture. The custom of Devdasi was in vogue in Khajuraho. Ken River, 20 km away, supplied sandstones for Khajuraho. The sculpture of clothes, ornaments, hair-style, nail-polishing & make-up etc are extraordinary.

The Bindiya mountain surrounds Khajuraho are divided into 3 parts: Western, Eastern & Southern. The cluster of temples spread over 13sq km.

August to March is the best time to visit Khajuraho or it will be either too hot or too rainy. Temperature is 42 -21º C in summer and 27 -4º C in winter.

In the Western block tourist enjoy poetry on stone depicted by Kandariya Mahadeva, Lakshman, Viswanath, Chitragupta and Devi Jagadamba. The temples are built on high platform and these are like Urushingha or high spire type. Generally the temples of Khajuraho are divided into 5 parts: entering through Ardha Mandap you have to cross Mandap and then come to the Maha Mandap. After Antaral there is Garbhagriha – the seat of God. Around the deity is Pradakshina or link lines and passages. Some are only 3 divisions without Mandap and Pradakshina.

The new attraction of Khajuraho is the Khajuraho Dance Festival which runs for a week in the evening. Masters from all the States and audience from home & abroad join the festival.

The Western Cluster of Temples: 12 temples constitute the Western Group surrounded by Mahua garden from the east to west, as if a row of ships made of stone. Lakshman Burman (930 -950 AD) father of Dhang founded the 98x45 ft Lakshman Temple in Kandariya style. At the entrance there is Lakshmi Devi, to the left Brahma –the lord of creation, to the right is Shiva –the lord of destruction, Rahu, 9 Gods representing 9 planets, episodes of Krishna, tug of war between Gods and Demons for the pitcher of nectar –all these tales from Purana and epics were depicted. The 10 incarnations of Vishnu are also visualised on the other side of the entrance in a panel painting. Opposite Lakshman temple there is Lakshmi Temple. Beside it there is Baraha Temple built in 900 AD. There the statue of 8¾ ft long and 5¾ ft high statue of the Baraha, 3^rd of the 10 incarnations of Vishnu, is curved out of single stone, and 674 images of Hindu Gods and Goddess are curved on the Baraha Temple. Kandariya Mahadeva Temple has a 31m high spire built in 1017 -29, is the biggest and highest in Khajuraho and is the beautiful creation of Chandel art. Mahadeva Temple built in 11^th century, without deity in the midst of Kandariya and Jagadambi Temples. Devi Jagadambi Temple (75x52 ft) the pyramid shaped situated to the north of Kandariya built in the early 11^th century before Kandariya under the patronage of Dhang’s son Gandadev in 1027. A little to the north of Jagadambi there is east facing Chtragupta or the Sun Temple. The temple is 77x150 ft and built in 4 sections – Ardhamandap, Mahamandap, Antaral and Courtroom. To the N-East of Chitragupta is Vishwanath Temple built by Chandela King Dhangdeb in 1002. There are 602 figures in the temple. On the premises face to face with Vishwanath, there is a 2.2m high Nandi Temple and to the South-West of Vishwanath Temple is the Parvati Temple.

On the outskirts of the Western Group and annexed south of Lakshman Temple there is Matangeswar Temple built in 900 -925 AD. The only temple without artwork, but the 2½ m idol of Shiva is worshipped daily. To the south of Western Group there is the sacred Shiv Sagar or Lake. To the S –West of Sagar there is Chausat Jogini Temple (820 -900 AD) oldest in Khajuraho and is made of granite stone. There is a lake Kharju Sagar to the east of the village.

Southern Group : Southern Group of Khajuraho Temples consists of Duladeo and Chaturbhuj. Duladeo Temple is 1½ kn to the south of Main Square, Duladeo means newly married woman. 1½ km from Duladeo and 4 km from the west on way to airport there is the spire type Chaturbhuj Temple (1100 AD) with 3 m high, 4 armed image of Dakshina-image or Vishnu is wonderful.

Eastern Group : Temples near Khajuraho village 1 km from the western circuit were built in 2 parts. 3 of them are Hindu at different points and 3 are of Jain in same premises. On the way from west to east there is a new temple of Hanuman, the great follower of Ram. The temple is new but the image of 2½ m is as old as 922 AD. To the S-East of Ghantai is situated the Adinath Temple of Jain faith. Adjacent to Adinath to the south there is Parswanath Temple, built in the middle of the 10^th century is the largest of all the Jain temples. The Santinath Temple underwent a through renovation but the 4½ m high idol of the 16^th Jain Tirthankar Santinath is as old as 1028 AD. On the way to the village from Eastern Group of Jain temples there is the temple, Ghantai Temple. Crossing the village there is the Jabari (Jawar means Vishnu) Temple (1075 -1100 0 with 4 armed Vishnu. 200 m to the north of Jabari is the Bamana Temple which was founded between 1050 -75 AD. To the S –West of Ninoratal or Kharju Sagar is the Brahma Temple made of granite and sandstone from 900 AD with a linga image of 4 faced Brahma or some say it is of Lord Shiva.

One can also visit the hilly fortress or Rajnagar Palace built in the 19^th century and further north (19km) is the Raja waterfalls.

Kalinjar Fort : 100 km to the north of Khajuraho, 280 km from Jhansi and 67 km from Chitrakoot in Bundlekhand of Bindya Mountain region, is situated Kalinjar Fort, of the Gupta period. One has to ascend the flights of steps to the top of the hillock 375 m high of Kalinjar Fort through the main gate. The Fort went under the control of Chandela Kings from 9 -15^th century and in 1182 Chauhan Rajputs took control defeating Chandel Kings. Akbar captured the fort in 1569 and gifted to Birbal. The fort transferred to Haradev Shah of Panna from Birbal and then to Marathas in 1732 and finally to the British in 1812. Legend goes that the inspiration of Khajuraho architecture came from Kalinjar Fort.

About the art:

The Khajuraho temples do not contain sexual or erotic art inside the temple or near the deities; however, some external carvings bear erotic art. Also, some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. There are many interpretations of the erotic carvings. They portray that, for seeing the deity, one must leave his or her sexual desires outside the temple. They also show that divinity, such as the deities of the temples, is pure like the atman, which is not affected by sexual desires and other characteristics of the physical body. It has been suggested that these suggest tantric sexual practices. Meanwhile, the external curvature and carvings of the temples depict humans, human bodies, and the changes that occur in human bodies, as well as facts of life. Some 10% of the carvings contain sexual themes; those reportedly do not show deities, they show sexual activities between people. The rest depict the everyday life of the common Indian of the time when the carvings were made, and of various activities of other beings. For example, those depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians, potters, farmers, and other folks. Those mundane scenes are all at some distance from the temple deities. A common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities.

Another perspective of these carvings is presented by James McConnachie. In his history of the Kamasutra, McConnachie describes the zesty 10% of the Khajuraho sculpture as "the apogee of erotic art": "Twisting, broad-hipped and high breasted nymphs display their generously contoured and bejeweled bodies on exquisitely worked exterior wall panels. These fleshy apsaras run riot across the surface of the stone, putting on make-up, washing their hair, playing games, dancing, and endlessly knotting and unknotting their girdles....Beside the heavenly nymphs are serried ranks of griffins, guardian deities and, most notoriously, extravagantly interlocked maithunas, or lovemaking couples."

While the sexual nature of these carvings has caused the site to be referred to as the Kamasutra temple, they do not illustrate the meticulously described positions. Neither do they express the philosophy of Vatsyayana's famous sutra. As "a strange union of Tantrism and fertility motifs, with a heavy dose of magic" they belie a document which focuses on pleasure rather than procreation. That is, fertility is moot.

Dr. Devangana Desai points out that there is a misunderstanding regarding representation of homosexuality in Khajuraho sculptures. It is not depicted in Khajuraho sculptures. There are two sculptures mistaken as gay figures-

1. The much talked about scene, often misunderstood as depicting lesbian love, is the head-down sculpture on the north wall of the Vishvanatha temple of the site. The top figure whose back is seen in the panel looks like a woman, but is actually a man, whose genitals can be seen from below. The figure is mistaken for a woman because of the hair tied in a bun at the back, which was a male hair style prevalent in medieval India.

2. The other, often misunderstood sculpture is on the south wall of the Devi Jagadamba temple. Here a bearded Shaiva (Kapalika) ascetic threatens a nude Kshapanaka monk to join his religious order, by holding his organ and raising his other hand to hit him. The monk is shown with folded hands as if surrendering. These figures represent two characters of the allegorical play Prabodhachandrodaya, staged in the Khajuraho region in the 11th century. There is no gay relationship involved in the sculptural scene.

The strategically placed sculptures are "symbolical-magical diagrams, or yantras" designed to appease malevolent spirits. This alamkara (ornamentation) expresses sophisticated artistic transcendence over the natural; sexual images imply a virile, thus powerful, ruler.

Between 950 and 1150, the Chandela monarchs built these temples when the Tantric tradition may have been accepted. In olden days, before the Mughal conquests, when boys lived in hermitages, following brahmacharya until they became men, they could learn about the world and prepare themselves to become householders through examining these sculptures and the worldly desires they depicted.

While excavating Khajuraho, Alex Evans a stone mason and sculptor recreated a stone sculpture less than 4 feet that took about 60 days to carve. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. These temples would have required hundreds of highly trained sculptors. [Source: wikipedia]

Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 January 2010 21:38