Madhya Pradesh - Tourism - Khajuraho @ whatisindia.com

Khajuraho
Khajuraho, once the great Chandela capital, is today a village of about a few thousand people in the interiors of central India, in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Tradition records the existence of eighty five temples, of which only twenty five, strewn amidst lakes and fields, have survived. The temples at Khajuraho, brilliant examples of medieval Indian architecture, were built under later Chandela kings between AD 950 and AD 1050. Each ancient structure in India has a fascinating story to tell. But few match the temples of Khajuraho.

How to get there
Air: Indian Airlines services connect Khajuraho with Delhi.
Rail: Jhansi (175 Km.) and Satna (117 Km.) are the two convenient railheads to visit Khajuraho from Bombay, Delhi & Madras. However Harpalpur (110 Km,) is the nearest railhead to visit Khajuraho.
Road: Khajuraho is connected with major tourist centres by good motorable roads. Some important distances from Khajuraho are: Agra (395 km), Allahabad (285 km), Bandhavgarh (237 km), Bhopal (372 km) Chitrakoot (176 km), Delhi (590 km), Jabalpur (296 km) Lucknow (267 km) and Varanasi (415 km)

The history
The name Khajuraho derives from the khajur or date palm trees that once surrounded the huge Khajurvahaka Tal. Legend has it that one sultry summer night, Hemvati, the widowed daughter of a minister of the King of Benaras, was bathing in the lake when the Moon God Chandrama saw here and was entranced by her beauty. The son born out of their union was Chandravarman who grew up to found the Chandela dynasty. In order to atone for his mother's lapse, he raised temples that celebrated the union of Purush and Prakriti, man and nature, as the source of all life and creation.

Chandela Rajputs rose to power during the early 10th century AD in the land known as Jajhauti, now Bundelkhand. From being local feudatories of the Partiharas of Kannauj, they rose to become a major power in northern India. They were great patrons of the arts and equally great builders. From 12th century onward, the other rival power of central India and Muslim invaders like Mahmud Ghazni whom the Chandelas had kept at bay, began reasserting themselves. Al-Biruni, the chronicler of Mahmud Ghazni, mentions Jajhauti with 'Kajuraha' as its capital.

Construction and Architecture
Temple construction continued sporadically until the 12th century. Far removed from the political centre of the kingdom, its location minimized the danger of external attack, making Khajuraho te Chandelas' spiritual homeland. In 1335 Ibn Batuta talks about 'Kajarra' with a great pond, flanked by temples containing idols and ascetics with matted locks living in them.

The earliest temples of Khajuraho were built in coarse granite. However, the most famous ones - including the World Heritage monuments known as the Western Group of temples - are mostly built in fine-grained buff, pink and pale yellow sandstone, quarried from neighboring Panna. The temples belong to different religious sects like Shaiva, Vaishnava and Jain and mark the culmination of the northern Indian or Nagara style of temple architecture.

A typical Khajuraho temple sits upon a lofty stone terrace called the adisthana or jagati, over which rise the jangha or walls of the inner compartments. It also has canopied windows with balconies to admit air and light into the interior. The roof comprises turrets of varying heights, culminating in the tall and graceful curvilinear shikhara suggesting rising mountain peaks.

The Khajuraho temples are almost all aligned east to west, with the entrance facing east. A profusely carved arch leads to the oblong porch or ardhamanapa, behind which is the large assembly hall or mandapa, open on three sides, followed by the still larger hall mahamandapa, a closed hall with a corridor around it. This hall finally leads into the vestibule or the antarala. Beyond this is the garbhagriha or sanctum, entered through another ornate doorway, that houses the cult deity.

The larger temples have both inner and outer ambulatory passages or sandharas. And some have subsidiary shrines on the four corners making the structure a panchayatna or five shrined complex. Both the interiors and the exterior are beautifully carved. A series of friezes runs right round the temple, from the basement to the projections and the recesses of the walls above. The inside walls, doorways, pillars, pilasters, niches, architraves and ceilings all display a wealth of ornamentation which has few parallels.

The sculptors of Khajuraho have show immense virtuosity in expressing the myriad aspects of Indian life - god and goddesses, guardians of the quarters, sensuous and graceful apsaras (nymphs), surasundaris (attendants of higher divinities), salabhanjikas (tree nymphs) in infinite moods and postures.

Themes of passion and sensuality
It is the amorous couples of Khajuraho, appearing mostly on the panels of the sandhara temples, that have drawn maximum attention. Their gestures and expressions pulsate with life and exhibit great passion, sensitivity, joy and warmth.

Traditionally, love or kama, symbols of life and creation, had religious sanction as one of the aims of pursuits of life, along with dharma or piety and artha or economic pursuit. The full attainment of all three leads to moksha or salvation. Depictions of mithuna or loving human couples were seen as auspicious signs of fertility that would ward off evil and bestow great merit on the builder when used in architecture.

The existing temples of Khajuraho can be divided into three groups, Western, Eastern and Southern. The famous Western group, designated a World Heritage site, is enclosed within a beautifully laid-out park. The Lakshmana and Vishvanath temples to the front and the Kandariya Mahadev, Jagdambi and Chitragupta temples at the rear, showcase the best of Khajuraho.

The Eastern Group
This group of temples is situated around Khajuraho village. It includes the 9th century Brahma Temples standing on the banks of Ninora lake, with a four-faced Shiva linga that is commonly mistaken for Brahma, the god with four faces. To the northeast of the Brahma Temple is the beautiful Vamana Temple dating to AD 1050-75, dedicated to the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu. It is famous for its graceful figures and exquisite chaitya arches. Two hundred metres south is an architectural gem, the Javari Temple dedicated to Vishnu. Its ornate gateway, the makara torana, and slender shikhara are especially noteworthy.

The neighboring Ghantai Temple (named for the chain the bell motifs carved on its tall pillars) is a Jain temple. Only an entrance porch and a mahamandapa with a flat ornate ceiling survive. Southeast stand some more Jain templs; Adinath, Parshvanath and the only functional Jain shrine, the Santinath Temple, with a colossal image of Tirthankara Adinath. The Parshavnath is one of the best temples, not only in the group but in Khajuraho. Built during King Dhanga's reign, it is a solid structure with graceful sculpture with graceful sculpture dedicated to the first Jaina Tirthankara. It displays superb figures of Hindu gods and goddesses and some of the loveliest celestial beauties.

The Western Group
Lakshmana Temple is closest to the entrance of the complex. Various incarnations of the Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi and the planets can be seen on the sanctum doorway. Popular legends from Krishna's life are engraved on the walls. One of the main niches enshrines a three-headed and four-armed image of Vishnu.

The temple boasts the largest number of aspara brackets. Two bands of sculpture sporting a profusion of erotic scenes run around the temple. On the subsidiary shrine at the southwest corner, one can see an architect working with his students and this is conjectured to be the temple's designer.

Vishvanath Temple to the northeast is another finely developed temple built by King Dhanga in early 11th century. The sanctum once enshrined two Shiva lingas, one of emerald and the other of stone, but only the latter remains. Facing the temples is a pavilion with a colossal Nandi bull, Shiva's favored vehicle. The sculpted bands on the walls show seven mother goddesses with Ganesha and Virbhadra. To the southwest of the main shrines stands a small Parvati temple.

Towards the rear of the Western Group stands the largest and most impressive temple of Khajuraho - Kandariya Mahadev. Although its subsidiary shrines have long disappeared, the central shrine is in superb condition. It has the loftiest plinth and the largest number of projections and recesses. The lofty shikhara towers to a height of 31 metres. Both the interior and the exterior are exquisitely carved with figures of gods and goddesses, warriors and musicians, hunters and mythical animals, as well as the famed images of sexual union that have intrigued visitors through the ages. Stone figures of sensual celestial maidens and nubile beauties appear here in great profusion, as do erotic figures of men and women. On the same plinth stands a small Shiva temple.

Reference:
http://www.tourismofindia.com/

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