Khajuraho
Temples :
Khajuraho is a village in the
Indian state of Madhya Pradesh,
located in Chhatarpur District,
about 385 miles (620 kilometres)
southeast of Delhi, the capital
city of India. One of the
most popular tourist destinations
in India, Khajuraho has the
largest group of medieval
Hindu temples, famous for
their erotic sculpture. The
name Khajuraho is derived
from the Hindi word khajur
meaning date palm.
The city was once the original
capital of the Chandela Rajputs,
a Hindu dynasty that ruled
this part of India from the
10th to the 12th centuries.
The Khajuraho temples were
built over a span of a hundred
years, from 950 to 1050. The
Chandela capital was moved
to Mahoba after this time,
but Khajuraho coninued to
flourish for some time.
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 22 now stand in
a reasonable state of preservation,
scattered over an area of
about 8 square miles (21 km²).
Unlike other cultural centers
of North India, the temples
of Khajuraho never underwent
massive destruction and a
number of them have survived.
They are fine examples of
Indian architectural styles
that have gained popularity
due to their salacious depiction
of the traditional way of
life during medieval times.
They were rediscovered during
the late 19th century and
the jungles had taken a toll
on some of the monuments.
The Khajuraho group of monuments
has been listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. |
Architecture
Khajuraho
temples, constructed with
spiral superstructures, adhere
to northern Indian shikhara
temple style and often to
a Panchayatana plan or layout.
A few of the temples are dedicated
to the Jain pantheon and the
rest to Hindu deities - to
God's Trio, Brahma, Vishnu
and Shiva, and various Devi
forms, such as the Devi Jagadambi
temple. A Panchayatana temple
had four subordinate shrines
on four corners and the main
shrine in the center of the
podium, which comprises their
base. The temples are grouped
into three geographical divisions
: western, eastern and southern
With a graded
rise secondary shikharas (spires)
cluster to create appropriate
base for the main shikhara
over the sanctum. Kandariya
Mahadeva, one of the most
accomplished temples of the
Western group, comprises eighty-four
shikharas, the main being
116 feet from the ground level.
These shikharas - subordinate
and main, attribute to the
Khajuraho temples their unique
splendor and special character.
With a graded rise of these
shikharas from over the ardhamandapa,
porch, to mandapa, assembly
hall, mahamandapa, principal
assembly hall, antarala, vestibule,
and garbhagraha, sanctum sanctorum,
Khajuraho temples attain the
form and glory of gradually
rising Himalayan peaks.These
temples of khajuraho have
sculptures that look very
realistic and are studied
even today. |
Landscape
The Khajuraho temples are
now set in a parkland landscape.
When India gained independence
from Britain in 1947 the landscape
setting was semi-desert and
scrub. The archaeological
park now has something of
the character of an English
public park, with mown grass,
rose beds and ornamental trees.
This may be popular with visitors
but has no relationship with
the historic landscape at
the time the temples were
built. The development of
landscape archaeology as an
academic discipline raises
questions concerning the landscape
of archaeology of Khajuraho
and the original relationship
between the temple complex
and the surrounding area.
There are no records of what
the original landscape might
have been but it is known
that a large community of
priests used the temple complex
and that Indian gardens in
the tenth century were predominantly
tree gardens. They did not
have lawns or herbaceous flowering
plants. |
