Khajuraho
Encyclopedia
The Khajuraho Group of Monuments in Khajuraho , a town in the Indian state
of Madhya Pradesh
, located in Chhatarpur District
, about 620 kilometres (385 mi) southeast of New Delhi
, are one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu
and Jain temple
s, famous for their erotic sculpture. The Khajuraho group of monuments has been listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
, and is considered to be one of the "seven wonders" of India.
The name Khajuraho, ancient "Kharjuravāhaka", is derived from the Sanskrit
words kharjura = date palm
and vāhaka = "one who carries".
of Madhya Pradesh
, located in Chhatarpur District
, about 620 kilometres (385 mi) southeast of New Delhi
, the capital city of India
.
One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu
and Jain temple
s, famous for their erotic sculpture. The Khajuraho group of monuments has been listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
, and is considered to be one of the "seven wonders" of India.
In the 19th century, British engineer T.S. Burt arrived, followed by General Alexander Cunningham. Cunningham put Khajuraho on the world map when he explored the site on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of India and described what he found in glowing terms
The name Khajuraho, ancient "Kharjuravahaka", is derived from the Sanskrit
word kharjur meaning date palm
.
, Khajuraho had a population of 19,282. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Khajuraho has an average literacy rate of 53%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 62%, and female literacy is 43%. In Khajuraho, 19% of the population is under 6 years of age.
, called Dhundhar
, and were referred to as Dhundhel or Dhundhela in ancient times, for the region they governed. Later on they called themselves Bundela
s and Chandela
s; those who were in the ruling class having gotra
Kashyap
were definitely all Bargujars; they were vassals of Gurjara - Pratihara empire of North India, which lasted from 500 C.E. to 1300 C.E. and at its peak the major monuments were built. The Bargujars also built the Kalinjar
fort and Neelkanth Mahadev temple, similar to one at Sariska National Park, and Baroli, being Shiva
worshippers
The city was the cultural capital of Chandela
Rajput
s, a Hindu dynasty that ruled this part of India from the 10-12th centuries. The political capital of the 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 Chandel 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. Locals living in the Khajuraho village always knew about and kept up the temples as best as they could. They were pointed out to an Englishman in late 19th century but the jungles had taken a toll on all the monuments.
The temples are grouped into three geographical divisions: western, eastern and southern.
The Khajuraho temples are made of sandstone. The builders didn't use mortar: the stones were put together with mortise and tenon
joints and they were held in place by gravity. This form of construction requires very precise joints. The columns and architraves were built with megaliths that weighed up to 20 tons.
These temples of Khajuraho have sculptures that look very realistic and are studied even today.
The Saraswati
temple on the campus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science
, Pilani
, India, is modeled after the Khajuraho temple.
| Sequence
| Modern name
| Original Deity
| Note
|-
| 1
| Chausath Yogini
| 64 Yoginis
| Est 9th c.
|-
| 2
| Brahma
| Brahma
| Eastern group
|-
| 3
| Lalgun Mahadev
| Shiva
| Contemp to 2
|-
| 4
| Matangeshwar
| Shiva
| In active worship
|-
| 5
| Varaha
| Varaha
|
|-
| 6
| Lakshman
| Vaikuntha Vishnu
| Lakshavarma Inscription
|-
| 7
| Parshvanath
| Adinath
| Pahil inscription 954 AD, Jain Compound
|-
| 8
| Vishvanath
| Shiva
| Dhanga inscription Sam 1059
|-
| 9
| Devi Jagadambi
| Initially Vishnu but today Parvati
|
|-
| 10
| Chitragupta
| Surya
|
|-
| 11
| Kandariya Mahadeva
| Shiva
| Largest
|-
| 12
| Vamana
| Vamana
| Eastern Group
|-
| 13
| Adinath
| Jina
| Jain compound
|-
| 14
| Jawari
| Vishnu
| Eastern group
|-
| 15
| Chaturbhuja
| Vishnu
| Southern
|-
| 16
| Duladeo
| Shiva
| South end
|-
| 17
| Ghantai
| Jina
| Only some columns remaining
|}>
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 folk. 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 bejewelled 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 have 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.
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 recording the television show 'lost worlds' for the history channel at Khajuraho Alex Evans, a contemporary stonemason and sculptor gave his expert opinion and forensically examined the tool marks and construction techniques involved in creating the stunning stonework at the sites. He also recreated a stone sculpture under 4 feet that took about 60 days to carve in an attempt to develop a rough idea how much work must have been involved. 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.
The development of landscape archaeology
as an academic discipline raises questions concerning the earlier landscape 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.
and the second one in Hindi
. The show is about an hour long and covers the history, philosophy and the art of sculpting of these temples. It is held in the open lawns in the temple complex.
The Khajuraho Dance Festival, held every year in February/March, is an opportunity for visitors to experience various classical Indian dances set against the backdrop of the Chitragupta or Vishwanath Temples.
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, located in Chhatarpur District
Chhatarpur District
Chhatarpur District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The town of Chhatarpur is the district headquarters.-Geography:Chattarpur district located at 24.06° & 25.20°N 78.59° & 80.26° E respectively...
, about 620 kilometres (385 mi) southeast of New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, are one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Jain temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s, famous for their erotic sculpture. The Khajuraho group of monuments has been listed as a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, and is considered to be one of the "seven wonders" of India.
The name Khajuraho, ancient "Kharjuravāhaka", is derived from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
words kharjura = date palm
Date Palm
The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...
and vāhaka = "one who carries".
Town
Khajuraho is a town in the Indian stateStates and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, located in Chhatarpur District
Chhatarpur District
Chhatarpur District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The town of Chhatarpur is the district headquarters.-Geography:Chattarpur district located at 24.06° & 25.20°N 78.59° & 80.26° E respectively...
, about 620 kilometres (385 mi) southeast of New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, the capital city of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Jain temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s, famous for their erotic sculpture. The Khajuraho group of monuments has been listed as a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, and is considered to be one of the "seven wonders" of India.
In the 19th century, British engineer T.S. Burt arrived, followed by General Alexander Cunningham. Cunningham put Khajuraho on the world map when he explored the site on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of India and described what he found in glowing terms
The name Khajuraho, ancient "Kharjuravahaka", is derived from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
word kharjur meaning date palm
Date Palm
The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...
.
Geography
Khajuraho is at 24.85°N 79.93°E. It has an average elevation of 283 metres (928 feet).Demographics
India censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Khajuraho had a population of 19,282. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Khajuraho has an average literacy rate of 53%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 62%, and female literacy is 43%. In Khajuraho, 19% of the population is under 6 years of age.
History
Some Bargujar Rajputs moved eastward to central India; they ruled over the Northeastern region of RajasthanRajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, called Dhundhar
Dhundhar
Dhundhar is a historical region of Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the districts of Jaipur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, and Tonk and the northern part of Karauli District...
, and were referred to as Dhundhel or Dhundhela in ancient times, for the region they governed. Later on they called themselves Bundela
Bundela
The Bundelas are a Rajput clan of Chattari lineage who ruled several states in central India, in Bundelkhand region from the 16th century.The Bundelas are the most prominent Rajputs hailing from Central India...
s and Chandela
Chandela
The Chandela is a Rajput clan found in North India. A section of the Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region of central India for long periods between the 10th and the 13th centuries AD. The Chandela dynasty is famous in Indian history for King Vidyadhar, who repulsed the attacks of Mahmud...
s; those who were in the ruling class having gotra
Gotra
In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...
Kashyap
Kashyap
Kashyapa was an ancient sage , who is one of the Saptarshis in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Bharadwaja...
were definitely all Bargujars; they were vassals of Gurjara - Pratihara empire of North India, which lasted from 500 C.E. to 1300 C.E. and at its peak the major monuments were built. The Bargujars also built the Kalinjar
Kalinjar
Kalinjar is a fortress-city in the Bundelkhand region of central India. Kalinjar is located in Banda District of Uttar Pradesh state, near the temple-city and World Heritage Site of Khajuraho. The fortress is strategically located on an isolated rocky hill at the end the Vindhya Range, at an...
fort and Neelkanth Mahadev temple, similar to one at Sariska National Park, and Baroli, being Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
worshippers
The city was the cultural capital of Chandela
Chandela
The Chandela is a Rajput clan found in North India. A section of the Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region of central India for long periods between the 10th and the 13th centuries AD. The Chandela dynasty is famous in Indian history for King Vidyadhar, who repulsed the attacks of Mahmud...
Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
s, a Hindu dynasty that ruled this part of India from the 10-12th centuries. The political capital of the Chandelas was Kalinjar
Kalinjar
Kalinjar is a fortress-city in the Bundelkhand region of central India. Kalinjar is located in Banda District of Uttar Pradesh state, near the temple-city and World Heritage Site of Khajuraho. The fortress is strategically located on an isolated rocky hill at the end the Vindhya Range, at an...
. The Khajuraho temples were built over a span of 200 years, from 950 to 1150. The Chandela capital was moved to Mahoba
Mahoba
Mahoba is a city and Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in the Bundelkhand region. Mahoba is known for its closeness to Khajuraho, Laundi and other historic places like Kulpahar, Charkhari, Kalinjar, Orchha, and Jhansi...
after this time, but Khajuraho continued to flourish for some time. Khajuraho has no forts because the Chandel 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. Locals living in the Khajuraho village always knew about and kept up the temples as best as they could. They were pointed out to an Englishman in late 19th century but the jungles had taken a toll on all the monuments.
Architecture
The Khajuraho temples are made of sandstone. The builders didn't use mortar: the stones were put together with mortise and tenon
Mortise and tenon
The mortise and tenon joint has been used for thousands of years by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood, mainly when the adjoining pieces connect at an angle of 90°. In its basic form it is both simple and strong. Although there are many joint variations, the basic mortise and tenon...
joints and they were held in place by gravity. This form of construction requires very precise joints. The columns and architraves were built with megaliths that weighed up to 20 tons.
These temples of Khajuraho have sculptures that look very realistic and are studied even today.
The Saraswati
Saraswati
In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
temple on the campus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, is a private university located in Pilani, Rajasthan, India. BITS Pilani is considered one of the most prestigious and selective universities in India...
, Pilani
Pilani
Pilani is a small town situated in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. It is in the Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, India. It notable for being the home of a large number of education institutes for its size.-Etymology:...
, India, is modeled after the Khajuraho temple.
Chronology
The temples have been assigned the following historical sequence by Dr. Kanhaiyalal Agrawal.| Modern name
| Original Deity
| Note
|-
| 1
| Chausath Yogini
| 64 Yoginis
| Est 9th c.
|-
| 2
| Brahma
| Brahma
| Eastern group
|-
| 3
| Lalgun Mahadev
| Shiva
| Contemp to 2
|-
| 4
| Matangeshwar
| Shiva
| In active worship
|-
| 5
| Varaha
| Varaha
|
|-
| 6
| Lakshman
| Vaikuntha Vishnu
| Lakshavarma Inscription
|-
| 7
| Parshvanath
| Adinath
| Pahil inscription 954 AD, Jain Compound
Jain temples of Khajuraho
During the Chandella rule, many towns in Bundelkhand including Khajuraho were home to large and flourishing Jain communities. At Khajuraho the Jains apparently lived on the east side of town...
|-
| 8
| Vishvanath
| Shiva
| Dhanga inscription Sam 1059
|-
| 9
| Devi Jagadambi
| Initially Vishnu but today Parvati
|
|-
| 10
| Chitragupta
| Surya
|
|-
| 11
| Kandariya Mahadeva
Kandariya Mahadeva
The Kandariyâ Mahâdeva Temple is the largest and most ornate Hindu temple in the medieval temple group found at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is considered one of the best examples of temples preserved from the medieval period in India...
| Shiva
| Largest
|-
| 12
| Vamana
| Vamana
| Eastern Group
|-
| 13
| Adinath
| Jina
| Jain compound
|-
| 14
| Jawari
| Vishnu
| Eastern group
|-
| 15
| Chaturbhuja
| Vishnu
| Southern
|-
| 16
| Duladeo
| Shiva
| South end
|-
| 17
| Ghantai
| Jina
| Only some columns remaining
|}>
Statues and carvings
The Khajuraho temples do not contain sexual or erotic artErotic art
Erotic art covers any artistic work that is intended to evoke erotic arousal or that depicts scenes of love-making. It includes paintings, engravings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, music and writing.-Definition:...
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
Atman (Hinduism)
Ātman is a Sanskrit word that means 'self'. In Hindu philosophy, especially in the Vedanta school of Hinduism it refers to one's true self beyond identification with phenomena...
, 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 folk. 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 bejewelled 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 have 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.
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
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
tradition may have been accepted. In olden days, before the Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
conquests, when boys lived in hermitages, following brahmacharya
Brahmacharya
Brahmacharya is one of the four stages of life in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts in Hinduism. It refers to an educational period of 14–20 years which starts before the age of puberty. During this time the traditional vedic sciences are...
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 recording the television show 'lost worlds' for the history channel at Khajuraho Alex Evans, a contemporary stonemason and sculptor gave his expert opinion and forensically examined the tool marks and construction techniques involved in creating the stunning stonework at the sites. He also recreated a stone sculpture under 4 feet that took about 60 days to carve in an attempt to develop a rough idea how much work must have been involved. 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.
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 a public park, with mowed 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
Landscape archaeology
Landscape archaeology is the study of the ways in which people in the past constructed and used the environment around them. Landscape archaeology is inherently multidisciplinary in its approach to the study of culture, and is used by both pre-historical, classic, and historic archaeologists...
as an academic discipline raises questions concerning the earlier landscape 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.
Tourism
Khajuraho temple complex offers a well-made light and sound show every evening. The first show is in English languageEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and the second one in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. The show is about an hour long and covers the history, philosophy and the art of sculpting of these temples. It is held in the open lawns in the temple complex.
The Khajuraho Dance Festival, held every year in February/March, is an opportunity for visitors to experience various classical Indian dances set against the backdrop of the Chitragupta or Vishwanath Temples.
Recent discovery
The Archaeological Survey of India has recently started digging on a mound where perhaps the largest underground temple in Khajuraho has been unearthed. The dig will take at least a couple of years to conclude.See also
- IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
the countryCountryA country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously... - Bambar BainiBambar BainiBambar Baini is the regional incarnation of the Devi closely identified with Amba: Her name means "powerful goddess of shakti riding the lion," and she resides on a hill located at town of Laundi...
the famous temple located on a hill in LaundiLaundiLaundi which has been replaced by "Lavkushnagar",is a town/city/tehshil and a nagar panchayat in Chhatarpur district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is about 55 km away from Chhatarpur and 37 km. from the temple town Khajuraho. The Urmil and Kail Rivers flow through this town...
. - Kandariya MahadevaKandariya MahadevaThe Kandariyâ Mahâdeva Temple is the largest and most ornate Hindu temple in the medieval temple group found at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is considered one of the best examples of temples preserved from the medieval period in India...
- HemvatiHemvatiAccording to Hindu legends, Hemvati was a beautiful young woman for whom the famous temples of Khajuraho have been built.The legend goes that she was having a bath in a pool near her house in Benares in the moonlight. Her ravishing beauty so much captured the fancy of the moon god that he could...
- KalinjarKalinjarKalinjar is a fortress-city in the Bundelkhand region of central India. Kalinjar is located in Banda District of Uttar Pradesh state, near the temple-city and World Heritage Site of Khajuraho. The fortress is strategically located on an isolated rocky hill at the end the Vindhya Range, at an...
- BeejamandalBeejamandalBeejamandal is a ruined temple in Khajuraho, that has not yet been fully excaved and explored .Beejamandal is also the name for a ruined temple in Vidisha ....
- Jain temples of KhajurahoJain temples of KhajurahoDuring the Chandella rule, many towns in Bundelkhand including Khajuraho were home to large and flourishing Jain communities. At Khajuraho the Jains apparently lived on the east side of town...
- List of megalithic sites
- Madhya PradeshMadhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
- Bandhavgarh National ParkBandhavgarh National ParkBandhavgarh National Park is one of the popular national parks in India located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968 with an area of 105 km². The buffer is spread over the forest divisions of Umaria and Katni and totals 437 km²...
Further reading
- Phani Kant Mishra, Khajuraho: With Latest Discoveries, Sundeep Prakashan (2001) ISBN 8175741015
- Devangana Desai, The Religious Imagery of Khajuraho, Franco-Indian Research P. Ltd. (1996) ISBN 81-900184-1-8
- Devangana Desai, Khajuraho, Oxford University Press Paperback (Sixth impression 2005) ISBN 978-0-19-565643-5