Khajuraho group of temples

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Recently, the Union Minister of Tourism attended the session on ‘Making Khajuraho–as Iconic Tourist Destination’ in Khajuraho

About Khajuraho group of temples

• Location: Khajuraho is a city of Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu temples and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh
• Khajuraho is known for its wonderful and exquisite architectural temples.
• The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.
• Time period & Dynasty: Most Khajuraho temples were built between 885 AD and 1050 AD by the Chandela dynasty
• Each and every temple architectural styles in Khajuraho defines wrestling, royalty, meditation, spiritual teachings, kinship etc and many arts.
• Major significant attraction of these temples especially  Kandariya temple is erotic sculptures and art

Style of architecture:

• The group of temples of Khajuraho testifies to the culmination of northern Indian temple art and architecture of the Chandella dynasty and they are of high quality of Nagara-style temple architecture.  
• The Khajuraho Group of Monuments demonstrates in layout and physical form, the pinnacle of temple architectural development in northern India. 
• Built in sandstone, each temple is elevated from its environs by a highly ornate terraced platform, or jagati, on which stands the body, or jangha, whose sanctum is topped by a tower, or shikhara, of a type unique to Nagara, where the verticality of the principal spire atop the sanctum is accentuated by a series of miniature spires flanking it, each symbolizing Mount Kailasa, the abode of the Gods.

Plan of temples

• The plan of the temples shows the spatial hierarchy of axially aligned interconnected spaces.
• The temples are entered through an ornate entrance porch (ardhamandapa), which leads to the main hall (mandapa), through which one accesses the vestibule (antarala) before reaching the sanctum (garbhagriha). 
• The main halls of the temples were often accompanied by lateral transepts with projecting windows as well as a circumambulatory path around the sanctum. Larger temples had an additional pair of transepts and were accompanied by subsidiary shrines on the four corners of its jagati.

Sculpture themes: Secular

• The temples of Khajuraho are known for the harmonious integration of sculptures with their architecture. 
• All surfaces are profusely carved with anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic motifs depicting sacred and secular themes.
• Sculptures depicting acts of worship, clan and minor deities, and couples in union, all reflect the sacred belief system. 
• Other themes mirror social life through depictions of domestic scenes, teachers and disciples, dancers and musicians, and amorous couples. 

Some of the important temples among the groups of Khajuraho temples

Adinath Temple(Jain), Matangeshwar temple(Shiva temple & Monument of National Importance), Javari temple (Vishnu), Devi Jagdamba Temple, Chitragupta Temple(dedicated to Sun god Surya), Parsvanath temple(Jain), Chaturbhuj Temple(Vishnu)

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