KHAJURAHO

KHAJURAHO

KHAJURAHO

THE TEMPLES OF KHAJURAHO ARE DIVIDED INTO THREE GEOGRAPHICAL GROUPS. III. WESTERN, IV. EASTERN, AND V. SOUTHERN GROUPS. \ue000 WESTERN GROUP OF TEMPLES CHAUSATH YOGINI TEMPLE \u2013 KANDARIYA MAHADEO TEMPLE \u2013 DEVI JAGDAMBA TEMPLE \u2013 CHITRAGUPTA TEMPLE \u2013 VISHWANATH TEMPLE \u2013 PARVATI TEMPLE \u2013 LAKSHMANA TEMPLE \u2013 MATANGESHWARA TEMPLE. \ue000 EASTERN GROUP OF TEMPLES BRAHMA TEMPLE \u2013 VAMANA TEMPLE \u2013 PARSVANATH TEMP GHANTAI TEMPLE. \ue000 SOUTHERN GROUP OF TEMPLES DULHADEO TEMPLE \u2013 CHATURBHUJ TEMPLE \u2013 ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEAM. \ue000

KHAJURAHO DERIVES ITS NAME FROM THE KHAJUR TREE (THE DATE PALM TREE) FOUND IN ABUNDANCE IN THE AREA.

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THE TEMPLES ARE SUPERB EXAMPLES OF INDO-ARYEN ARCHITECTURE, BUILT IN THE SHORT SPAN OF A HUNDRED YEARS,UNDER THE GENEROUS AND ARTISTIC PATRONAGE OF THE CHANDELA RAJPUT KINGS OF CENTRAL INDIA IN A TRULY INSPIRED BURST OF CREATIVITY.

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THE TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA, THE KHAJURAHO COMPLEX REMAINS UNIQUE. KHAJURAHO IS LOCATED IN THE FORESTED PLAINS OF MADHYA PRADESH.

KHAJURAHO CITY MAP

Kandariya mahadeo

HISTORY OF INDO - ARYAN ARYAN STYLE STYLE TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

THE INDO ARYEN STYLE ARCHITECTURE WAS AN INSPERATION FROM THE BUDDIST CHAITYA CAVES WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE BEGUN DURING ‘MAURYA’S PERIOD’. THIS MAURYA’S DYNASTY WAS FOUND BY CHANDRAGUPT MAURYA WHICH WAS A PART OF GREAT MAGDHA EMPIRE DURING 321 TO 184 B.C.E. ASHOKA WAS A WELL KNOWN KING OF THIS DYNASTY. NOW AS THESE TEMPLES WAS INSPIRED FROM THE BUDDHIST CHAITYA CAVES,THEY WERE SIMPLE AND WAS KNOWN AS SIMPLE CAVE TEMPLES. ONE OF THE EXAMPLE OF THE SIMPLE CAVE TMPLE IS RUSHI LOMASH CAVE. BUILT DURING MAURYA’S PERIOD. THEN AS A TIME FOLLOWEDTHESE SIMPLE CAVE TEMPLE BECAME MORE SIMPLE AND DECORATIVE. EXAMPLE CAVE TEMPLES AT AJANTA AND ELLORA.WHICH WERE BUILT DURING RASERAKUTA’S,PERIOD. AND THEY BECAME MORE COMPLEX AND SOPHISTICATED DURING GOLDEN AND CLASSICAL AGE.

NOW THIS CLASSICAL AGE CONSISTED OF MANY GREAT EMPIRES LIKE THE GREAT HARSHA EMPIRE WHO RULED NORTH FROM 7th TO 9th CENTURY BEFORE HIS DEATH.FOLLOWED BY PRATIHARAS,MALWA AND PALAS. KING HARSHA IS ALSO CONSIDERED AS THE LAST HINDU KING WHO WAS ABLE TO CONQUER EMPIRE AS LARGE AS AKBAR. CHALUKIYAS AND THE PALLAVAS WHO RULED SOUTH INDIA AND MADE SOME FAMOUS STANDARD INDO-ARYAN STYLE ARCHITECTURE TEMPLES. THEN THE CHOLAS WHO RULED SOUTH FROM 9-12th CENTURY FOLLOWED BY PRATIHARAS WHO RULED NORTH INDIA FROM 6-11 CENTURY. PALAS WHO CONTROLLED BIHAR AND BENGAL FROM 8th TO 12th CENTURY.AND RAJPUTS WHO RULED FROM 6th TO 12th CENTURY. IT IS SAID THAT THIS RAJPUTS EMERGED IN RAJASTHAN IN 6th CENTURY AND RULED MUCH PART OF NORTH INDIA INCLUDING GUJARAT, MEWAR, MALWA, BUNDELKHAND, HARYANA.

PRUTHVIRAJ CHAUHAN WAS THE WELL KNOWN WARRIOR HAVING BLUDDY CONFLICTS AGAINST ENCROACHING ISLAMIC SULTANATES. THIS RAJPUT PERIOD IS ALSO KNOWN AS ARTISTIC AND ARCHITECTURAL CONTRIBUTION. AND KANDARIYA MAHADEV TEMPLE IS ONE OF THE GREAT STONE MASONARY TEMPLE FROM ALL THE TEMPLE AT KHAJURAHO. WHICH WARE ERECTED BY RAJPUTS AT THE END OF 11th CENTURY.

LOCATION KHUJURAHO IS A CITY IN THE INDIAN STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH, WHICH IS WORLD FAMOUS FOR ITS EROTIC SCULPTURES. THE SITE WAS FORGOTTON FOR CENTURIES BEFORE IT WAS REDISCOVERED IN 1838. IT IS LOCATED IN CHHATARPUR DISTRICT, ABOUT 385 MILES 620 KILOMETRES SOUTHEST OF DELHI, THE CAPITAL CITY OF INDIA.

HISTORY KHAJURAHO WAS A MAJOR CENTER OF THE LATER CHADELLA KINGS FROM THE 9th TO 14th CENTURIES, IT WAS UNDER THEIR PATRONAGE WHEN THE TEMPLES WERE DEVELOPED. IT IS BELIEVED THAT 80 TEMPLES WERE BUILT, OUT OF WHICH 22 STILL REMAINS IN VARYING DEGREES OF PRESERVATION.

THE FASCINATING TEMPLES OF KHAJURAHO, INDIA’S UNIQUE GIFT OF LOVE TO THE WORLD, IN THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH. THE KHAJURAHO TEMPLES WERE OVER A SPAN OF HUNDRED YEARS, FROM 950 TO 1050. WITH THE FADING OF CHADELA FORTUNES, THE IMPORTANCE OF KHAJURAHO WANED BUT TEMPLE BUILDING CONTINUED UNTIL THE 12th CENTURY AT A MUCH REDUCED SPACE. AND THE KANDARIYA MAHADEVA TEMPLE AT KHAJURAHO WAS BUILT IN 1050.

EXPLORATION SITE EXPLORATION THE NAME KHAJURAHO IS DERIVED FROM THE HINDI WORD KHAJUR MEANING DATE PALM. THE WHOLE AREA WAS ENCLOSED BY A WALL WITH EIGHT GATES, EACH FLANKED BY TWO GOLDEN PALM TREES. THERE WHERE 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 KM).

ARCHITECTURE KANDARIYA MAHADEVA MAHADEVA TEMPL TEMPLE E ARCHITECTURE

KHAJURAHO TEMPLES, CONSRUCTED WITH SPIRAL SUPERSTRUCTURES, ADHERE TO NORTHERN INDIAN (i.e NAGARA STYLE) SHIKARA TEMPLE STYLE AND OFTEN TO A PANCHAYATNA 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 VARIOS DEVI FORMS, SUCH AS THE DEVI JAGDAMBI TEMPLE. A PANCHAYATNA TEMPLE HAD FOUR SUB-ORDINATE SHRINES ON FOUR CORNERS AND THE MAIN SHRINE IN THE CENTER OF THE PODIUM, WHICH COMPRISES THEIR BASE.

THESE SHIKHARAS-SUBORDINATE AND MAIN ATTRIBUTE TO THE KHAJURAHO TEMPLES THEIR UNIQUE SPLENDOR AND SPECIAL CHARACTER. WITH OVER 900 SCULPTURES CARVED IN TO SANDSTONE STACKED WITHOUT MORTAR. THE MAIN SHRINE IS ORNATELY CARVED AND DEPICTS VARIOUS GODS, GODDESSES, APSARAS (HEAVENTLY MAIDEN ) IN ELABORATE DETAIL. THE ENTRANCE ARCH, THE MASSIVE PILLARS AND CEILINGS ARE ADORNED WITH EXQUISITE CARVINGS THAT LEAVE THE VISITOR SPELLBOUND. BEYOND THE ARCHWAY OF THE KANDARIYA MAHADEV, LIE THE SIX INTERIOR COMPARTMENTS WITH A GRADED RISE OF THESE SHIKHARAS FROM OVER THE ARDHAMANDAPA,

PLAN OF KHAJURAHO TEMPLE

CEILING CONSTRUCTION

PORCH, TO MANDAPA, ASSEMBLY HALL, MAHAMANDAPA, PRINCIPAL ASSEMBLEY HALL, ANTARALA, VESTIBULE, AND GARBHAGRAHA, SANCTUME SANCTORUM, KHAJURAHO TEMPLES ATTAIN THE FORM AND GLORY OF GRADUALLY RISING HIMALAYAN PEAKS. THE TRANSEPT’S OUTER WALLS HAVE THREE HORIZONTAL PANELS SHOWING DEITIES OF THE HINDU PANTHEON, AND GROUPS OF LOVERS, A PAGEANT OF SENSUOUSNESS, VIBRANTLY ALIVE. THE VERY STONE SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN ON THE LIVING,BREATHING QUALITY OF THE CARVED FIGURES REPRESENTING AN ANIMATED ARRAY OF GODS AND GODDESSES,(COUPLES) AND ‘SURA-SUNDARIS’ (NYMPHS)ON PROJECTIONS AND MYTHICAL LIONS IN RECESSES. THE VIBRANTLY CARVED EXTERIOR CONTRASTS WITH A VERY PLAIN INTERIOR SPACE THAT HOUSES A SHIVA LINGAM IN THE WOMB OR ‘GRIHA’.

LARGELY THE INTERIOR OF THE KANDARIYA TEMPLE IS SIMILAR IN DESIGN TO THAT OF THE DEVELOPED LOCAL TEMPLES, BUT IN MORE SPECIOUS AND GOREOUS AND IS REPLETE WITH A LAVISH WEALTH OF CARVINGS AND SCULPTURES.

IT IS THE ONLY LOCAL TEMPLE,WHICH HAS PRESERVED TWO EXQUISITELY DESIGNED ‘TORANAS’ (FESTOONED ARCHES) BOTH OF EXQUISITE DESIGNED,IN THE INTERIOR. LOOKING AT SHIKHARA WE SEE AN AT TEMPLE TO RECONSTRUCT THE IMAGE OF SHIVA’S HOME IN MOUNT KAILASHA. GIANT RELIEFS ALSO PORTRAY VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS OF SHIVA,WHO IS BOTH ADESTROYER AND A SAVIOR.

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 ARCHAELOGY OF KHAJURAHO AND THE ORIGINAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TEMPLE COMPLEX AND THE

SURROUNDING AREA. THESE 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.

CLARIFICATION ON EROTIC SCULPTURES THE NAME KHAJURAHO MAY BE DERIVED FROM KHAJURA (DATE PALM), WHICH GROWS FREELY IN THE AREA AND PERHAPS BECAUSE THERE WERE TWO GOLDEN KHAJURA TREE ON A CARVED GATE HERE. THE OLD NAME WAS KHARJURAVAKAHA (SCORPION BEARER), THE SCORPION SYMBPLIZING POISONOUS LUST. THE CHADELAS WERE FOLLOWERS OF THE TANTRIC CULT WHICH BELIEVES THAT GRATIFICATION OF EARTHLY DESIRED IS A STEP TOWARDS ATTAINING THE ULTIMATE LIBERATION.

TANTRISM HAS BEEN MOSTLY MISUNDERSTOOD AND THE PHILOSOPHICAL PART OF TANTRAS LIKE THE MAHANIRVANA TANTRA HAVE BEEN TOTALLY FORGOTTEN. THIS WAS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY TANTRICS PERISHED.NEVER THE LESS IT REMAINS A DISTINCTS PATH OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE THOUGH IT HAS VERY FEW FOLLOWERS ALL

OVER THE WORLD.

I.

IT MUST BE EMPHASIZED THAT KHAJURAHO TEMPLES, DO NOT CONTAIN SEXUAL THEMES INSIDE THE TEMPLE PREMISES OR NEAR THE DEITY BUT ONLY ON EXTERNAL CARVINGS. THEY PORTRAY THAT FOR SEEING THE DEITY,

II.

ONE MUST LEAVE HIS SEXUAL DESIRES OUT SIDE THE TEMPLE. THEY ALSO DEPICT THAT THE INNER DEITY OF THE TEMPLE IS PURE LIKE THE SOUL (ATMAN) WHICH IS UNAFFECTED BY DESIRE, DESTINY ETC, WHEREAS THE EXTERNAL PORTRAY THE BODILY CHANGES THAT OCCUR IN US.

III. ONLY AS MANY AS 10% CARVINGS CONTAIN SEXUAL THEMES, NOT BETWEEN ANY DEITIES BUT BETWEEN ORDINARY HUMANS. THE REST PORTRAY THE COMMON MAN’S LIFE OF THOSE DAYS. FOR EXAMPLE LADIES APPLYING MAKEUP, MUSICIANS, POTTERS, FARMERS ETC. ALL THESE ARE AWAY FROM TEMPLE DEITIES. THEY GIVE THE MESSAGE THAT ONE SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE GOD AS THE CENTRAL POINT IN ONE’S LIFE EVEN THOUGH ONE IS ENGAGED IN WORLDLY ACTIVITIES. IV. IN KHAJURAHO TEMPLES, THE IDOLS OF SHIVA, NANDI, GODDESS DURGA, INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU ETC FULLY CLOTHED.

CONCLUSION THE KANDERIYA MAHADEVA TEMPLE IS A RENOWNED HISTORICAL SEAT OF INDIAN ART AND CULTURE. IT IS A LARGEST AND LOFTIES MONUMENT OF KHAJURAHO. IT IS THE ONLY TEMPLE OF KHAJURAHO WHICH HAS TWO ‘MAKARTORANAS’. THIS TEMPLE IS COMPLETE IN SHIKARA PLAN. IN THIS TEMPLE SHIKARA HAS TOTAL EIGHTY FOUR REPLICAS. IN THIS WAY, IT BECAME LOFTY AND INTRICATELY ORNAMENTED.