Khajuraho
| Khajuraho Group of Monuments* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| |
| State Party |  India
|
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, iii |
| Reference | 240 |
| Region** | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1986 (10th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO. | |
Khajuraho (Hindi खजुराहो), 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.
The Khajuraho group of monuments has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous for their erotic sculpture. The name Khajuraho is derived from the Hindi word khajur meaning date palm.
History
The city, once the original capital of the Chandela Rajputs, had been home to a Hindu dynasty that ruled that part of India from the 10th to the 12th centuries C.E.. The Khajuraho temples had been built over a span of a hundred years, from 950 to 1050. The Chandela capital moved to Mahoba after that time, but Khajuraho continued to flourish for some time.
A wall with eight gates enclosed the whole area, each flanked by two golden palm trees. Originally over eighty Hindu temples stood there, of which only twenty two now stand in a reasonable state of preservation, scattered over an area of about eight 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 serve as fine examples of Indian architectural styles that have gained popularity due to their salacious depiction of the traditional way of life during medieval times. Rediscovered during the late 19th century, the jungles had taken a toll on some of the monuments.
Description
Khajuraho situates at [1]. It has an average elevation of 283 metres (928 feet).
Demographics
| Khajuraho Madhya Pradesh • India | |
 | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Area • Elevation |
• 283 m (928 ft) |
| District(s) | Chhatarpur |
| Population | 19,282 (2001) |
Coordinates:
As of 2001 India census[2], 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.
Architecture
The Khajuraho temples, constructed with spiral superstructures, adhere to a northern Indian shikhara temple style and often to a Panchayatana plan or layout. A few of the temples had been 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 group into three geographical divisions: western, eastern and southern.
Kandariya Mahadeva
With a graded rise secondary shikharas (spires) cluster to create an 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.
| Kandariya Mahadeva | |
|---|---|
| 290px | |
| Name: | Kandariya Mahadeva |
| Creator: | Vidyadhara of the Chandelas |
| Date built: | circa 1050 |
| Primary deity: | Mahadeva |
| Architecture: | North Indian |
| Location: | Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh |
The Kandariya Mahadeva (Devanagari:कंदरिया महादेव, IAST:Kandariyā Mahādeva) 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.[3] Khajuraho was once the religious capital of the Chandela Rajputs and today is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. The Kandariya Mahadeva temple is the largest of the Western group of temples and was built by Vidyadhara, arguably one of the greatest Chandela kings. The temple was built around 1050 on Hindu beliefs dating back to 1000 B.C.E.; The main spire or shikhara rises 31 m to depict Mount Meru, the holy mountain of Shiva and is surrounded by 84 miniature spires.[4] Inside the sanctum is a marble linga representing Shiva.[5] The Archaeological Survey of India protects the temple, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site at Khajuraho.
Features
The temple takes its name from kandara or cave and Mahadeva, another name for Shiva. Like many other temples in the Khajuraho complex, it has a linear series of access-steps facing the east-west directions. Other features are columned halls with balconies, an entrance porch, and the inner sanctum. Decorating the sides of the temple are over 646 statues. At the top of the shikhara is the amalaka, a circular ring motif common in North Indian temple architecture. Many of the side panels depict Shiva in the presence of apsaras, consorts, and other divinities. These erotic figures do not span the whole temple and are not to be found among the 226 found inside.
Analysis
The Kandariya Mahadeva has been praised as the pinnacle of the tradition of medieval Hindu North Indian temple building (vide references). The appearance of the Kandariya is deceptive as it seems to be carved out of a solid piece of stone. Arguably, the complexity and ornateness of design gives one a sense of a closed dimension since the Kandariya can be entered through very few entrances. The sculptured figures are well-rounded yet supple and do not display significant musculature or tension despite numerous erotic implications. Most of the sculptures have economy of drapery but are effusively patterned with ornaments and flower motifs. The effect of height of the shikharas are advanced by the gradation of the rise. From the front, the various designs, many of which are erotic, are not visible to the worshipper. The east-west axis and this thrust, it is argued, focus the worshipper on the central point inside the temple, where the linga is kept.
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Article on Hindu temples of India by George Michell and Snehal Singh. This article has technical details on the temple.
- Surface, Space and Intention: The Parthenon and the Kandariya Mahadeva. Gregory D. Alles. History of Religions, Vol. 28, No.1, August 1988, pp. 1-36.
External links
- Wesbite with pictures of the Kandariya Mahadeva temple.
- The official Madhya Pradesh state webpage on monuments
- Kandariya Temple
Those shikharas (subordinate and main) attribute to the Khajuraho temples their unique splendor and special character. With a graded rise of those shikharas from over the ardhamandapa, porch, to mandapa, assembly hall, mahamandapa, principal assembly hall, antarala, vestibule, and garbhagriha, sanctum sanctorum, the Khajuraho temples attain the form and glory of gradually rising Himalayan peaks. Those temples of Khajuraho have sculptures that look remarkably realistic that even contemporary art scholars study.
The Saraswathi temple on the campus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India imitated Khajuraho temple.
Landscape
The Khajuraho temples now stand in a parkland landscape. When India gained independence from Britain in 1947 the landscape setting had been 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. That may be popular with visitors but has no relationship with the historic landscape at the time the temples first stood.
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. No records of what the original landscape might have been exist, but records state that a large community of priests used the temple complex and that Indian gardens in the tenth century had been predominantly tree gardens. They lacked lawns or herbaceous flowering plants.
The statues and carvings of Khajuraho
The Khajuraho temples lack sexual or erotic art inside the temple or near the deities; some external carvings bear erotic art and tantric sexual poses. Also, some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. Many interpretations of the erotic carvings prevail. According to some current Hindu interpretations, 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, embody purity like the atman, which stands above sexual desires and other characteristics of the physical body. 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 lack images of deities, they show sexual activities between people. The rest depict the everyday life of the common Indian of the time when the carvings had been made, and of various activities of other beings. For example, those depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians, potters, farmers, and other folks. Those mundane scenes have been placed at some distance from the temple deities. A common misconception prevails that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho served as temples, the carvings depict sex between deities.[1]
Between 950 and 1050 C.E., the Chandela monarchs, followers of the Tantric tradition, built those temples. Adherents of Tantrism teach that gratification of earthly desires constitutes a step towards accomplishing Nirvana. In ancient times, before the Mughal conquests, when boys lived in hermitages, following brahmacharitva until they became men, they could learn about the world and prepare themselves to become householders through examining those sculptures and the worldly desires they depicted.[2]
References
- ↑ "Khajurajo," liveindia.com
- ↑ Article on Khajuraho Temples—Accessed on March 06, 2007
Further reading
- Phani Kant Mishra, Khajuraho: With Latest Discoveries, Sundeep Prakashan (2001) ISBN 8175741015
See also
- Kandariya Mahadeva
- Hemvati
- Kalinjar
- Beejamandal
- Jain temples of Khajuraho
External links
- UNESCO World Heritage Site Listing
- Love, The Living Spirit of Khajuraho by Prof. P. C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet.
- Travel guide to Khajuraho from Wikitravel
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