Khajuraho

The temple town of Khajuraho is situated in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The exquiste art and great craftsmanship bring people to this place from all over the world. Khajuraho is the place, from where Kama Sutra originated.

Designated by UNESCO as a world heritage site, the Khajuraho temples are of great archaeological significance for its historical monuments.

Inspired burst of creativity is spread all over the temple complex and it places Khajuraho among the top tourist destinations in the world.

The temples were constructed between 950-1050AD by the Chandela dynasty who claimed descents from the moon.

As per the story goes, Hemwati was the daughter of a Brahmin priest and was seduced when she was taking bath in a forest pond. She gave birth to a child known as Chandravarman. He was the founder of the Chandela dynasty. After the birth of the child, Hemwati sought refuge from the censorious society and brought up the child in forests. Chandravarman established himself as a ruler at a very young age of 17. With the blessings and dream-visitation from his mother, he started constructing the temples, thought of which was actually inspired by his mother. Through the structures inside the temples, Chandravarman wanted to reveal human passions and bringing about a realization of the emptiness rooted deep inside in human beings. Chandela rulers also believed in attaining the infinite liberation of salvation or Moksha through the gratification of earthly desires.

The temples are the example of rich architectural knowledge of medieval period and were built in the dense forests in a small village called Khajuraho. Chandela rulers later made Khajuraho as the seat of religion and faith which in the course brought people form many sections together. The vivid erotic carved structures in the temples show that there were no restrictions or inhibitions against sex as we have in current time.

The vivid erotic structures in the temples show that there were no restrictions or inhibitions against sex as we have in current time.

Truly, these temples have created a niche for itself on tourism maps and are the manifestation of glorious cultural heritage of India.

India’s gift to the outside world, the Khajuraho Temples attracts tourists interested in the insight of ancient Indian history.

Initially, 85 temples were built in Khajuraho. However, ravages of time could save only 22 of them. The temples are divided into three categories based on directions, the Western group, the Eastern group and the Southern group of temples.

The main temples of the Western group constitute Kandariya Mahadeo, Chausanth Yogini, Chitragupta Temple, Vishwanath Temple, Lakshmana Temple and Matangeshwara Temple. Kandhariya Mahadeo temple is the largest temple in western group of temples, followed by the Chausath Yogini temple.

The Eastern group of temples comprises of Ghantai Temple, Parsvanatha Temple and Adinatha Temple. Paraswanath Temple is the largest Jain temple in the Eastern group.

Finally, the Southern group of temples includes some of the main temples such as Duladeo temple and Chaturbhuja temple.