Built over a span of 100 years, 950 AD to 1050 AD, in bursts of creativity, the Khajuraho temples has been inscribed on the World Heritage List for their outstanding universal value and human creative genius. The mural depicts the life and times of the Chandelas, and celebrate the erotic state of being. Khajuraho or Khajur Vahika derives its name from the golden gate palms abound a plenty in the region.
Khajuraho is not just another sleepy hamlet of India, but a tourist paradise where thousands of tourists every year throng the place. The 25 Indo-Aryan architecture stle temples do the explanation. The explicit sexual friezes in fine sandstone and granite, ever since Khajuraho’s rediscovery by the East India company military officer, TS Burt, in 1839, spawn an uninhibited carnal celebration.
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History Of Khajuraho
History says the Rajput rulers Chandelas, ordered and aided the construction of Khajuraho temples while they reigned over the area now known as Bundelkhand region. With the wane of the Chandela Empire, these magnificent temples lay neglected, and vulnerable to the ravages of nature. It was only in this century, that they were rediscovered and restored, though only 25 of the original 85 survived and stand in varying stages of preservation. The Chandelas were believers of the Tantric cult, which emphasizes that gratification of earthly desires is a step towards attaining ultimate liberation.
Architecture Of Khajuraho Temple
The temples are clustered into three geographical divisions: the Western group with temples of Shiva and Vishnu, the Eastern group with a mixture of Hindu and Jain temples, and the Southern group with the Chaturbhuj and the Duladeo temples. The Western group is the best known, because it is to this group that the largest and most typical Khajuraho temple Kandariya Mahadev belongs. Perfectly symmetrical, it soars 31 meters high. The grand dimensions, symmetrical proportions and superb sculptural embellishments mark it out as the most evolved and finished achievement of the central Indian building style and one of the sublimest creations of Indian architecture.
A typical Khajuraho temple sits upon a lofty stone terrace with a distinct upward direction to their build, further enhanced by several vertical projections to simulate the effect of an overall lightness. The three main compartments are the entrance, ardhamandapa, assembly hall or the mandapa, and the actual sanctum or the garbha griha.
It has largely been acknowledged that the temples have in their makeup, an overwhelming influence of the Tantrik cult. But how the Tantrik cult, and its approach came into being in these captivating sculptures in Khajuraho remains a mystery. It is also surprising, how the followers of the Tantrik cult became so predominant that they could build such majestic edifices for the propagation of their beliefs and their doctrines.
Khajuraho is not just another sleepy hamlet of India, but a tourist paradise where thousands of tourists every year throng the place. The 25 Indo-Aryan architecture stle temples do the explanation. The explicit sexual friezes in fine sandstone and granite, ever since Khajuraho’s rediscovery by the East India company military officer, TS Burt, in 1839, spawn an uninhibited carnal celebration.
)
History Of Khajuraho
History says the Rajput rulers Chandelas, ordered and aided the construction of Khajuraho temples while they reigned over the area now known as Bundelkhand region. With the wane of the Chandela Empire, these magnificent temples lay neglected, and vulnerable to the ravages of nature. It was only in this century, that they were rediscovered and restored, though only 25 of the original 85 survived and stand in varying stages of preservation. The Chandelas were believers of the Tantric cult, which emphasizes that gratification of earthly desires is a step towards attaining ultimate liberation.
Architecture Of Khajuraho Temple
The temples are clustered into three geographical divisions: the Western group with temples of Shiva and Vishnu, the Eastern group with a mixture of Hindu and Jain temples, and the Southern group with the Chaturbhuj and the Duladeo temples. The Western group is the best known, because it is to this group that the largest and most typical Khajuraho temple Kandariya Mahadev belongs. Perfectly symmetrical, it soars 31 meters high. The grand dimensions, symmetrical proportions and superb sculptural embellishments mark it out as the most evolved and finished achievement of the central Indian building style and one of the sublimest creations of Indian architecture.
A typical Khajuraho temple sits upon a lofty stone terrace with a distinct upward direction to their build, further enhanced by several vertical projections to simulate the effect of an overall lightness. The three main compartments are the entrance, ardhamandapa, assembly hall or the mandapa, and the actual sanctum or the garbha griha.
It has largely been acknowledged that the temples have in their makeup, an overwhelming influence of the Tantrik cult. But how the Tantrik cult, and its approach came into being in these captivating sculptures in Khajuraho remains a mystery. It is also surprising, how the followers of the Tantrik cult became so predominant that they could build such majestic edifices for the propagation of their beliefs and their doctrines.
