City Information :
Khajuraho was once the capital
of the Chandela Rajputs of Bundelkhand.
It is home to the world famous 10th
century Khajuraho temples. These temples
represent some of the most exquisite
specimens of medieval Hindu architecture
and sculpture in the country.
Khajuraho
is a small town that can be reached
from Satna on the Mumbai-Allahabad
railway link and from Jhansi on the
Delhi-Mumbai road link. The town is
famous for its exquisitely carved
and embellished temples and sculptures,
which are a thousand years old.
The
main temples are in the western group,
conveniently close to the touristy
part of Khajuraho. Most are contained
within a fenced enclosure, which is
very well maintained as a park. The
temples which are worth mentioning
are:
Lakshmi
and Varaha
Two small shrines dedicated to Goddess
Lakshmi and Vishnu's 'Varaha' avatar.
Lakshmana
Dedicated to Vishnu and similar in
design to Kandriya Mahadev temple,
in Kandriya.
Mahadev
The largest temple of the group and
also artistically and architecturally
the most perfect one of the lot.
Mahadeva
Although the temple is rather insignificant
in size, it houses some of the best
sculptures.
Devi
Jagdamba
It was probably originally dedicated
to Parvati, but later changed to Kali
(Jagdamba). Some believe that Kali
is actually an image of Parvati, painted
black.
Chitragupta
Dedicated to Surya, the Sun God in
Vishwanath temple.
Nandi
Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the Destroyer.
Matangesvara
Temple
Unlike the other temples, this Shiva
temple is still in everyday use.
Yogini
This ruined temple is perhaps the
oldest in Khajuraho.
Recent
addition to the tourism attraction
of Khajuraho is newly excavated temple
in the southern group of temples.
This scoop has created ripples of
excitement worldwide. The 34 metre
long temple is said to be 4 metres
more than the Kandariya Mahadev temple
of the Western Group, the largest
Chandela temple so far. Beautiful
sculptures have also been unearthed,
the most outstanding one being of
a 4-armed Saraswati playing a Veena.
