KHAJURAHO TEMPLE : History
Inscriptions at the Khajuraho temples indicate that these shrines were constructed from the period of 950 to 1050 AD. The construction of the temple is attributed to the rulers of the Chandela dynasty. It is believed that the temple site, covering an area of 20 sq. km had around 85 temples during the 12th-century. However, only 25 temples out of these have managed to defy the test of time and survive till date. These temples are spread across an area of 6 sq. km today.
It’s interesting to note that the Khajuraho group of temples are linked to two religions – Jainism and Hinduism. The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is the largest and the most famous one among the surviving temples. It is adorned with innumerable sculptures exhibiting intricate details that mirror the richness of ancient Indian architecture.
Till the end of the 12th-century, these temples were active places of worship. But from 13th-century to 18th-century, these temples suffered massive destruction as the region came under the control of different Muslim dynasties. These temples were also the target of Sikandar Lodi’s drive in the 15th-century to destroy Hindu temples. After a long period of destruction and neglect, the temples at Khajuraho were rediscovered by T.S. Burt, a British surveyor, in the 1830s. Since then, the temples have gained popularity among travelers from all around the world.
Khajuraho: Architecture
The Khajuraho temples feature Nagara-style of architectural symbols. They are best known for the erotic sculptures that adorn the temple walls. Built upon granite foundations, these temples are made using sandstone. Like most Hindu temples, the shrines at Khajuraho follow the Vastu-Purusha-Mandala design plan.
Another characteristic feature of these temples is that the sculptures are arranged in symmetric repeating arrangements, even though every image is unique. Highly ornate carvings adorn the walls, pillars, ceilings of these temples. Several panels and sculptures in these temples have inscriptions. Barring one, every temple at Khajuraho faces the east and has an entrance in this direction.
Architecture of the temples
Khajuraho temples, like almost all Hindu temple designs, follow a grid geometrical design called vastu-purusha-mandala. This design plan has three important components – Mandala means circle, Purusha is universal essence at the core of Hindu tradition, while Vastu means the dwelling structure.
The layout plan of Kandriya Mahadeva Khajuraho temple. It uses the 64 pada grid design. Smaller Khajuraho temples use the 9, 16, 36 or 49 grid mandala plan
The design lays out a Hindu temple in a symmetrical, concentrically layered, self-repeating structure around the core of the temple called garbhagriya, where the abstract principle Purusha and the primary deity of the temple dwell. The sikhara, or spire, of the temple rises above the garbhagriya. This symmetry and structure in design is derived from central beliefs, myths, cardinality and mathematical principles.
The circle of mandala circumscribe the square. The square is considered divine for its perfection and as a symbolic product of knowledge and human thought, while circle is considered earthly, human and observed in everyday life (moon, sun, horizon, water drop, rainbow). Each supports the other. The square is divided into perfect 64 sub-squares called padas.
Most Khajuraho temples deploy the 8×8 (64) padas grid Manduka Vastupurushamandala, with pitha mandala the square grid incorporated in the design of the spires. The primary deity or lingas are located in the grid’s Brahma padas.
The architecture is symbolic and reflects the central Hindu beliefs through its form, structure and arrangement of its parts. The mandapas as well as the arts are arranged in the Khajuraho temples in a symmetric repeating patterns, even though each image or sculpture is distinctive in its own way. The relative placement of the images are not random but together they express ideas, just like connected words form sentences and paragraphs to compose ideas. This fractal pattern that is common in Hindu temples. Various statues and panels have inscriptions. Many of the inscriptions on the temple walls are poems with double meanings, something that the complex structure of Sanskrit allows in creative compositions.
Khajuraho temples use the 8×8 (64) Vastupurusamandala Manduka grid layout plan (left) found in Hindu temples. Above the temple’s brahma padas is a Sikhara (Vimana or Spire) that rises symmetrically above the central core, typically in a circles and turning-squares concentric layering design (right) that flows from one to the other as it rises towards the sky.
All Khajuraho temples, except one, face sunrise, and the entrance for the devotee is this east side.
Above the vastu-purusha-mandala of each temple is a superstructure with a dome called Shikhara (or Vimana, Spire). Variations in spire design come from variation in degrees turned for the squares. The temple Sikhara, in some literature, is linked to mount Kailash or Meru, the mythical abode of the gods.
In each temple, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the pilgrim to walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa and the main deity. The pillars, walls and ceilings around the space, as well as outside have highly ornate carvings or images of the four just and necessary pursuits of life – kama, artha, dharma and moksa. This clockwise walk around is called pradakshina.
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