Khajuraho-A Timeline-The hidden jewel of India
UNESCO world heritage site- the temples are built by the Chandella rulers between AD 900 and 1130."Outstanding universal value and human creative genius"
The holiest of Khajuraho temples.The temple is illuminated with tiny lights and the massive linga decorated with flowers and sandalwood paste.It is probably the plainest among the sandstone temples.
Vraha is the boar incarnation of Vishnu and mythology tells of his rescuing the earth from devastating floods by taking her up on the tip of his snout. the temple enshrines a clossal monolithic image of Varaha ,approx 2.5 m long and over 1.5 m high.The shrine is built entirely of sandstone is dated back to c.900-925.
The Vaishnava temple is a sandhara temple of the panchayatana(five shrined) variety.It is the earliest and best preserved of the evolved temples of Khajuraho.This is the only temple which preserves intact all the subsidiary shrines and the jagati or platform with its mouldings and friezes.
This depicet a range of everyday activities,here,a figure of authority is seen with acolytes on the walls.
A small statue of Lord Ganesha at Lakshmana temple adoring one of the niches.
The siva temple is the largest and the loftiest monument of Khajuraho,measuring 30.5 metres in length and height and 20 m in width.It's the only temple of Khajuraho where the platform shows projections on the lateral sides and the rear.
The grand Sikhara is decorated with an ascending series of 84 smaller replicas of itself.It is lofty and intricately ornamented pile.
Kandariya Mahadev Temple
The largest number of alluring beauty appear on the wall.An animated arrays gods and goddesses mithunas and sura-sundaris can be seen on projections.
Kandariya-Mahadev Temple with the small Siv shrine and Jagadambi temple to its right
This is the only temple in Khajuraho dedicated to Surya, and is ,indeed one of the few shrines in all of north India dedicated to the sun.
Vishvanatha temple is among the finest monuments of Khajuraho, and shows all the elements of the developed Khajuraho temples. Architecturally ,this temple falls between the Lakshmana and Kandariya -Mahadev temples.
The detached Nandi pavillion forms an integral part of the architectural scheme of Vishvanatha temple.
The jain temples are part of Eastern group of temples Khajuraho
The Javari Temple is an architectural gem and is indeed remarkable as much for its ornate makara-torana as for the slender and soaring outline of its sikhara.