Khajuraho is a renowned one among the heritage sites in India. It is situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Khajuraho is located in the Chhatarpur District in the south east of Delhi. The Khajuraho group of monuments has entered among the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is one of the famous tourist destinations of India, which is visited by people all over India and even from all around the world. Khajuraho consists of a group of medieval Jain and Hindu temples, which are famous for their erotic sculpture. The name has been derived from the hindi word, “khajur', which means 'date plum'.
Unlike other cultural centers of northern India, Khajuraho temples never faced any major destruction and most of the temple structure are surviving till date. These temples are true examples of the architectural styles of medieval India. Khajuraho temples were rediscovered in the late 19th Century.
The construction of Khajuraho temples are actually spiral superstructures which is more or less similar to the shikhara temple of north India and also resembles Panchayatana layout. Some of the temples are Jain whereas others are dedicated to Hindu deities. The trio of Hindu deities, Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva along with different forms of 'Devi' are situated in these temples. One of the main Devi form in one of this temples is Devi Jagadambi temple. All these temple are divided into 3 divisions, eastern, western and southern.
One of the popular temples of western group is Kandariya Mahadeva, which consists of 84 shikharas. The main shikhara is 116 feet above ground level. All the shikharas or commonly spires are clustered together at the top which give the perfect base for main spire on top of the sanctum. These spires impart the uniqueness of Khajuraho and their specialty. After looking at it it it gives a feeling of the rising peaks of the Himalaya mountains. The sculpture work of Khajuraho give a very realistic appearance and it is so popular that many people are doing research on it.
Birla Institute of Technology has a model of Saraswati Temple , which is actually based on the model on Khajuraho temple.
Khajuraho temples are surrounded by a landscaped garden. This area was actually a semi desert when India gained its independence in the year 1947. The park resemble English Parks with rose beds, grass and trees with an ornamental appearance.
The statues of Khajuraho do not contain any erotic art inside the temple and near deities. The carvings which are outside the temple contain erotic sculpture. The temples which have two walls, the erotic carvings are only on the outer walls of the inner wall. Some of the current interpretations of Hindu religion say that this kind of sculpture depict that one should leave the idea of sexual desires outside the temple after seeing the idols of different deities.
Khajuraho is a great architectural beauty to watch and do visit this heritage site when you plan to visit Madhya Pradesh.
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