Travel destination in India, Khajuraho

 
 

General Information about KHAJURAHO

Khajuraho : City of Temple.
Area : 16.93 sq. km.
Altitude : 257 m above Sea Level
Languages : English, Hindi.
Best Time to Visit : February to March every year
State : Madhya Pradesh.
STD Code : 076861

About Khajuraho

Khajuraho, the temple city of central India, is famous throughout the world for its exquisitely carved temples in stones. Thousands of visitors and tourists from all over the world flock together to envisage this immortal saga of Hindu art and culture engraved in stone by shilpies (stone craftsmen) a millenia ago.

The temples are superb examples of indo-Aryan architecture, but it's the decorations with which they are so liberally embellished that has made Khajuraho so famous. Around the temples are bands of exceedingly fine and artistic stonework. The sculptures have shown many aspects of Indian life 1000 years ago - gods and goddesses, warriors and musicians, real and mythological animals.

These temples were built during the Chandella period, a dynasty which survived for five centuries before falling to the onslaught of Islam. Khajuraho's temples almost all date from one century long burst of creative genius from 950-1050 AD. Almost as intriguing as the sheer beauty and size of the temples is the question of why and how they were built here. Khajuraho is a long way from anywhere and was probably just as far off the beaten track 1000 years ago as it is today. There is nothing of great interest or beauty to recommend it as a building site, there is no great population center here and during the hot season Khajuraho is very hot, dry, dusty and uncomfortable.

Having chosen such a strange site, how did the Chandellas manage to recruit the labor to turn their awesome dreams into stone? To build so many temples of such monumental size in just 100 years must have required a huge amount of human labor. Whatever their reasons, we can be thankful they built Khajuraho where they did, because its very remoteness helped preserve it from the desecration Muslim invaders were only too ready to inflict on 'idolatrous' temples elsewhere in India.

HOW TO REACH

By Air : Well Connected to Delhi, Khajuraho, Varanasi by air.

By Rail : The nearest railheads are Harpalpur (94 km) and Mahoba (63 km).

By Road : Khajuraho is connected with Panna, Satna, Chattarpur, Jabalpur, Mahoba, Bhopal, Gwalior, and Indore by road.

PLACES TO VISIT IN KHAJURAHO

Temples of Khajuraho : Visit the temples of Khajuraho which are world famous not only for their symmetry and design, but also for intricate and erotic carvings on their walls. The main temples are Kandariya Mahadeo, Chitragupta, Parsvanth and the Ghantai. The southern group only has two temples, the Duladeo which is newer and built when the creativity of Khajuraho was deteriorating. The Chaturbhuja Temple has a 3-m high statue of Vishnu.

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