Khajuraho Temple District

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Khajuraho Temple District
UNESCO world heritage UNESCO World Heritage Emblem
Temple-in-the-Park-Khajuraho.jpg
Khajuraho Temple District
National territory: IndiaIndia India
Type: Culture
Criteria : (i) (iii)
Reference No .: 240
UNESCO region : Asia and Pacific
History of enrollment
Enrollment: 1986  (session 10)

The temple district of Khajuraho comprises a group of around 20 temples in the center and in the vicinity of the city of Khajuraho in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh . They are part of the UNESCO World Heritage .

history

Almost all of Khajuraho's temples were built by the rulers of the Chandella dynasty between 950 and 1120. The Chandellas were a Rajput clan who ruled between the 10th and 16th centuries and established themselves in Gwalior around 950 . In the 10th and 11th centuries, the Chandellas were the leading power in northern India, although they were formally vassals of the Pratihara until 1018 .

The individual temple building sections in the overview for orientation
Construction plan of the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple . There is the 64 pada field arrangement. The smaller Khajuraho Temple uses fields 9, 16, 36 or 49 of the Mandala plan.

After the downfall of the dynasty in the 12th century, the temples of Khajuraho were hardly or not at all used and were left to the encroachment of the surrounding bushland. The place, which had become politically, militarily and economically insignificant, lay off the beaten track and was thus spared from destruction even during the time of the Islamic invasion of northern India. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the once important city only had about 300 inhabitants. In the 19th century the temples were "rediscovered" by the British. Systematic safety and restoration work began at the beginning of the 20th century, which ultimately led to the restoration of this unique architectural ensemble.

The Vishvanatha Temple (around 1000) is dedicated to Shiva as the "Lord of the World". Like the Lakshmana Temple, which was around 50 years earlier, it consists of several components ( mandapas , antarala and garbhagriha ) and is elevated by a high Shikhara tower. The multi-level roof structures of the vestibules, on the other hand, are pyramid-shaped. All roofs are raised by amalaka stones and kalasha jugs on top. In the southwest corner of the platform ( jagati ) is the so-called Parvati shrine.

temple

Originally there were about 80 temple buildings in Khajuraho, scattered over a total area of ​​about 21  square kilometers - today only about 20 of them are preserved, most of which are in two groups. The majority of the temples are dedicated to the main Hindu gods , some to the Jaina Tirthankaras . There were probably no Buddhist buildings in Khajuraho, at least no Buddhist sculptures were discovered.

All temples stand on 1.50 to 3 meter high platforms ( jagatis ), which protect the structure from the weather ( monsoon rains ) and wild animals. There is also a base zone, which in the later temples (from approx. 950) is tiered several times and can be three meters high. The platform and base naturally also contribute to an 'elevation' of the standing structure in the figurative sense.

The majority of the temple entrances face east, i.e. in the direction of the rising sun. H. the cella ( garbhagriha ) is in the west. With two temples it is the other way round: they are oriented to the west, i. H. towards the setting sun (Lalguan Mahadeva Temple and Chaturbuja Temple). Both orientations have been possible and common at Indian temples for centuries. The front two accompanying shrines of the Lakshmana Temple face each other and face south and north respectively.

The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple (approx. 1050) with the highest of all Shikhara towers, dedicated to the god Shiva , is considered to be the highlight of the architecture of Khajuraho. In the foreground a human figure kneels, kneeling with a dagger an apparently overpowering lion - the emblem of the Chandella dynasty can be found on many temples in Khajuraho.

Western group (Hindu temple)

* Nandi shrine
* Parvati shrine

Eastern group (Jain temple)

  • Parsvanatha Temple (ca.960)
  • Adinatha Temple (ca.1050)
  • Shantinatha Temple
  • Ghantai Temple (ca.990)

Single temple (Hindu temple)

  • Chausath Yogini Temple (approx. 875)
  • Lalguan Mahadeva Temple (approx. 920)
  • Brahma Temple (around 930)
  • Khakra Math Temple (ca.980)
  • Vamana Temple (ca.1050)
  • Javari Temple (around 1100)
  • Chaturbuja Temple (ca.1120)
  • Duladeo Temple (ca.1120)

architecture

The temples of Khajuraho offer the opportunity to follow the development of North Indian architecture over a period of around 200 years in a very small space - from small (poorly structured, single-room and closed) temples to large (strongly structured, multi-room and open) buildings. The height of the buildings also experienced an enormous increase during this time. Almost all buildings (exception: Chausath Yogini Temple) have in common that they have roof structures ( Shikhara towers or pyramid roofs) that are crowned by ribbed amalaka stones and kalasha jugs.

Early days

Apart from the Chausath Yogini Temple, the oldest temple building in Khajuraho with a completely different architectural tradition, the early temples consist only of a cella ( garbhagriha ) covered by a stepped pyramid roof , which in the case of the Brahma temple also has a porch ( antarala ), in the case of the Varaha temple and the Matangesvara temple a small open vestibule ( mandapa ) is in front of each . The outer walls are only slightly structured and predominantly stone-see-through.

Heyday

The heyday of temple architecture in Khajuraho begins with the Lakshmana Temple (approx. 930–950), which is probably influenced by the Maladevi Temple in Gyaraspur and earlier temple buildings in Rajasthan, which in turn all relate to the construction of the Kalika-Mata- Temple in Chittorgarh (approx. 700) first developed structural innovations can be traced back. These are essentially: several components lying one behind the other but harmoniously connected to one another ( mandapas , antarala and garbhagriha ); equal footprint of large vestibule ( mahamandapa ) and sanctuary area; Cella as an independent structure inside; Pillars - and no longer walls - as load-bearing support elements for the roof structure - this made it possible to open the rooms outwards through balcony-like porches; Multiple gradations and structuring of the remaining wall parts outside and inside - as a result, they no longer appear as a 'wall'; Continuation of the outer wall structure in the roof structure.

In the Lakshmana Temple, the cella is designed as a separate, internal structure and is surrounded by a gallery ( pradakshinapatha ). The entire sanctuary area and its four side shrines are - for the first time in Khajuraho - heightened by steep and towering Shikhara towers; the less important vestibules will continue to be covered by the generally flatter, pyramidal roofs, so that an architectural enhancement of the temple - quite comparable to a mountain range - is achieved up to the cella.

The most important successors to the Lakshmana Temple are the Vishvanatha Temple (approx. 1000) and the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple (approx. 1050), which no longer have stone or wall vision due to the diverse architectural structures and the dense range of sculptures is.

Sculptures

Every component of the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is covered with almost fully plastic and thus realistic figures - even the corner niches that are largely in the dark. Stone or even wall vision is no longer given.

With regard to the development of Indian sculpture, the temples of Khajuraho offer an overview of approx. 200 years of Indian art history - from the relief representations of the early days, which are integrated into architectural elements and seem rather motionless and static, to the almost free plastic and almost due to their variety of poses living figures.

For the history, function and meaning of the erotic sculptures see mithunas and Kandariya-Mahadeva-Tempel .

Early days

The poorly structured outer walls of the early temples of Khajuraho hardly show any figurative or ornamental decoration. This is, still strongly bound in relief, limited to the portals (Lalguan Mahadeva Temple, Brahma Temple) and some window niches (Matangeshvara Temple). Erotic sculptures are not yet to be found in the early temples.

Heyday

Here, too, it is the Lakshmana Temple that sets new standards for Khajuraho: While the outer walls of the vestibules show only a few figural reliefs, the walls of the sanctum are richly decorated with sculptures. These include figures of gods ( devas or devis ), “beautiful girls” ( surasundaris ) and couples in love ( mithunas ); The first erotic sculptures can also be seen in the lower (near-earth) fields of the central register and in the figure frieze of the platform. The middle fields, on the other hand, show tender couples of love with smaller accompanying figures, the upper figures of gods. A hierarchy of the arrangement of figures is clearly perceptible. In the immediate successor buildings (Vishvanatha Temple, Jagadambi Temple and Kandariya Mahadeva Temple) the number of figures and thus also of erotic representations increases.

In the Jain temples and the later Hindu temples there are hardly any erotic-sexual representations to be found; here the number of gods figures sometimes even outweighs that of the “beautiful girls”.

Temple ponds

In the immediate vicinity of the western group, but outside the fenced-in core zone, there are two year-round water-bearing temple ponds - the Shivsagar tank at the Matangeshvara temple and the Chopra tank at the Chitragupta temple.

Archaeological Museum

One of the sights in the area of ​​the temple district of Khajuraho is the Archaeological Museum (also called Rani Durgavati Museum) located in the center. It houses some very beautiful sculptures that were found during the excavation and restoration work and that were brought here because they could not be directly assigned to any of the temple buildings that have been preserved.

Sculpture gallery

  • Temple frieze

  • Temple frieze with erotic representations

  • Erotic scenes

  • Musicians frieze

  • Temple frieze

  • Erotic scene

  • Erotic scene

  • Erotic scene, sodomy

  • Erotic scene

  • Erotic sculptures

literature

Web links

Commons : Khajuraho group of monuments  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German name after German UNESCO Commission: The UNESCO World Heritage List ; English Khajuraho Group of Monuments , French Ensemble monumental de Khajuraho .
  2. ↑ Michael W. Meister: Mandala and Practice in Nagara Architecture in North India . In: Journal of the American Oriental Society . 99, No. 2, April-June 1979, pp. 204-219. doi : 10.2307 / 602657 .

Coordinates: 24 ° 51 '  N , 79 ° 55'  E