Kandariya Mahadev Historical Temple in Khajuraho
Travel to westwards from the Lakshmana
Temple, along the garden path one comes to the largest and most
handsome monument at Khajuraho, the Historical Kandariya Mahadev
Temple.
Built in around 1025–1050 AD, this historical sandstone
structure (like all the other temples built entirely without the use
of cement and mortar) stands almost 30m above ground level and is as
long as it is tall.
The temple is dedicated to Shiva (the destroyer of the Hindu Trinity
of Gods), with a linga (phallic representation of Lord Shiva) at the
centre of the garbha griha (the womb or innermost chamber of the
temple).
¤ The Historical Temple Sculptures
The temple stairs lead to a platform decorated with rich sculpted
figures of women in a variety of poses. There are women playing with a
ball, some engaged in writing a letter, others applying make-up and
absorbed in a multitude of other activities. On the southern and
northern sides, between the balconies are the large-scale erotic
panels. In fact the mithuna (sensuously carved erotic figures) on the
Kandariya Mahadev include some of the most energetic eroticism to be
seen at Khajuraho.
Below the bands of the main body of the temple are smaller, narrower
friezes depicting court life, the army, and processions of elephants
and horses. This Khajuraho temple is can be approached by the eastern
stairway that has the most fantastically ornate toran (frieze) of the
entire group of temples. The floral toran is carved out of a single
block of stone.
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