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A Garden of Temples: Khajuraho - Neerja Vasishta Neerja Vasishta is an Indian born in the United States. She was on a Rotary Fellowship to India from August 2001-May 2002, studying at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. During her time in India, she was able to reconnect with family, make new friends, and travel; she has written about her impressions in previous issues of SAWF. Neerja will be starting her Masters in City and Regional Planning at Cornell University in August 2002 and plans to work on development in India.

Khajuraho is one of the most well known tourist destinations in India and has been for some time. It's on most tourists' "to do" list-they go to Delhi (because they land there) then on to Jaipur for color, palaces, and forts. Next comes Agra for the Taj, and then to quaint Khajuraho. Sometimes Varanasi is next, for some of spiritual India. If we had a rug in the shape of India, a path between these points would probably be as threadbare as the state of Goa.

In these places themselves, however, what we see is tourist-geared development: endless restaurants, hotels, "economy" taxi services, some dubious tour guides, souvenirs, and so on. Despite the ubiquitous reminders that a profit is to be made from your visit, the temples of Khajuraho still and always will attract and impress the visitors who immerse themselves in their atmosphere. My own visit happened in March, when the sun was already hard at work, baking the stones and heating up the paths among the temples.

At its height, Khajuraho had at least eighty-five temples, twenty-two that are extant today. Between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, the Chandela kingdom ruled the Northern Deccan peninsula but the temples were forgotten to everyone but the locals for hundreds of years after. They were "rediscovered" by a British tourist in 1840 and became an international attraction some time after that.

It happens often that the country you live in is the country you know the least. We know our town and city, perhaps our state, and maybe many other nations of the world. But many Indians haven't toured India, and even if they advise you to see famous Khajuraho, they themselves have never seen the place themselves. But it's famous for good reason, as these photos will attest…

The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple

The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is one of the most celebrated temples at Khajuraho and its succession of towers reaching for the sky is one of its most distinguishing traits.

The picture below is a view of the highest tower, or shikhara. Smaller towers reinforce the main one and the play of light and shadow reminds one of a musical fountain, where dancing water has been caught in time.

Another view of the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple.

Even the ceiling in the ardha mandapa of Kandariya Mahadeva is an ornate maze.

Sculpture on the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple

Some of the exquisite sculpture found covering the temple. Mythological mingles with the mundane and divine but Khajuraho's sculptors execute all subject matter with the same delicacy and care.

Lakshmana Temple

Behind one of the corner temples on the Lakshmana temple is the Matangeshvara Temple (with yellow flag). The Matangeshvara is still largely in use by the locals at Khajuraho.

Friezes ring the lower portion of the Lakshmana temple; here gracefully sculpted camels are led away by men.

Eastern Group

Most visitors stop only to see the famous temples in the Western Group, but there are more temples in the Eastern and Southern group. These are two examples of sculpture in the Jain temples found in the Eastern Group of temples.

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