MYRIAD THEMES OF KAJURAHO TEMPLES
Main Theme: Religious.
Dedicated To: Hindu Deities, Jain Tirthankaras.
Earlier Called As: Khajjinapura, Kajuraha.
In a celebration of human physical beauty and love, the
facades on the temple walls are replete with men and women in various
moods of lovemaking. They highlight the Indian philosophical thought that
ultimately, all pursuits of knowledge and expression are but different
ways of achieving salvation
Kajuraho is well known for vivid erotic sculptures but these constitute
hardly 5% of the total embellishments. Most of the sculptures depict
various gods and goddesses, 'apsaras' and 'surasundaris' (divine nymphs),
animals, real and legendary and miscellaneous themes of dances and
musicians, worshippers, teachers and disciples and processions of
foot-soldiers and horses and elephants, with or without riders.
The temples were mostly dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu and also to the Sun
God and the Jain 'tirthankaras' but the sculptures themes and
architectural designs show an incredible uniformity but for a few cult
sculptures, which occupy prominent fixed places.
The twenty-two temples that survive today are a flight of fantasy. At
once they idolize all the major Hindu Gods. A three-headed Brahma, Shiva,
Kali, Vishnu, Lakshmi and the Sun God, Surya are all venerated here. To
add to this multifaceted worldview, are the three Jain temples that
venerate Mahavira and other Jain saints.
From The Annals Of History
According
to tradition, Kajuraho was so called because one of its city gates was
ornamented with two golden 'khajur' (date palm) trees. In the
Prithviraja-Raso of Chand Bardai, Khajuraho is called 'Khajurapura' or
'Khajjinapura'. Possibly, the place abounded in ancient times in 'khajur'
or the date palm trees and hence the name. The earliest historical
evidence of the Chandela occupation of Kajuraho is furnished by the
Lakshmana Temple inscription of Dhanga dated 954.
But the earliest recorded reference to Khajuraho is found in the
Visvanatha Temple (Kajuraho) inscription of Dhanga dated 1002, which calls
the place 'Kharjjura-vahaka', apparently the original form of Khajuraho.
It is, however, the Muslim chroniclers who specifically mention Khajuraho
as the capital of Jejabhukti and of the Chandelas.
Abu Rihan Al-Biruni who visited this region in 1022 AD speaks of Kajuraha
as the capital of Jajahuti, while a contemporary chronicler Ibnu'I-Athir
mentions Kajuraha as the territory of King Bida (Vidyadhar). After the
death of Vidyadhar, the Chandelas gradually declined and with their
decline, the political importance of Kajuraho also waned off.
But that Khajuraho continued to be the religious capital of the Chandelas
till the fourteenth century is attested by the graphic description of Ibn
Batuta, who visited the place in 1335 AD.
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