'Kandariya Mahadev Temple (11th-12th AD), Khajuraho, India' - by K J S Chatrath

 The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, meaning "the Great God of the Cave", is the largest and most ornate Hindu temple in the Khajuraho group of temples in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is dedicated to Mahadev or Lord Shiva.

The temples at Khajuraho were built during the Chandela dynasty, between 950 and 1050. Only about 20 temples remain; they fall into three distinct groups Western Temples, Eastern Temples & Southern Temples. These belong to two different religions – Hinduism and Jainism.

Khajuraho group of temples, including the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple were declared to be World Heritage sites by UNESCO in 1986.  

The Kandariya Mahadeva temple was built during the reign of Vidhyadhara (1003-1035 AD).   Vidhyadhara, also known as Bida in the recordings of the historian Ibn-al-Athir was a powerful ruler who fought Mahmud of Ghazni in the first offensive launched by the latter in 1019. This battle was not conclusive and Mahmud had to return to Ghazni. 

Mahmud again waged war against Vidhyadhara in 1022. He attacked the Fort of Kalinjar. The siege of the fort was unsuccessful. It was lifted and Mahmud and Vidhyadhara called a truce and parted by exchanging gifts.

Vidhyadhara celebrated his success over Mahmud and other rulers by building the Kaṇḍāriyā Mahādeva Temple, dedicated to his family deity Shiva. Epigraphic inscriptions on a rectangular column of the manadapa in the temple mentions the name of the builder of the temple as Virimda, which is interpreted as another name of Vidhyadhara.

The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is in the western complex, which is the largest among the three groups of the Khajuraho complex of temples.The temple architecture is an assemblage of porches and towers which terminates in a shikhara or spire, a feature which was common from the 10th century onwards in the temples of Central India.

The temple is founded on a high plinth of 4 metres (13 ft) height. The superstructure is built in a steep mountain shape or form, symbolic of Mount Meru, which is believed to be the mythical source of creation of the world. The superstructure has richly decorated roofs which rise majestically  terminating in the shikara, which has 84 miniature spires. This temple is characteristically built over a plan of 31 metres (102 ft) in length and 20 metres (66 ft) in width.  with the main tower soaring to a height of 31 metres (102 ft).

 

  By Tangopaso - Own creation, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20697270

 A series of steep steps with high rise lead from the ground level to the entrance to the temple. Right at the entrance there is torana, a very intricately carved garland which is sculpted from a single stone; such entrances are part of a Hindu wedding procession.

In the interior space from the entrance there are three mandapas or halls, which successively rise in height and width, which is inclusive of a small chamber dedicated to  Lord Shiva, a chamber where Shiva's wife, Devi Parvati is deified, and a central sanctum or the garbhgriha (womb chamber) where the Shiva linga, the phallic emblem of  Lord Shiva is deified. The sanctum sanctorum is surrounded by interlinked passages which also have side and front balconies. Due to inadequate natural light in the balconies the sanctum has very little light thus creating a cave like atmosphere.

In the interior halls of the temple and on its exterior faces there are elaborately carved sculptures of gods and goddesses, musicians and apsaras or nymphs. The huge pillars of the halls have architectural features of the 'vine or scroll motif'. Among the images of gods and heavenly beings, Agni, the god of fire is prominent.

The niches also have sculptures of Saptamatrikas, the septad of mother goddesses along with the gods Ganesha and Virabhadra. The image of Sardula, a mythical creature with lion face and human limbs in lower panel is a unique figure seen in the temple. Thus there is much more to this temple than the erotic sculptures. In this presentation of photographs I have consciously chosed non-erotic photos to stress this point.   

  The main temple tower has 84 mini spires.

(Text sourced from Department of Tourism's website, UNESCO Heritage Sites website, Wikipedia and other sources on the internet)

'Suspected vandalism in Hampi temples' - by K J S Chatrath

About three weeks back I spent three days in Hampi in Karnataka, India, on a personal trip and visited a number of monuments there. 

During the course of my visits to some of these monuments, I noticed that some carvings seemed to have been disfigured partially by the vandals. I have no expertise in the matter but to me as a layman, some of the disfiguring seems to be of recent origin. I am attaching herewith some of the photos that I took of such carvings on 24^th and 25^th January, 2019. 

May be these are old disfigurements and I am totally wrong. I sent an email with those photos to DG Archeological Survey of India on 7.2.2019 and am awaiting an acknowledgement.  I think it is my duty to bring this apprehension to the notice of my readers and lovers of India’s heritage.  

Indian postage stamps on hill forts of Rajasthan- K.J.S.Chatrath

Indian Postal Department deserves to be complimented for bringing out these excellent theme based stamps.

Those interested in further information may like to access UNESCO's website: 
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/247

One may also like to see my earlier photo articles:

'Indian fashion through the ages, Series- I, postage stamps' - by K J S Chatrath.

https://indianheritagephotos.blogspot.com/2019/02/indian-fashion-through-ages-series-i.html

'Indian cuisine- Regional' - by K.J.S. Chatrath; https://indianrestaurantsworldwide.blogspot.com/2019/02/indian-cuisine-regional-by-kjs-chatrath.html .

'There is much more to Khajuraho temples besides eroticism, Part-I' - by K J S Chatrath

The Khajuraho Monuments are a group of Hindu temples in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of Jhansi. They are one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.

These temples were built during the Chandella dynasty, between 950 and 1050. Only about 20 temples remain; they fall into three distinct groups and belong to two different religions – Hinduism and Jainism. They strike a perfect balance between architecture and sculpture

Rich in historical myths, stories, artistic creativity and architectural marvel, these temples are a representative of the art and architecture of ancient India  These  sculptures depict various scenes from everyday lives and various  human emotions.

  

They also seem to celebrate women in her varied forms. They are depicted as yawning, scratching, disrobing, removing thorn from feet, playing with babies and pets like parrot, looking at mirror to do make-up etc.

These temples are often mistakenly depicted as erotic temples and other nuances are over looked. In fact erotic art constitutes only 10% of the total sculptures of Khajuraho. This is an interesting case where the 10% overshadows the remaining 90%!

In this presentation I am not presenting any aspects of erotic art or even of the female form but of other varied aspects.* Take a look:

This show an intriguing scene. What are they carrying- a baby? No, a load of stones? Any guess.

I could not decipher this one. Two holy men in a discussion? Perhaps!

Narashima.

Lord Vishnu

 

 

Depicting camels in a temple in the midst of thick forests showing fairly extensive human movements between various areas.

After this one, move over to the next photo showing a closer view from a slightly different angle.

Crows will be crows! I 'caught' this one doing his thing atop one of the temples.

(Write up based on information from UNESCO & MPtourism websites)

'Vithala temple, Hampi from slightly different angles- a curtain raiser' - by K J S Chatrath

Photo article coming soon on my website www.fiftyplustravels.com and blogs www.fiftyplustravels.blogspot.com and www.indianheritagephotos.blogspot.com

'Hampi, Karnataka - a curtain raiser' - by K J S Chatrath

Coming soon on my website www.fiftyplustravels.com and blogs www.fiftyplustravels.blogspot.com & www.indianheritagephotos.blogspot.com photo articles on Hampi, Karnataka.

Come, visit my India!

'Indian fashion through the ages, Series- I, postage stamps' - by K J S Chatrath

I have many reasons for visiting Bengaluru in Karnataka, one of those being the desire to visit the philately wing at the General Post Office.

So last fortnight I was there, once again sitting in front of the philately desk. Also sitting was a youngish gentleman with his little 8-9 year old daughter. He introduced himself and told me that he was very happy to see old people like me taking interest in Indian postage stamps. He went on to add that he had come to get his daughter registered in the philately wing so that she gets new stamps as an when those are issued, after all, this is a nice way to know your country, is it not, he asked? I nodded in agreement and complimented him for inculcation such values in her daughter. He then went about the task of depositing Rs.5000/- towards registration and membership.

I on my part bought all the new stamps that I had not seen earlier. I would love to share those with my readers as, quite sadly letter writing and posting letters affixing postage stamps has quietly gone out of vogue. And what a loss!

Here is the first part of such sharing. Indian Postal Department deserves to be complimented for bringing out such lovely stamps.

Come, visit my India!