The visit
to this Vishwanath Temple, one of the UNESCO, World Heritage Sites, Khajuraho, was a part of
the “Bhopal, Udayagiri Rock Cut Caves, Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, Sanchi,
Bhojpur, and Khajuraho – of Madhya Pradesh Heritage Walk” organized by the எண்திசை வரலாற்று மரபுநடைக்குழு, between 25th and 28th December 2024.
The temple
complex of Khajuraho is classified into three groups: Western, Eastern, and Southern Groups of Temples. The temples Chausath Yogini and the Lalguan Mahadeva are exempted
from the above three groups since they are farthest away.
Western
Group is the largest and most important. The temples in this group are dedicated to
Shiva, Ma Parvati, Jagathambi, and Maha Vishnu. The Western Group consists of
the following temples.
Matangeshwar
Temple
Vishwanatha
Temple (1002 CE).
The
Vishwanatha Temple is the third largest temple of the Khajuraho Temples, and it stands on the
north-east extreme of the Western group of temples. Architecturally,
the temple falls between the other largest Lakshmana and Kandariya Mahadeva
temples. A precursor in design and ornamentation to the Kandariya Mahadeva,
this is one of Khajuraho's finest and best-preserved temples.
ARCHITECTURE
Among
the Khajuraho temples, the Visvanatha temple is the finest and best-preserved
example of Chandella architecture and is dedicated to the Lord Shiva. It used
to be a Panchayatana shrine, but now, out of its four subsidiary shrines, only
two. ie. Northeast and Southwest exist. The structure shows all the elements
of a developed temple, including the mukha-mandapa (entrance porch), mandapa,
maha-mandapa with transepts, antarala, and grabha-griha enclosed by an inner
ambulatory with transepts on the sides and rear.
The basement niches and the three-banded sculptured wall display some of the finest carvings, including a unique depiction of the dancing Saptamatrikas, the Seven Mothers. Inside, there are also unique depictions of a mother with a child, a woman holding a fruit in one hand and a parrot in another, a surasundari playing the flute, and another painting of her foot.
HISTORY
AND INSCRIPTIONS
King
Dhanga was a great ruler and builder. He annexed many new areas and expanded his
territory. He made Chandella as powerful as the Pratihara discarded
tutelage to them and titled himself Maharadiraja. The Mandapa inscription refers
to the dedications of two Lingas, one made of emerald and the other of stone, in
a towering temple of Shiva Marakateshvara built by the Chandella King Dhanga in
the Vikrama year 1059 (1002 C.E.), although only the stone Linga survived in the
temple. There is no doubt that the inscription refers to the Visvanatha temple.
As per the inscription, the architect of the temple was Sutradhara Chhichchha,
who was well-versed in Vishvakarma architectural tradition.
Rishabam
Temple /Nandi Temple (1002 CE)
This temple, facing the Vishwanatha Temple and on the same platform, enshrines a colossal statue of Rishabam, the bull mount/Vahana of Shiva. The Rishaba measures 7 feet 3 inches in length and 6 feet in height. The polished monolithic sculpture of yellow sandstone is represented wearing a garland decorated with mani bandha (alternating diamonds and roses).
LOCATION
OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
--- OM
SHIVAYA NAMA ---
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