Priyupranav at 14:48, 22 November 2025

2025-11-22T14:48:58Z

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{{short description|Largest Hindu temple in Khajuraho temple complex, India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox Mandir
| name = Kandariya Mahadeva Temple
| image = Khajuraho.KandariyaMahadeva.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
|coordinates = {{coord|24.8530|N|79.9197|E|display=title,inline}}
| country = India
| state = [[Madhya Pradesh]]
| district = [[Chhatarpur district|Chhatarpur]]
| location = [[Khajuraho]]
| map_type = India
| map_size = 270px
| map_alt =
| map_relief = yes
| elevation_m =
| deity = [[Shiva]] (Mahadeva)
| festivals=
| architecture = [[North India]]n
| temple_quantity =
| monument_quantity=
| inscriptions =
| year_completed = ''circa'' 1025-1050 CE
| creator = [[Vidyadhara (Chandela ruler)|Vidyadhara]]
| website =
}}
The '''Kandariya Mahadeva Temple''' ([[Devanagari]]: कंदारिया महादेव मंदिर, '''{{IAST|Kandāriyā Mahādeva}} Mandir'''), meaning "the Great God of the [[Cave]]", is the largest and most ornate [[Hindu temple]] in the medieval temple group found at [[Khajuraho]] in [[Madhya Pradesh, India]]. It is considered as one of the best examples of [[Temple|temples]] preserved from the medieval period in [[India]]. Because of its outstanding preservation and testimony to the [[Chandela]] culture, the temple was inscribed on the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage List]] in 1986.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web|title=Khajuraho Group of Monuments |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/240 |website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher = United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization |access-date = 25 June 2023}}</ref>

==Location==
[[File:Khajuraho temples map.jpg|thumb|right|Temples layout map of Khajuraho Group of Monuments: Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is in the western group]]
Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is located in the [[Chhatarpur district]] of Madhya Pradesh in [[Central India]].{{Sfn|Ring|Salkin|Boda|1994|p=468}} It is in the [[Khajuraho]] village, and the temple complex is spread over an area of {{Convert|6|km2}}.<ref name = "unesco"/> It is in the western part of the village to the west of the [[Vishnu]] temple.<ref name=Orient>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/india/khajuraho/kandariya.php|title=Kandariya Temple (built c. 1025–1050)|publisher=Oriental Architecture}}</ref>{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}}

The temple complex, in the Khajuraho village at an elevation of {{Convert|282|m}}, is well connected by road, rail and air services. Khajuraho is {{Convert|55|km}} to the south of [[Mahoba]], {{Convert|47|km}} away from the [[Chhatarpur]] city to its east, {{Convert|43|km}} away from [[Panna, Madhya Pradesh|Panna]], {{Convert|175|km}} by road away from [[Jhansi]] on the north, and {{Convert|600|km}} to the south - east of [[Delhi]]. It is {{Convert|9|km}} from the railway station.{{Sfn|Ring|Salkin|Boda|1994|p=468}}<ref name=Physical>{{Cite web|url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/38879/11/11_chapter%202.pdf|title=Physical and Regional Setting of Khajuraho|publisher=Shodhganga – INFLIBNET Centre}}</ref> Khajuraho is served by [[Khajuraho Airport]] (IATA Code: HJR), with services to Delhi, [[Agra]] and [[Mumbai]]. It is {{Convert|6|km}} from the temple.<ref name=Physical/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aai.aero/allAirports/khajuraho_generalinfo.jsp|title=Khajuraho airport|access-date=12 August 2015|publisher=Airport Authority of India (AAI)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708201920/http://www.aai.aero/allAirports/khajuraho_generalinfo.jsp|archive-date=8 July 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==History==
Khajuraho was once the capital of the [[Chandela]] dynasty. The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, one of the best examples of temples preserved from the medieval period in India,{{Sfn|Ring|Salkin|Boda|1994|p=468}}<ref name= Bhatnagar>{{Cite web|last=Bhatnagar|first=Asgwini|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99mar20/saturday/head1.htm|title=Ode to immortality Celebrating 1000 years of celestial ecstasy|date=20 March 1999|work=The Tribune}}</ref> is the largest of the western group of temples in the Khajuraho complex which was built by the Chandela rulers. Shiva is the chief deity in the temple deified in the [[sanctum sanctorum]].<ref name=Art>{{Cite web|url=http://education.asianart.org/explore-resources/background-information/kandariya-mahadeva-temple|title=Kandariya Mahadeva Temple|publisher=Asian Art Museum|access-date=10 August 2015|archive-date=22 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622154801/http://education.asianart.org/explore-resources/background-information/kandariya-mahadeva-temple|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Kandariya Mahadeva temple was built during the reign of [[Vidyadhara (Chandela ruler)|Vidyadhara]] (r. c. 1003-1035 CE).{{sfn|Sushil Kumar Sullerey|2004|p=26}} At various periods of the reign of this dynasty many famous temples dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, Shakti of the Hindu religion and also for the [[Thirthankara]]s of [[Jain religion]] were built. Vidhyadhara, also known as Bida in the recordings of the [[Muslim]] historian [[Ali ibn al-Athir|Ibn-al-Athir]] was a powerful ruler who fought [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] in the first offensive launched by the latter in 1019.{{Sfn|Ring|Salkin|Boda|1994|p=468}} This battle was not conclusive and Mahmud had to return to [[Ghazni]]. Mahmud again waged war against Vidhyadhara in 1022. He attacked the [[Kalinjar Fort|fort of Kalinjar]].{{Sfn|Ring|Salkin|Boda|1994|p=468}} 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 [[pilaster]] of the [[mandapa]] in the temple mentions the name of the builder of the temple as Virimda, which is interpreted as the pseudonym of Vidhyadhara.{{Sfn|Ring|Salkin|Boda|1994|p=468}} Its construction is dated to the period between 1025 and 1050 CE.{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}}

All the extant temples in Khajuraho including the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple were inscribed in 1986 under the [[UNESCO]] [[List of World Heritage Sites]] under Criterion III for its artistic creation and under Criterion V for the culture of the Chandelas that was dominant until the country was invaded by [[Muslims]] in 1202.<ref name = "unesco"/><ref name=Advisory>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/240.pdf|title= Evaluation Report:World Heritage List No 240 |access-date=12 August 2015|publisher=UNESCO Organization}}</ref>

==Features==
[[File:Architecture of the Khajuraho temples.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Various features of the temple marked on the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple.]]
[[File:Plan of Kandariya Mahadeva temple.jpg|thumb|right|Simplified map of the temple]]
The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, {{Convert|31| m}} in height, is in the western complex, which is the largest among the three groups of the Khajuraho complex of temples.<ref name=Brit>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/place/Kandarya-Mahadeva|title=Kandarya Mahadeva|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> This western group of temples, consisting of the Kandariya, Matangeshwara and [[Vishvanatha Temple, Khajuraho|Vishvanatha]] temples, is compared to a "cosmic design of a hexagon (a [[yantra]] or Cosmo gram)" representing the three forms of Shiva.<ref name=Physical/> 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.<ref name=Brit/>

The temple is founded on a massive plinth of {{Convert|4|m}} height.<ref name=Museum>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mwr.org.tw/content_en/exhibitions/permanent-exhibition/sub_12.aspx|title=The Greatest Sacred Buildings|publisher=Museum of World Religions|access-date=12 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207105433/http://www.mwr.org.tw/content_en/exhibitions/permanent-exhibition/sub_12.aspx|archive-date=7 February 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The temple structure above the plinth is dexterously planned and pleasingly detailed.{{Sfn|Allen|1991|p=210}} The superstructure is built in a steep mountain shape or form, symbolic of [[Mount Meru]] which is said to be the mythical source of creation of the world.<ref name=Art/> The superstructure has richly decorated roofs which rise in a grand form terminating in the shikara, which has 84 miniature spires.{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}} The temple is in layout of {{Convert|6|km2}}, of which 22 are extant including the Kaṇḍāriyā Mahādeva Temple. This temple is characteristically built over a plan of {{Convert|31|m}} in length and {{Convert|20|m}} in width with the main tower soaring to a height of {{Convert|31|m}}, and is called the "largest and grandest temple of Khajuraho".<ref name= "unesco"/>{{Sfn|Allen|1991|p=210}}{{Sfn|Abram|2003|p=420-21}} A series of steep steps with high rise lead from the ground level to the entrance to the temple.{{Sfn|Ross|2009|pp=280–81}} The layout of the temple is a five-part design, a commonality with the Lakshmana and Vishvanatha temples in the Khajuraho complex. 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.{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}} The carvings on the entrance gate shows the "tactile quality of the stone and also the character of the symmetrical design" that is on view in the entire temple which has high relief carvings of the figurines. Finely chiseled, the decorative quality of the ornamentation with the sharp inscribed lines has "strong angular forms and brilliant dark-light patterns". The carvings are of circles, undulations giving off spirals or sprays, geometric patterns, masks of lions and other uniform designs which has created a pleasant picture that is unique to this temple, among all others in the complex.{{Sfn|Allen|1991|p=210}}
[[File:Kandariya mahadeva temple.jpg|right|thumb|The main temple tower with 84 mini spires]]
[[File:India-5690 - Flickr - archer10 (Dennis).jpg|thumb|right|Erotic bas-relief sculptures on the external walls of the temple]]
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 Shiva, a chamber where the Shiva linga, the phallic emblem of 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" which is in total contrast to the external parts of the temple.{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}}<ref name=Museum/>{{Sfn|Ross|2009|p=281}}{{Sfn|Asher|Talbot|2006|pp=16–17}} 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.{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}} The huge pillars of the halls have architectural features of the "vine or scroll motif". In the corners of the halls there are insets which are carved on the surface with incised patterns.{{Sfn|Allen|1991|p=210}} There is a main tower above the sanctum and there are two other towers above the other mantapas also in the shape of "semi-rounded, stepped, pyramidal form with progressively greater height". The main tower is encircled by a series of interlinked towers and spires of smaller size.{{Sfn|Ross|2009|p=282}} These are in the form of a repeated subset of miniature spires that abut a central core which gives the temple an unevenly cut contour similar to the shape of a mountain range of mount [[Kailasa]] of the [[Himalayas]] where god Shiva resides, which is appropriate to the theme of the temples here.{{Sfn|Asher|Talbot|2006|pp=16–17}}

The exterior surfaces of the temples are entirely covered with sculptures in three vertical layers.{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}} Here, there are horizontal ribbons carved with images, which shine bright in the sun light, providing rhythmic architectural features. Among the images of gods and heavenly beings, [[Agni]], the god of fire is prominent.{{Sfn|Allen|1991|p=210}} They are niches where erotic sculptures are fitted all round which are a major attraction among visitors. Some of these erotic sculptures are very finely carved and are in [[mithuna]] (coitus) postures with maidens flanking the couple, which is a frequently noted motif. There is also a "male figure suspended upside" in coitus posture, a kind of yogic pose, down on his head.{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}} The niches also have sculptures of [[Saptamatrikas]], the septad of mother goddesses along with the gods [[Ganesha]] and [[Virabhadra]]. The seven fearful protector goddesses include: Brahmi seated on a swan of [[Brahma]]; Maheshwari with three eyes seated on Shiva's bull [[Nandi (bull)|Nandi]]; Kumari; [[Vaishnavi (Matrika goddess)|Vaishnavi]] mounted on [[Garuda]]; the boar-headed [[Varahi]]; the lion-headed [[Narasimhi]] and [[Chamunda]], the slayer of demons Chanda and Munda.{{Sfn|Abram|2003|pp=420–21}} The image of Sardula, a mythical creature with lion face and human limbs in lower panel is a unique figure seen in the temple.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Grand temples of Madhya Pradesh|journal=Tattvaloka|date=September 2018|volume=XLI|issue=6|publisher=Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Mahaswamigal Educational Trust|location=[[Sringeri]]|issn=0970-8901|last=Ramakrishna|first=Lalitha|pages=47–52}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last= Abram |first=David |title=Rough Guide to India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAMik_6LbwUC&pg=PA420|year=2003|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-84353-089-3}}
* {{cite book|last= Allen |first=Margaret Prosser |title=Ornament in Indian Architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyXxEX5PQH8C&pg=PA210|date=1 January 1991|publisher=University of Delaware Press|isbn=978-0-87413-399-8}}
* {{cite book|last1= Asher |first1=Catherine B. |last2= Talbot |first2=Cynthia |title=India Before Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvaGuaJIJgoC&pg=PA16|date=16 March 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-80904-7}}
* {{cite book|last= Kramrisch |first=Stella |title=The Presence of Siva|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA459|year=1988|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0491-3}}
* {{cite book|last= Leuthold |first=Steven |title=Cross-Cultural Issues in Art: Frames for Understanding|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z9GsAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133|date=16 December 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-85455-2}}
* {{cite book|last1= Ring |first1=Trudy |last2= Salkin |first2=Robert M.|last3=Boda|first3=Sharon La |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC&pg=PA468|year=1994|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-04-6}}
* {{cite book|last= Ross |first=Leslie D. |title=Art and Architecture of the World's Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0EXyCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA281|date=4 June 2009|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-34287-5}}
* {{cite book |author=Sushil Kumar Sullerey |title=Chandella Art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rj8RusFpYHIC&pg=PA25 |year=2004 |publisher=Aakar |isbn=978-81-87879-32-9 }}

==Further reading==
* Michell, George; Singh, Snehal. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051026221034/http://news-sv.aij.or.jp/jabs/s1/jabs0208-013.PDF#search=%22kandariya%20mahadeva%22 Hindu temples of India] (PDF)
* Surface, Space and Intention: The Parthenon and the Kandariya Mahadeva. Gregory D. Alles. ''History of Religions'', Vol. 28, No.1, August 1988, pp. 1–36.

==External links==
{{commons category|Kandariya Mahadeva Temple}}
* [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1000_1099/kandariya/kandariya.html Website with pictures of the Kandariya Mahadeva temple.]
* [http://personal.carthage.edu/jlochtefeld/picturepages/Khajuraho/architecture.html The architecture of Khajuraho temples] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302071937/http://personal.carthage.edu/jlochtefeld/picturepages/Khajuraho/architecture.html |date=2 March 2016 }}
* [https://www.academia.edu/347639/Hindu_Temple_Fractals William J. Jackson, Academia website]
* [http://greatancientindia.com/kandariya-mahadeva-temple-khajuraho/ Detailed Article on Kandariya Mahadeva Temple.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526104245/http://greatancientindia.com/kandariya-mahadeva-temple-khajuraho/ |date=26 May 2021 }}
{{World Heritage Sites in India}}
{{Khajuraho Group of Monuments}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kandariya Mahadeva Temple}}
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1050]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1050s]]
[[Category:11th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:Shiva temples in Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Hindu temples in Khajuraho]]
[[Category:Hindu temples sacked in the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent]]

Kandariya Mahadeva Temple - Revision history

Priyupranav at 14:48, 22 November 2025