The Splendour of Khajuraho
Khajuraho brings a marvelous manifestation of distinctive sculptures whirling threads of love in divinity to unfold the evolution of mankind. The city of temples named ancient Khajravahaka, ‘Khajur’ (date fruit), and ‘vahaka’ (the bearer) is also associated with the two golden date palm trees at the gates of the city. Historians infer the khajur symbolizes the scorpion and as Shiva in his Aghori aspect wears a garland of scorpions, he is the protector of the town. The UNESCO World Heritage List includes Khajuraho in its list of special heritage areas in 1986.
Construction of the Khajuraho temples:
Under the patronage of Chandela Kings, Khajuraho was built with intense skill and technique. Khajuraho being a quintessential treat for sore eyes defines pure elegance to the cultural heritage in the heart of India. The temples are made of sandstone, with a granite foundation. Interestingly, the stones are placed with mortise and tenon joints to erect the structure which is held by gravity. The temples erected tall with sikharas which conspicuously depicted Nagara style of architecture persisting in the Northern states of India. Various historians validated the occurrence of 85 such temples during Chandella dynasty, which was later desecrated or neglected under Mughal rule with 25 remaining behind. Fascinatingly, the temples were built in one century from A.D. 950 to A.D. 1050. Therefore, variations in architectural development are found to be missing. The temples show a similar essence of art motifs and architectural layout pertaining to slight differences in the expressions of each temple. Out of these few numbers, ten temples are dedicated to the various incarnation forms of Vishnu, eight of them to Shiva, one to Surya, one to Chaunsath Yogini and five to Jaina faith. The Chandellas sort to be categorized with liberal credentials for religious pluralism as to the prevalence of Jainism along with Saivism and Vaishnavism. An Arabic traveler, Ibn Battuta visited the city in 1335 and described the city was famous in the 14th century as an abode of many yogis. The last inscriptions date from the 15th century which was rediscovered in the 19th century.
Architecture:
It has been suggested that the temple design was based on the vastu-purusha mandala or geometric design of the universe. Vastu-purusha (the ‘person’ upon whom they ‘reside’) being a demon of global proportions grew from the drop of God Siva’s sweat. He was to devour everything when the supreme Gods united to press his face down upon the earth and bind him in an eightfold mesh of parallel cords. Thereby, personifying him as the local guardian spirit to ensure successful construction. According to Hindu cosmology, the center of the universe is conceived of as the mythical abode of Gods, mountain Meru signifying the womb chamber is guarded over in the eight directions in space. The square architectural form of the temples is perceived as a mark of perfection beyond life and death. As per Hindu philosophy, the concept of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth is visualized by the square architecture implying it to a circle as its resultant. The dark interiors of the inner sanctum in course with the symbolic sacrifice of the worshipper and his offerings created a domain for his transformation. The temple is also visualized as a cross-legged figure of a man. His bodily frame suggests the temple’s square plan, the womb to the garbhagriha, the door of the sanctum as the mouth, outer walls express the many facets of personality, his spinal column as energy chakras are paralleled by the temple tower.
The architects during the reigns of Chandella Kings Yashovarman and Dhanga to Vidyadhara left an incredible mark of architectural form in the region now known as Bundelkhand. The Lakshmana Temple was built to house an important statue of Vaikuntha, a manifestation of the god Vishnu. The statue was originally from Kashmir acquired by King Yashovarman from King Devpala of the Pratihara dynasty which shows the supremacy of the Chandellas over the Pratiharas. One of the inscriptions present at the Vishvanatha Temple states a similar conviction. The rule of the Chandellas brought an insignificant development in the art traditions which inspired the building of temples as a composite effort from all sections of the society as it is inscribed in various places that the worldly pleasures are not permanent, and that they will get destroyed sooner or later.
Khajuraho beyond Eroticism:
The layout of the erotic sculptures and motifs beholds the auspicious and apotropaic symbolization at Khajuraho temples. The union of the Purusha (male) and Prakriti (female) is represented by its own creativity at the juncture walls of the temples which link the mandapa (hall for the devotees) to the sanctum of the divine power. This conjunction of the opposites present on the temple walls forged an image of eroticism underlying the subtle philosophical, spiritual, and scientific understanding of Nonduality.
The eroticism was a symbolic form of art that is believed to have camouflaged Yantras or Tantric diagrams beneath during the time of the prevalence of the Tantric-Pauranic religion. Far as we know, the magical stream of love is bound to develop in mankind. Tantric reciprocity between eroticism and spirituality directs us to the path of a meaningful destination. The erotic art has a unique iconography which is used as a pun forbidding the actual meaning of the certain forms of Yantras within their complexities. As divulged in the Silpa Prakasa, the only surviving Orissan text on Hindu architecture describes the kama-bandha (erotic sculpture) are divertissements to titillate the commoners from whom the secret diagrams inscribed beneath them, ‘yantras’ are hidden. It is common that the tantrikas use the double entendre, the ‘twilight language’ or ‘sandhyabhasa’ with double or triple meanings to conceal their doctrines from the non-initiate. To cite an example, the sculpture of a man with his head down with a woman seated on his linga (phallus) and two other women helping in the act is supposed to hide the underlying compositional diagram of two equilateral triangles within its form.
Besides, temples depict various stages of esoteric Tantric operations from orgies practiced by gurus and shisyas to the complete union of the opposites which is a symbolic representation of Moksha and relief from transmigration. The Tantric movement had demolished the boundary between sex and religion. This intersection of the human and the divine plane is a form of yoga that detaches one from the profane state of mind.
Sculpture and Art of the temples:
Chandella sculptures can be divided into two categories: stone sculpture and rock-cut sculptures. The stone slabs were brought by the laborers from the nearby stone quarries and carved by the sculptors. One of the panel structures describes as being brought by the laborers and the sculptor is sitting and carving the slab. The formal cult images (murti) are installed in the inner sanctum. They usually lack aesthetic expressions and are generally carved in standing posture. The sculptures on walls of the temples and niches are less formal and more free with those of parivara, parsva & avaranadevatas (family, attendant & enclosing divinities). The figures of gods and goddesses usually stand in tribhanga which are distinguished from humans by their particular headdress or mounts or special attributes held usually in more than two hands. Women appeared in various themes on the sculptures: mithunas (amorous couple), maithunas (men and women engaged in coitus), orgies, a dancer accompanied by musicians, a solitary figure engaged in something. Sculpture of women of Khajuraho seems to belong to the three worlds: Patal lok (Netherworld): Nagkanya or serpent girls with cobras’ hood; Mrityu lok (Mortal world): Nayika/beautiful lady and devdasis/temple girl; Swarg lok (Heaven): Apsara or Damsel of God, surasundaries or celestial nymphs resided here. Sixteen types of women, like, darpana (looking into the mirror), alasa (relaxed and indolent), nartaki (dancer), ketaki-bandha (adorn herself with ketaki flower) and much more are carved on the sculpture. Apsaras or surasundaries are heavenly nymphs who are elegantly beautiful, full of charm and vigor. They are believed to have supernatural powers who live in heaven but also come to Earth with attendants, often to seduce divinities. They were carved in round or in high or medium relief on the outer or inner walls, pillars & ceilings. As heavenly dancers, they were attired in choicest gems & dresses dancing in voluptuous postures. The nymphs as attendants of higher divinities are seen with folded hands or carrying the lotus-flower, mirror, water jar, raiments, ornaments are offering their service to the deities. The surasundaries portray common human moods, emotions, and activities like yawning, scratching their backs, stretching, touching their breasts, rinsing water from their wet plaits, removing thorns from their feet, fondling babies, etc. The workmanship on the sculptures from the portrayal of the fabric & jewelry, the hanging chain, the undulating shawl, and the thin material of the loincloth is precise of higher quality. The Lakshmana Temple has a detailed description of the women of Khajuraho with long legs and high curvier waists with broad hips and full breasts. The nymphs here have decorated flower-shaped earrings, wide & flat necklaces, and double bracelets. The Kandariya Mahadev temple has slimmer apsaras with long legs and slender thighs with less accentuated waists and the Vishvanatha temple depicts twisted postures with a combining view of the back and front view of the breast. The domestic life, teachers & disciples, dancers & musicians, erotic couples & groups are shown in a picturesque manner. A mythical animal, vyala possesses the lion’s body with a horned lion head is said to represent the wild and uncontrollable nature of energy is represented as a rampant homed lion with an armed human rider on the back and a warrior counter player attacking it from behind. Unlike apsaras, the vyala is never placed on any projecting offset. Makaras, the mythical aquatic creature is a symbol of auspiciousness and the primal life force. Each Khajuraho temple is distinctly carved yet also repeating the central common principles in almost all Hindu temples. The Khajuraho women are portrayed as self-absorbed and self-sufficient in their own activities with a blissful state of mind to whom the world around them was trivial.
Epilogue:
Concluding hereby, with reference to the concept of spatial geometry and cosmo-vision of the landscape decades of ancient India have been influenced which had led to the outcome of developing sacred territories, shrines, and temples. The cosmo-vision had networked the temples in a completely new form of architecture that housed the images of deities, their spirit, their conjugation with the landscape. These shrines brought peace and mental health to the culture and the people of medieval India. The symbols, signs, form of art, sacred texts devised in the complete understanding of the meaningful past in the history of mankind.
