Art and Architecture of Khajuraho temple
Art and Architecture of Khajuraho Temple
Most of the temples at Khajuraho conform to a basic unity of design.With the exception of the Chausath yogini, Brahma and Lalguan-Mahadeva temples,which are constructed either wholly or largely of granite, all Khajuraho temples are built of a fine┬мgrained sandstone, in varying shades of buff, pink or pale yellow, brought from the quarries of Panna on the east bank of the Ken river.
Again, except for the temples mentioned above and the Varaha and Matangesvara, all the temples of Khajuraho pertain to a cognate style and are manifestations of a distinctive and concerted architectural movement, differing only in details. The temples variously belong to the Saiva, Vaishnava and Jaina sects, but in spite of these divergent affiliations, they keep to dominant architectural and sculptural schemes, so much so that, save for a few distinctive cult-images, there is nothing to distinguish a Vaishnava temple from a Saiva one and a Saiva temple from a Jaina one.
The Khajuraho temples mark the culmination of the central Indian building-style that has certain distinctive peculiarities of plan and elevation.They are compact, lofty temples without any enclosure-wall and are erected on a high platformterrace orjagati, which elevates the structure from its environs and provides an open ambulatory around the temple.
All the compartments of the temple are connected internally as well as externally, and are planned on one axis, running east-west and forming a compact unified structure.
The essential elements of the plan - the ardhamandapa or entranceporch, the mandapa or hall, the antarala or vestibule and the garbha-griha or sanctum are present in all temples.
In the larger temples, however, lateral transepts with balconied windows are added to the mandapa, turning it into a mahamandapa. The larger temples also introduce an inner ambulatory around the sanctum, to which is added another pair of lateral transepts and a rear transept, each with a balconied window for ventilation. With two pairs of transepts cutting across the axis, the temples with ambulatory(.sandbara temples) on plan resemble a Latin cross with two principal arms, while those without ambulatory (nirandhara temples).
show only one crossarm. Some of the larger temples also have subsidiary shrines in the four corners of the platform, rendering the structure a complete panchayatana or fiveshrined complex. Like the plan, the elevation of the temples also has distinctive features. The temple, erected on a lofty platform-terrace, has an emphatically high adhishthana or basementstorey, consisting of a series of ornamental mouldings that slope outward and grip the platform-terrace firmly, providing at the same time a fine relief for light and shade.
