The Chandella Kings
The first notable Chandella a prince was Harsha, who, shaken by the invasions of the Rashtrakutas from the Deccan, reinstated his Pratihara overlord Kshitipala or Mahipala on the throne of Kannauj AD c.917. His son and successor, Yasovarman alias Lakshavarman, valiantly defended his suzerain from the attacks of both the Rashtrakutas and the Palas of east India. He won back, the fort of Kalinjar from the Rashtrakutas (c.940) but grew so mighty as to defy his overlords, by retaining the fort for himself.
According to a Khajuraho inscription of his son, dated 954, Yasovarman built a magnificent temple of Vishnu, identifiable with Lakshmana Temple at Khajuraho. This was said to be the most ornate and evolved temple of its age in central India, constituting a worthy monument of the augmented power and prestige of the Chandellas.
Yasovarman was succeeded by his son Dhanga (c.950-1002), who, during his long and eventful reign, boldly discarded the tutelage of the Pratiharas, consolidated the Chandella kingdom by extensive conquests and made it the strongest power of central India. His territories extended from Vidisha to Gwalior and from Varanasi to the Narmada. This mighty king and conqueror was an even greater patron of art andarchitecture. During his reign two of the finest Len- Sculptures on surviving temples of Khajuraho were built - the Visvanatha Visvanatha and the Parsvanatha, the former by the Temple king himself in 1002 and the latter probably by one Pahila, who was 'honoured by King Dhanga'.
Dhanga's son and successor was Ganda, who
enjoyed his dominion without any diminution
during his short and peaceful reign (c. 1002-17).
The Vaishnava temple, now known as Jagadambi,
and the Sun temple now called Chitragupta, both
situated close to each other in the Western Group
of temples at Khajuraho, can, in all probability, be
attributed to this king.
His son Vidyadhara (c. 1017-29) succeeded Ganda. Under him the Chandella kingdom reached its zenith. Vidyadhara not only won victories over the Kalachuris and the Paramaras, the two contemporary rival powers in central India, but twice, in 1019 and 1022, organised an active resistance against the foreign invader, Mahmud of Ghazni. It then stands to reason that Vidyadhara, powerful and prosperous as he was, should have continued the brilliant building traditions of his predecessors; the authorship of the Kandariya- Mahadeva Temple, the largest and grandest temple of Khajuraho, may plausibly be attributed to him.
