Khajuraho (Chhatarpur)

Khajuraho, in today’s Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, was once a flourishing capital-region of the Chandela Rajput dynasty. From around the 9th to 12th centuries CE, the Chandelas rose to power in Bundelkhand and chose the Khajuraho area—then called Kharjuravāhaka, “land of date palms”—as one of their principal religious and cultural centres. During their peak, they commissioned an extraordinary series of Hindu and Jain temples, built in the Nagara style on high platforms, crowned with soaring shikharas and covered with bands of intricate sculpture.

At least 80–85 temples are thought to have originally stood here, dedicated mainly to Shiva, Vishnu, the Devi and the Jain tirthankaras. Today about 20 survive in good condition. The famous sculptural panels, including the erotic mithuna figures, sit alongside scenes of gods, celestial beings, musicians, dancers, warriors and everyday life, expressing a complete, balanced view of worldly and spiritual existence rather than just sensuality.

After the 12th century, as Chandela power declined and political focus shifted to other forts, Khajuraho gradually lost importance. Forests and villages slowly enclosed the temples, which remained known locally but forgotten by the wider world until British surveyors documented them in the 19th century. In the 20th century, conservation work restored the complex, and in 1986 Khajuraho was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, making it one of India’s best-known heritage destinations.