Lost� in the forest for centuries, when T.S. Burt, a British engineer heard� about it from his palanquin bearers, he ventured into the jungles to� discover the lost city of Gods in 1838. But his Victorian sense made him comment that the artisans have let their imaginations run riot and most� of the sculptures are obscene to be in a temple. People / tourists� associate Kamasutra to Khajuraho but forget about the history of Chandela Dynasty.
The legend says that on a� beautiful night, when the Moon god saw Hemavathi, the daughter of a� priest, he came down to earth in the form of a prince and seduced her.� When he left her, he promised her that she will be blessed with a son� who would become a king and his dynasty will rule for centuries. The son� was so brave that he killed a tiger at the age of 16 and thus the tiger/mythical beast fighting a man became the symbol of Chandela Dynasty.� Vidhyadar, one of the famous kings fought bravely and stopped Mahmud of� Ghazni twice. The local tradition lists eighty-five temples but now only twenty-five are standing examples in various stages of preservation.
Image: travfotos on Flickr
The� Kandariya Mahadeva Temple – the largest and the best designed temple in� the western group of temples in Khajuraho. As the name indicates, it is� built for Lord Shiva and it was built by the Chandela King Vidhyadar to� mark his victory over Mahmud of Ghazini. The main shikara (tower) is� decorated with an ascending series of 84 smaller replicas of itself and� making it 30.5 metres high. The 646 statues decorating the outer walls� of the temple make the walk around the temple an amazing and tiring� experience.
Image: Wikimedia
Even though the erotic sculptures� made Khajuraho more famous, this practice is not limited only to Khajuraho. It can be seen in many other temples in South India as well.� In fact, the erotic sculptures are found in many other workshipping� places of older civilisation across the world. There are many thoughts� on this but some are
- The older civilization considered that depicting erotic poses will please Gods and keep the temple/building away� from nature’s harm.
- You’ll find the erotic sculptures between� Mahamandapa (the main area) & Garbha griha (sanctum). So when you� move from the maha mandapa to Garbha graha to circumbulate the God, you’ll leave your desires behind to reach the God’s sanctum.
- As per� tantrism, eroctic rituals signifies creation and also a� method to realise the oneness of one’s self.
There you have it. That pretty much outlines the significance of eroticism in Indian religious art!