Khajuraho, travel to the heart of India!

[hiambuj]

My goodness, these temples are picture perfect. YS, your monument photography is taking leaps, from Shimla to Safdarjung tomb to Khajuraho !!

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Day 3: Khajuraho, Lakshmana Temple

Next up was the Lakshmana Temple, one of the most well preserved and massive of Khajuraho Temples.

Before that, couple of shots from the Lakshmi Temple, located right opposite the Lakshmana Temple.





Since the Lakshmana Temple is so massive and contains the maximum number of statues, I will be covering this temple in two parts of my travelogue, here is the first installment.



Lakshmana Temple is a sandhara temple of the panchayatana (five shrined) variety and is dedicated to lord Vishnu.

Photographs of one of the subsidiary shrines of Lakshmana Temple





Statue of Mythical Beast, outside the Lakshmana Temple



Lakshmana Temple is dated at 953-954AD and was supposedly been built by the Chandella King, Yasovarman.

Statue of Lord Vishnu, inside the sanctum sanctorum of Lakshmana Temple



Statue of an Apsara (heavenly nymph), inside the window pillar of Lakshmana Temple



Statues inside the Lakshmana Temple





Beautiful entrance of Lakshmana Temple



Statues outside Lakshmana Temple





<Previous Next>

Day 1: Delhi - Agra - Gwalior - Jhansi

Day 2: Jhansi - Chhatarpur - Bambitha - Khajuraho

Day 3: Khajuraho, Visvanatha Temple and Nandi Shrine

Day 3: Khajuraho, Parvati Temple

Day 3: Khajuraho, Lakshmana Temple, Part-2

Day 3: Khajuraho, Kandariya Mahadeva Temple

Day 3: Khajuraho, Jagadambi and Chitragupta Temples

Day 3: Khajuraho, Adivart Tribal and Folk Art Museum and ASI Museum

Day 3: Khajuraho, Jain Temples and Museum

Day 3: Khajuraho, Southern Group of Temples

Day 3: Khajuraho, Eastern Group of Temples

Day 3: Khajuraho, Sound and light show

Day 4: Khajuraho, Raneh Falls and Ken Gharial Sanctuary

Day 4: Khajuraho, Folk Dance Performance

Day 5: Khajuraho - Jhansi - Gwalior - Agra - Delhi

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Originally Posted by hiambuj

My goodness, these temples are picture perfect. YS, your monument photography is taking leaps, from Shimla to Safdarjung tomb to Khajuraho !!

Thanks for the kind words Amit, though the real reason behind these lovely photographs are the beautiful temples of Khajuraho.

[hiambuj]

Another amazing set of photos !! The temple is really massive. & really beautiful. All your pics are very clean. No other tourist in the frame makes them better

BTW, why the name Lakshmana, when its dedicated to lord Vishnu?

Originally Posted by Yogesh Sarkar

Thanks for the kind words Amit, though the real reason behind these lovely photographs are the beautiful temples of Khajuraho.

1. I am not talking about only Khajuraho clicks.
2. There are other photos of Khajuraho on net also which are not as beautiful as yours.
3. Your coverage is extensive.
4. Each shot is very neat, as if clicked by some professional for some brochure making !!

[BHARAT]

beautiful. Aahsome.

[drkalpin]

Beautiful pics Yogeshbhai..
And what magical creations these temples are!! .. it's not just a matter of immense talent...One gets a feeling how much more humans were patient in old times.. they had all the time in the world to pursue their passion, alas..

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Originally Posted by hiambuj

Another amazing set of photos !! The temple is really massive. & really beautiful. All your pics are very clean. No other tourist in the frame makes them better

BTW, why the name Lakshmana, when its dedicated to lord Vishnu?

1. I am not talking about only Khajuraho clicks.
2. There are other photos of Khajuraho on net also which are not as beautiful as yours.
3. Your coverage is extensive.
4. Each shot is very neat, as if clicked by some professional for some brochure making !!

Thanks, but I was simply there at the right time. Majority of the people, including those carrying big DSLRs and even bigger lenses (in a few cases, massive) were arriving at a time when I was just about to stop shooting, because of the harsh sunlight!

As for the temple's name, well as far as what I can recall from the sound and light show, Lakshmana was included in the name of Yasovarman. I will check with a few sources and see if it right or not.

Originally Posted by BHARAT

beautiful. Aahsome.

Thanks Bharat.

Originally Posted by drkalpin

Beautiful pics Yogeshbhai..
And what magical creations these temples are!! .. it's not just a matter of immense talent...One gets a feeling how much more humans were patient in old times.. they had all the time in the world to pursue their passion, alas..

Thanks Drkalpin

[cat]

The temple of lord Vishnu being called Lakshmana Temple... it seems that you would have to go to hardcore academic history sources to find out why. The best I found found is this wiki: Khajuraho - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia There is a table showing modern names of the temples along with principal deities. One other site says it is also known as Ramachandra Temple but not why.

One interesting thing I found is that the murthi of the four-armed Vaikuntha form of Vishnu was made in Tibet, at that time this was a main form of worship in Tibet.

[anupmathur]

YS, your pics are little masterpieces from Khajuraho; fit to go straight into a coffee table book!

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Originally Posted by cat

The temple of lord Vishnu being called Lakshmana Temple... it seems that you would have to go to hardcore academic history sources to find out why. The best I found found is this wiki: Khajuraho - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia There is a table showing modern names of the temples along with principal deities. One other site says it is also known as Ramachandra Temple but not why.

One interesting thing I found is that the murthi of the four-armed Vaikuntha form of Vishnu was made in Tibet, at that time this was a main form of worship in Tibet.

Interesting stuff, I will try to find out the information if possible. Otherwise this is something a fellow BCMTian can ask, if they are heading to Khajuraho.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

YS, your pics are little masterpieces from Khajuraho; fit to go straight into a coffee table book!

Thank you sir