The temples of Khajuraho are the most sublime expressions of medieval Hindu architecture. Despite its currently remote location, Khajuraho was once the capital of the Chandela Dynasty which ruled most of central India from the 10th to 12th centuries. There were reputedly over 80 temples of which some 20 have survived scattered over a wide area. The most famous are the Western Group located in a spacious park sprinkled with brightly colored bougainvilleas.
Profile of the Chitragupta Temple — (click photos to enlarge)Soaring Temple Spires
The elaborately carved sandstone temples are elevated on high platforms like sculptures placed atop pedestals. Often four small shrines are added at each corner of the platform representing the cardinal directions, with the main building centered as the cosmic axis mundi. The interior layouts and famous silhouettes of Khajuraho typify the essential elements of a classical Hindu temple. Aligned on an east-west axis to face the rising sun, there is a covered entrance porch leading to a large pillared hall, followed by a vestibule preceding the sanctuary. The worshipers thus proceed through a series of increasingly sacred spaces, leaving the profane outside world in their symbolic journey to the center.
Spire and Rear View of Kandariya Mahadeva TempleCloseup View
The sanctuary contains the image of the deity to whom the temple is dedicated, and is customarily small, dark and unadorned, resembling a cave. Contrastingly, the structures above with their sculpted profusion of plants, animals, humans and deities, simulate a vast mountain range that rises to a peak. Each section of the temple has a separate roof structure, from the lowest over the entrance porch to the highest over the sanctuary. While the first three have roughly pyramidal shapes formed by superimposed horizontal tiers, the roof section directly above the sanctuary rises as a tall spire called shikhara (mountain peak); its soaring height emphasized by the repetition of vertical bands and other carved decorations.
Temple EntrancePeaks of the Sacred Mountain
Khajuraho is especially renowned for the exquisite sculptures that cover the outside of the temples with their graceful elongated forms. Not only deities but beautiful men and women are represented engaged in all the activities of worldly life. Many are shown as amorous couples whose acrobatic postures reflect an esoteric code, for Khajuraho was reputedly a center for Tantra, yogic practices exalting the goddess Shakti. Shakti is the creative life energy of the universe manifesting as the feminine principle, Mother Nature, the Great Goddess. Shakti energy can be expressed as sexuality but it can also be sublimated and channeled as spiritual power, for Tantric philosophy teaches to “use the senses to go beyond the senses.”
Detail of the Sculptures
At Khajuraho, sculpture and architecture meld together in a harmonious synthesis reminiscent of the great European Gothic cathedrals. With their serene expressions, graceful postures and refined gestures that recall the art of classical Indian dance, the sculptures of Khajuraho illustrate our inherent capacity for trans-cendence, from the human to the divine.
The verdant landscape of the state of Tamil Nadu in the southern tip of India is punctuated by the spectacular towers which rise above the rooftops of its fabled temple towns. The Muslim conquest of the north did not permanently extend into this southernmost region of the subcontinent; thus it was able to preserve intact most of its ancient temple buildings which have functioned uninterruptedly as centers of Tamil cultural life. These great southern temples were maintained, embellished and enlarged through the patronage of powerful ruling dynasties from the 10th to the 17th centuries; from the Pallavas of Kanchipuram to the Cholas of Tanjore the Rayas of Vijayanagar and the Nayaks of Madurai.
View of Kanchipuram — (click photos to enlarge)Ekambareswarar Temple
Temple towers of KANCHIPURAM dominate the skyline for miles around. As one of seven sacred cities of India and the capital of several southern dynasties, Kanchi’s ancient temples reflect its historical import-ance. The town is a traditional silk-weaving center famous throughout India. The Ekambareswarar temple dedicated to Shiva comprises five enclosures and a thousand-pillared hall. Its colossal gopura, built by the kings of Vijayanagar in the 16th century, is one of the tallest in India.
The development of the southern temple style reflects the expansion of the temple precinct into the surrounding town and its growing involvement in community life. The original sanctuary eventually became hidden inside a series of concentric walled enclosures (prakara) covering a vast area. These enclosures follow a progressive hierarchy from the outside toward the center, with the holiest and most restricted areas being those closest to the inner shrine housing an image of the deity to whom the temple is dedicated.
Plan of Srirangam Temple
The enclosure walls are topped at each cardinal direction by colossal multi-storied gateway towers (gopura) which can rise to 200 ft. in height but diminish in size as they approach the inner shrine. Gopuram have tapering rectangular profiles capped by huge barrel vaults. The brick cores are covered by thousands of figures from the vast Hindu pantheon molded in stucco and painted in brilliant colors. Theydepict a vibrant, crowded and colorful celestial realm mirroring the panorama in the streets below.
Golden Roof of Vishnu’s Shrine Within the Enclosures at Srirangam
The town of SRIRANGAM occupies an island in the Kaveri River near the city of Tiruchirapalli. The seven walled enclosures of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple cover 156 acres and extend into the sur-rounding town. The first three enclosures are thronged with shops and houses for the sacred precincts only start at the fourth enclosure where visitors must leave their shoes. Non-Hindus may not proceed beyond the second enclosure surrounding the gold-roofed shrine dedicated to the god Vishnu in a reclining form known as Ranganatha.The temple is a major pilgrimage destination for Vishnu devotees, filled with shrines to his various avatars including Rama and Krishna.
Rare View Inside the Shrine at Kanchipuram Where the Bronze Image of Shiva Nataraja (Clothed and Garlanded) is Flanked by Those of His Consort Parvati and Their Son Ganesh
Every day a series of rituals is performed by priests to awaken, bathe and clothe the image in the sanctuary, while devotees recite prayers and present offerings of food and flowers (puja) to receive the blessing (darshan) of the deity. Only Hindus are allowed inside the innermost sacred enclosures. In contrast, the outer enclosures are a maze of pilgrim hostels, houses for temple workers, stables for the temple elephants, souvenir shops, food stalls and flower vendors in what amounts to a bustling small city within a city.
Meenakshi Temple Gopura
MADURAI, of legendary antiquity, is the most famous temple town in Tamil Nadu. The great Meenakshi temple was built over hundreds of years, achieving its present dimen-sions in the 17th century. It is a Shiva temple dedicated to his consort the goddess Parvati, who is worshiped here as her avatar Meenakshi. The temple is entered through twelve gateways topped by astonishing gopuram covered with thousands of painted stucco figures, rising 170 ft. above the town.
Detail of Gopura
The Meenakshi temple also boasts several exquisitely carved pillared halls; one hall houses a bustling bazaar where merchants ply their trade under the benevolent gaze of the deities. The temple remains the geographic and social center of Madurai, crowded with worshipers and tourists by day; while in the cool of the evening locals congregate around the water tank to socialize, relax, and enjoy the chanting and devotional music.
Gopuram of Madurai Are Repainted Every 12 Years
Another architectural feature of southern temples are the so-called “thousand pillared halls” where the supporting stone columns have been carved in the round with figures of deities, mythological beasts and rearing horses. These spacious halls served a variety of purposes, like recitations of Hindu scriptures and epics and performances of sacred music and dance. At the height of their glory the temples of Tamil Nadu were renowned centers of learning and culture maintaining their own corps of scholars, artists, dancers and musicians.
The Goddess MeenakshiCrowded Temple BazaarHorses and Warriors
Over time, the patron deity of each locality took on the guise and assumed many of the functions of a ruler, such as granting audiences, accepting tribute and presiding over a busy calendar of religious festivals. Temple festivals often include processions where images of the gods are paraded in elaborate chariots (ratha) through the town. Beautiful bronze images were created especially for such festivals. Cast in the lost-wax process they are unique pieces which, like the famed Chola bronzes (c. 850-1250 CE) represent the height of South Indian sculpture. The best known subject to emerge from this tradition of Chola processional bronzes is Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance. This graceful yet powerful image synthesizes profound philosophical concepts: the god tramples the demon of ignorance while performing the cosmic dance of creation and destruction within a halo of fire. His serene countenance and hand gesture banishing fear represent the enlightened acceptance and resolution of opposites.
Shrine on the Temple Grounds
SRIRANGAM is the largest temple complex in India and the largest active Hindu temple in the world (only Angkor Wat in Cambodia which no longer functions as a temple surpasses it). Many ruling dynasties of south India contributed to its construction and decoration over the centuries. Most structures date between the 14th and 17th centuries, from its reconstruction after occupation by the Sultans of Delhi in 1371 to its great expansion under the kings of Vijayanagar.
Fine Ancient Carvings Lie Under the Paint
Srirangam boasts twenty-one huge gopuram covered in brightly painted sculptures. This vast temple is an amazing architectural achievement. Yet, off the beaten path, it is seldom visited by tourists adding to the unsophisticated genuineness of the place. Wandering the labyrinth of shrines, gardens and halls, visitors encounter both the garish and naive, and the refined and exquisitely crafted, in a heady juxtaposition of dazzling color and shadows.
The famous temples of Tamil Nadu with their numerous festivals attract multitudes of visitors, for undertaking pilgrimages to sacred places (tirtha-yatra) is a tradition for devout Hindus. Pilgrimages attest to the enduring power of the spirit of place inherent in all sacred locations, with their unique manifestations of energy capable of profoundly affecting and transforming all who visit them.
In the first centuries of the Common Era, Indian traders began expanding their sphere of influence throughout Southeast Asia, establishing outposts that eventually flourished into independent indianized kingdoms. Their trade routes also spread Indian culture and religious ideas in a syncretic mix of Hinduism and Buddhism (which still coexisted at that time) colored by mystical Tantric elements. This Indo-Javanese period spans from the 7th to the 10th centuries CE, when the Sailendra dynasty ruled Java, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
View of the Galleries — (click photos to enlarge)View of the Monument
The Sailendras were Buddhists, and their greatest achievement was the construction around the year 800 CE of Borobodur, the largest Buddhist monument in the world. This unique structure, built atop a low natural hill in central Java, is a three-dimensional architectural mandala. It is not a building in the normal sense of the word, as it is completely open to the sky and has no interior spaces. Its design incorporates the symbolism of Mount Meru (the sacred mountain at the center of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology), the geometric patterns of a mandala diagram (used to focus psycho-spiritual energies), and bell-shaped stupas (Buddhist monuments housing holy relics).
Plan of Borobodur
The scale of Borobodur is impressive: the monument rises up nine levels as a series of receding terraces that form a truncated pyramid. The base platform, shaped as a square with indented corners, measures 370 ft. on each side. It is surmounted by five square terraces and three circular ones, linked by four stairways that rise to the summit, which is topped by a large bell-shaped stupa.
Ascent to the Summit
Pilgrims traditionally ascend the eastern stairway to begin their clockwise circumambulation of the monument; a complete circuit of the four square terraces covers a distance of 3/4 of a mile. The square terraces are surrounded by balustrades that create partially enclosed galleries which are open to the sky. The galleries are decorated with over 500 life-sized Buddha images and some 8,202 linear ft. of exquisitely carved relief panels.
Scenes of Daily Life
The entire sculptural program is conceived in didactic progression. Reliefs on the base level offer lively depictions of contemporary life that illustrate the workings of karma, the spiritual law of cause and effect, in human affairs. Most of these carvings were later covered up by the wide platform built in order to stabilize the structure. The relief carvings on the first terrace feature scenes from the life of the historical Buddha and fantastic tales of his earlier incarnations called Jatakas. These panels contain some of the most famous images from Borobodur. The next four terraces depict the education of Sudhana a young man who serves as a model for the spiritual seeker of Buddhism. The imagery of the upper galleries becomes progressively more esoteric as it focuses on the bodhisattvas, transcendent saintly figures of the Mahayana pantheon and their philosophical teachings.
Scenes of Buddha’s LifeOne of 500 Buddha Statues
In the upper circular terraces we pass from the world of forms into formlessness; from the wealth of figurative detail which decorates the lower terraces into pure abstraction. Seventy-two hollow stupas are arranged in three concentric circles, each one pierced by small diamond or square shaped openings that allow only partial glimpses of the Buddha images inside, all seated in the pose of preaching the first sermon, called “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law.”
Buddhas and Stupas of the Upper Levels
The enclosed galleries of the lower terraces obscure the view so a person cannot see very far beyond their immediate surroundings; forcing one, as it were, to focus on the teachings being presented at whichever stage of the journey one is at. But once the topmost circular terraces are reached, suddenly the space opens up offering a magnificent 360-degree view of the light-filled surrounding plain. This exhilarating experience vividly illustrates a spiritual seeker’s progression from the darkness and limitations of ignorance to the clarity and boundless freedom of enlightenment.
View From the Top
Borobodur is a three-dimensional interactive exposition of Buddhist doctrine, capable of transforming consciousness through its very design. The pilgrim gradually ascends the sacred mountain while circumambulating in spiral fashion each level of the mandala, undergoing in the process a symbolic transformation; leading from the depths of ignorance, upward through successive stages of increasing self-awareness and knowledge of the dharma, to the final achievement of the heights of spiritual transcendence in nirvana.
