Brahma Temple, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

Brahma Temple, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

Brahma Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Khajuraho town in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, India. This temple is considered as part of the eastern group at Khajuraho. This temple is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other temples in Khajuraho Group of Monuments. The Temple is situated on the banks of the Khajur Sagar Tank.

History

The temple is believed to be built in 925 CE. The temple has been classified as a Monument of National Importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The Temple

This Temple is similar to the Lalguan Mahadeva temple in plan. This temple is made of granite while most of the other temples in Khajuraho are made of sandstone. This temple was built during a period in which a transition was occurring from granite to sandstone. The shikhara over the sanctum is made of sandstone and rest were made of granite. The temple originally consisted of a porch and Sanctum.

The porch has been completely destroyed and only the sanctum remains. The Sanctum is cruciform in shape externally and contains projections in each side. The projection on the east contains the entrance and the west is provided with a smaller entrance, while the other projections contain plain latticed windows. It is square in shape internally and rests on 12 pilasters of granite. The main doorway is devoid of decorations.

It contains a sculpture of Trimurtis on the lintel and Ganga and Yamuna at the base. The temple might have originally been dedicated to Vishnu as shown by his figure carved centrally on the lintel of the doorway. The sanctum houses a four faced lingam (Chathur Mukha Linga). Locals mistook this representation of Lord Shiva as Brahma who has four faces. Hence, the temple is incorrectly called as Brahma Temple.

Connectivity

The Temple is located at about 1.5 Kms from Khajuraho Bus Stand, 6 Kms from Khajuraho Airport, 7 Kms from Rajnagar, 10 Kms from Khajuraho Railway Station, 13 Kms from Bamitha, 41 Kms from Chhatarpur, 47 Kms from Panna and 379 Kms from Bhopal. Khajuraho is situated on Bamitha to Rajnagar route. Khajuraho railway station connects the town by a daily train to Delhi via Mahoba, Jhansi and Gwalior. It provides a daily train connecting to Agra, Jaipur, Bhopal and Udaipur. A local daily train also connects to Kanpur, whilst Varanasi is connected three times a week. Khajuraho Airport has flights to Delhi, Agra, Varanasi and Mumbai.

Location