Matangesvara Temple, Khajuraho,
Madhya Pradesh
Matangesvara Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Khajuraho town in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the only Hindu temple among the Chandela era monuments still actively used for worship. This temple is considered as part of the western group at Khajuraho. This temple is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other temples in Khajuraho Group of Monuments.
Legends
As per legend, Matanga Rishi manifested in form of a lingam, and controlled the god of love. His hermitages were located at Khajuraho, Kedarnath, Varanasi and Gaya. These are now the sites of four Matangesvara temples.
History
The temple is believed to have
been built between 900 CE and 925 CE by Chandela Kings. The temple has been
classified as a Monument of National Importance by the Archaeological
Survey of India.
The Temple
This Temple is facing towards east. It is the plainest and earliest among the sandstone temples of Khajuraho. It is in active worship and is the holiest of the Khajuraho temples. It is a grand elaboration of Brahma temple on plan and design. It has a square plan. It is 24.5 feet square inside 35 feet square outside with windows on three sides and a projection portico with flight of steps on the east side. It is not richly decorated.
Its interior walls, exterior walls and curvilinear tower are devoid of carvings. The ceiling features elementary floral cusps. The Sanctum houses a 2.5 m high lingam, which is 1.1 m in diameter. The base platform of the lingam is 1.2 m high and 7.6 m in diameter. The lingam has Nagari and Persian inscriptions. The sanctum floor is almost completely occupied by a large Gauri-patta (6.2 m in diameter). The roof over the sanctum is pyramidal.
Festivals
During Shivaratri in
February or March, a three-day ceremony is organized here to celebrate Shiva's
marriage. It is attended by around 25,000 people. The lingam is bathed, dressed
and decorated like a human bridegroom during the ceremony.
Connectivity
The Temple is located at about
1.5 Kms from Khajuraho Bus Stand, 7 Kms from Khajuraho Airport, 7 Kms from
Rajnagar, 9 Kms from Khajuraho Railway Station, 12 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment