Parshvanatha Temple, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

Parshvanatha Temple, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

Parshvanatha Temple is a Jain temple dedicated to the Jain tirthankara Parshvanatha located at Khajuraho town in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, India. This temple is one of a cluster of three Jain temples considered 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.

History

The temple is believed to have been constructed during the reign of the Chandela King Dhanga Deva (950-999 CE). There is a Nagari inscription of 11 lines dated to 954 CE on the left door jamb of the temple records gifts and endowments of gardens by one Pahila. The gardens listed in the inscription are Pahila Vatika, Chandra Vatika, Laghuchandra Vatika, Shankara Vatika, Panchaitala Vatika, Amra Vatika and Dhanga Vatika. The inscription describes Pahila as a devotee of Jinanatha and states that he was held in great esteem by the king Dhanga.

It is believed that the earliest idol enshrined in the temple appears to have been that of Adinatha. When the British archaeological surveyor Alexander Cunningham visited in 1852, he found the main sanctum deserted. He recorded that the temple was renovated by a Jain banker in 1847. The present Parshvanatha Idol was installed in the main sanctum in 1860 CE.  An Idol of Adinatha statue was installed in a secondary shrine attached to the rear of the temple. The temple has been classified as a Monument of National Importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The Temple

The Parshvanatha temple is the largest among the Jain temples of Khajuraho. This temple is facing towards east. The temple consists of Sanctum, Antrala, Maha Mandapam and an entrance porch. This is a sandhara temple, having common ambulatory passage around its sanctum, Antrala and Maha Mandapam. Though it is a sandhara temple, the transepts with the balconied windows, which are so characteristic of the developed Khajuraho temple style, are absent.

The external walls only has perforated windows to admit light inside. The temple structure has an oblong architectural plan with projections at two ends. The front (eastern) projection forms the entrance porch, the back (western) projection is a shrine attached to the sanctum. This shrine houses an idol of Adinatha. The ceiling of the entrance porch features chain and floral patterns, and a pair of intertwined flying Vidyadharas.

The door-lintel of the mandapa has the sculpture of Adinatha's attendant: a ten-armed Chakresvari riding a Garuda. The sanctum houses an idol of Parsvanatha. The outer walls have three bands of sculptures. These sculptures feature surasundaris (graceful women), flying couples, dancers, musicians, and celestial beings. Despite the temple's Jain affiliation, the outer walls also depict Vaishnavite themes including sculptures of Hindu gods and their incarnations with their consorts.

These include Vishnu-Lakshmi, Rama-Sita, Balarama-Revati, Parashurama, Hanuman, Brahma and Yamalarjuna legend of Krishna. These sculptures are similar to those of the Lakshmana Temple in modeling, proportions and poise. Unlike the Lakshmana temple, the Parshvanatha temple doesn't feature explicit erotic sculptures, although one particular image appears to show a cross-legged apsara masturbating with an object.

The temple has an inscription with a magic square, called the Jaina square. This is one of the oldest known 4×4 magic squares, as well as one of the oldest known most-perfect magic squares. This magic square contains all the numbers from 1 to 16. The sum of the numbers in every horizontal row, every vertical column and the two diagonal rows is 34. The magic square is diabolic: the numbers in its broken diagonals also sum up to 34.

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.

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