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Khajuraho
History
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The past
of Khajuraho is shrouded with mystery
and conjecture. In the midst of the
wilderness full of ferocious animals,
there is the small town of Khajuraho
standing alone in its solitude with its
ancient temples. With hardly any written
records and rare references to its
origin, the history of Khajuraho has
become trapped in the mythical folklore
of the region. The beautiful artwork of
these temples have gained the attention
of the art lovers all over the world but
the real purpose behind their
construction is a mere guess work of the
intellectuals. These temples fire the
imagination of the visitors with
innumerable questions such as their
significance and their position in the
society, the reason behind using these
temples as an art gallery, the
whereabouts of the said kingdom and why
only the temples have been found and
there are no ruins of the mansions and
palaces in the nearby area. The graphic
representation of sexual and erotic
postures in a religious place is
bewildering too.
However, if the myth it is to be
believed, Khajuraho was known as 'Khajur-vahika'
or 'Khajjurpura' in the ancient times
because of its golden date palms (known
as 'khajur') that lined the gates of
this city. It has been mentioned in the
Mahoba-khand of Chandbardai's (the
famous medieval court poet) 'Prithviraj
Raso' that Hemraj, the royal priest of
Kashi (the old name for Varanasi), had
an exceptionally beautiful daughter
named Hemvati, who was unfortunately a
child widow. One summer night, while she
was bathing in a lotus-filled pond, the
Moon God was so dazed by her beauty that
he descended to earth in human form full
of lust and passion and ravished her.
Later, he repented when the distressed
Hemvati threatened to curse him for
ruining her honor and dignity and
blessed her with a valiant son who would
later become a king and build the
temples of Khajuraho. Hemvati left her
home and gave birth to a brave and
strong boy child in the tiny village of
Khajjurpura. The child was named
Chandravarman and it is said that by the
time he was 16 years old, the glorious
boy was strong and skilled enough to
kill tigers or lions with his bare
hands. With the blessings of the Moon
God, his father he became a mighty king
and built the fortress at Kalinjar. Then
heeding to his mother's wishes he built
85 legendary temples surrounded by lakes
and gardens at Khajuraho and also
performed the bhandya yagya, to wash
away the sins of his mother.
Yet another version of the above legend
raises Hemvati as a dutiful daughter who
sacrificed all her happiness and dignity
for her father. Mani Ram, the royal
priest of Kalinjar, miscalculated once
and declared the dark night as the full
moon night or Purnamasi in front of the
king. Hemvati, his widowed daughter
could not bear the possibility of any
stigma on her father's reputation and
prayed to the Moon God to uphold the
word of the priest. However, she had to
pay a heavy price for her wish being
granted when the Moon God who was
smitten by the lady's beauty ravished
her in return for his favor. When Mani
Ram came to know of this entire
incident, he was so ashamed and
grief-stricken that he cursed himself
and turned into a stone. However,
Hemvati got pregnant with the tryst and
gave birth to a virtuous son by the name
of sage Chandrateya who is believed to
be the founder of the Chandela dynasty.
Chandelas worshipped the Mani
Ram-turned-stone as Maniya Dev. |
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