Chandela School: Khajuraho (Short Paragraph)!

Under the Chandela kings of Bundelkhand, a great school of architecture flourished in the 10th and 11th centuries. An example of this style is a group of temples at Khajuraho, in Madhya Pradesh.

The finest is the Shaivite temple known as Kandariya Mahadev, built around AD 1000. Other temples are dedicated to Vishnu and Jaina pontiffs.

These temples stand on high terraces. The standard type of Khajuraho temple has a shrine room (or sanctuary), an assembly hall, and an entrance portico.

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These entities were treated as a whole, whereas in the Odishan style they were conceived as separate elements joined by vestibules. The shikhara is curved for its whole length, and miniature shikaras emerge from the central tower. The crowning discs of these projections that break the upward movement are a unique feature of this art.

The effect of the whole, despite its symmetry, is one of organic and natural growth. The halls and porticoes of the temples are also crowned with smaller towers which rise progressively to lead the eye up to the main tower, and give the impression of a mountain range.

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The monotony of the ornately carved stone buildings is broken by pillared window openings. In contrast to the temples of Odisha, those of Khajuraho have sculpture both outside and inside and there are beautifully carved domed ceilings.

In the Shiva temple of Vishwanatha and the Vishnu temple of Chaturbhiya the panchayatana system—with four additional corner shrines—is exemplified.

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