KANDARI

YA
MAHADEVA
TEMPL
E

Be
tülEr
gün
कं
डा
रिया
महा
दव
ेमं
दि
र

MapS howingtheWester
na ndEaster
nGr oupofTemples
The Khaj
uraho gr
oup ofmonume nt
sha sbeenlis
teda sa
UNESCOWor l
dHeri
tag
eS i
te.T
hes urv
ivi
ngt e
mplesar
edivide
d
i
ntothreegroups-
-weste
rn,east
ernandsout he
rn.

Kandari
yaMahadevaTempl
e(le )Small
Ma hadevShr
ine(i
nthemi ddl
e)a
ndt heDevi
Jag
a da
mbi T
empl
e(r
ight
) Si
teVie wofTheTempleWi thi
tsE nvir
onment
T
heDe viJ
aga
dambiTemplei
stheolderbei
ngconst
ruct
ed1000-1025ADanditwasor
igi
nal
lydedi
cat
edt
oVis
hnu. TheKha jur
ahotemplesarenow s i
tuatedinapa r
klandl a
nd-
I
tisl
ik
eas mal
lsc
ale
doneofitsf
amousne i
ghbourandtheyar
es har
ingt
hesamepla or
m. sca
pe .Thea r
cha
e ol
ogi
calsit
ei ssimila
rlik
ea nE ngli
shpubl i
c
parkwi t
hit
sornamentalt
rees.Butitiscl
earthatthereisnor e
-
l
aons hi
pwi t
htheor i
gi
nal,hist
oriclandsc
ape .Nor ecordsof
wha tt
heor i
gi
nall
andsca
pemi ghtha vebeene x
ist
.

Kandar iyaMahadevaTempl ei st hel arges tandt het all

es tofthes urvivingt empl eswhi c hisloc atedatt het empl es i
te
ofKhaj ur ahoinMadhy aPrades h,I ndia.I ti
sc ons i
der edasnotonl ythebi gges tbutar chitec t
urall
yt hemos t
impr es si
v eandor nateexampl eofI ndianar c hi
tec turei nthemedi av al period.
Althought heHindut emplesi nKhaj arahower ebui ltov eraper i
odof2000y earsfrom 950t o1 150,itiss pec ul
atedt hat
almos t85oft hem werebui l
tbyt heChandel l
ak ings ,es pec i
al l
yKi ngsYas hov armanandVi dyadhar a.Butr ecentlyjust
25t empl eswhi chc oul
dac hievet owi t
hs tandt her av agesoft i
meandt hei nv adesofMus li
mshav ebeeni dentifi
ed.For-
t
unat ely,asi ti
soutoftheur banc ent ers,thet empl es i
tehadbeenf or gottens inc e13thc ent uryands t
ay edaspr eserved
betweent hegrowingforestunt i
ltheywer er edisc ov er edbyt heBr i
ti
s hCapt ainT .
S.Bur tin1838.TheKhaj urahot em-
plesar eanapogeeoft heNor t
hI ndi anNagar aar chi tec t
ural styl
e.
Kandar i
yaMahadev awasal s obui l
tint her eignofVi dy adhar a( 1017- 1029)whent het empl ear chitecturer eachedi ts
highes tpoi nti
nIndia.Iti
sloc atedbet weent hewes ter ngr oupoft empl ess haringt hes amepl atform witht het empleof
Dev iJagadambi .TheKhaj urahot empl ess i
tonv er ylar gepl atforms .Thi sbr ingstomi ndt hator i
ginallyther emayhav e
beenal ak eherebeneat hthem.Theex istenc eofr itual bathingi nHi ndut raditi
ons trengthenst hi
st hought .Dev outsare
requiredt opurif
yt hemselvesbef oreent er
ingt hes ac r
edpl aces .Ther emaybeas trongr el
ationshipbet weent he
t
empl es it
esandwat er
.
1
कं
डा
रिया
महा
दव
ेमं
दि
र Abr i
efr eview ofHi nduCosmol ogy:
Ac cordingtoHi ndu,theuniversehasac ycli
calnatureasbeingc r
eated,destr
oyedand
re-created.Supr emeBei ngdec i
desthec reation,i
tissymbol ofwholei
nfini
ty
.Besideit
,
t
hec reatorisBr ahma,s ust
aineri
sVi shnuandt hedes t
royerisShiva.
Auniversetakes
4,320, 000,000y earstobes urvi
vedands amey earstobedes t
royed.Henc e,auni-
versei sther esultofti
methatfoll
owsthec osmicor deri
nwhi chafract
ionofmomenti s
t
hemi c r
ocos m ofbiggestt
imeuni t.

Acc ordingtoHi nduphi l

osophy,themaingoalofman’sli
feist
oac hi
ev etheulti
mateli
b-
erationfrom theill
usionarywor l
dwherehes uff
ersfr
om hisendlessrebirt
h.Toac hi
eve
t
his,mans houldwors hi
p,devoteandmedi t
atet
othemani f
estedform ofthewholeness
ofinfini
ty.Sohec anreac htoandas si
milat
ewiththeGod.Inthismannert hetempleis
t
houghtast heplacewher eonec anmov eawayfrom t
hephys i
calworldandc anprac-
t
icet histruthofc r
eation.Thetempl eshoul
dbeanac t
orofmi cr
ocosm oft hecosmos.
I
ts houldac tasat r
ans i
ti
onareabet weentheGodandt hewor l
d.

I
nc oncl
usion,r elat
edwi tht hisphi l
osophy,thet emplewasf oundedgr aphicall
yi na
l
ay outofcosmos .Cent ralpor tionoft hemandal arepresentst hepl aceofBr ahmaand
otherporti
onss ymbol izet heot hergodsac cordi
ngt otheirc apabi l
it
y.Byl ayingdown
t
hismet aphy sicaldiagram i nt hef oundation,v ar
ioussuper naturalforcesar ec aptured
beneaththet empl ewher easi tsc entr
eist hes ourceofc osmi cener gies.Thebas i
c
shapeoft hev astupur us hamandal aisas quarewhi chr epres entstheear th.Itsfour
si
desdepi ctthef ourc ardinal directi
ons.Italsos ymboli
zest heor der,thec ompl et
enes s
Ar
chi
tect
ureoft
het
empl
e:
ofendlessl i
feandt heper fectnes sofl i
feanddeat h.Ac cordingt oHi nduphi losophy,
KandariyaMahadevanameactual
lymeans‘ShivaCave’
.Itconsi
stsoftheword‘
cave’ ourmundanel i
feisc ontrolledbyt henumberf our—fourc astes ,fourstagesofl if
e,four
call
edasKandaraandalsoMahadevaistheothernameofShivathatistheoneoft
he greatepochsormahay ugas ,fourheadsofBr ahma,thef ourVedaset c .
greatestdei
ti
esi
nHindui
sm.Thetempl
eisdedicatedt
oShiva.

Si
mi l
artootherHindutempl es,Kandari
yaMahadevaTempleisdesignedal
onganax i
s
t
hatex t
endsf r
om thec ent
eroft hechamberupwardthr
ought heli
neofSikhara(main
t
ower )
.Thebodyoft hebuildi
ngiss i
tonaplat
for
m 4m high.Ithas30,5m lenghtand
20m widht.Mainsikharari
sesabout31m abovetheplat
for
m.Itlooksl
ikeahugemoun-
t
ainwithit
sc ave-
li
keopeni ngs etabovethegr
ound.I
tdepict
st heMountKail
ashinHi-
malayamount ai
ns,whic hi
sdedi cat
edtothenameofShiva.

Thistypi
calNor
thIndi
anTemplewelcomeitsvi
si
torswit
hal ar
geaxialst
air
casewhi
ch
Thest
onedi
skkamal
aont
opoft
hesi
khar
a Maj
ori
tyofel
ement
soft
hisst
ruct
ure
givesaccesst
otheplat
form.East
ward-f
aci
ngentrancepor
ch(ArdhaMandapa)hasa
andt
hef
ini
alont
opofi
trel
i
giousl
yconnect consi
stent
lypoi
ntupwar
dst
hrought
he
f
inely-
detai
l
edceremonialar
ch(makarator
ana)f
lankedbytwoc r
ocodi
leheads.
t
heear
thandcosmi
cwor
ld f
ini
alandheavens
2
 1.Gar
bhagr
ihaandl
i
ngam 2.Pr
adakshi
naPat
hwi
thi
ts
hi
ghl
ydecor
atedwal
l
s.

Themaj
orpar
tsofaHi
ndut
empl
e;

1.Gar bhagr iha(innersanct rum):

Lit
eral
lymeani ng the womb c hamber ,thispar ti sloc ated i nt he i nter
sec t
ion ofmai n hori
zont alax i
s
(east
-wes t)andc r
os s-axi
sI tresembl esac aveandopenedont oapor ch.I nHi nduism,templ eisapl ace
whichs ervesast hedei ty’
shous eandhenc eHindusc omet her et ointeractwihandwor shi
pthedei ty.I
tcon-
t
ainsthei mageoft het emple’spri
mar ydei t
y,thei mageofShi vaf ort hi
sex ampl e.Thec r
eatives ymbolof
Shivac al
led‘ l
ingam’ standsi nthec ent erofgar bhargriha.Wombc hamberi sadi m- li
tsquareplac e.Itdoes
nothav ewi ndowss oast omak ethedev otee’smi ndf oc us ont het angibleform oft hedivi
newi thi
ni t.With
i
tswell decoratedwal l
sands pir
it
ual atmos phere,i tisr epres ent ati
v eofmi crocosm oft heuniverse. 3.Mandapa (
att
hel
eft
)

2.Pradakshi naPat h: 4.Ar

thamandapa(
above)
Itist
hepat hawayl ocatedar oundthegar bhargriha.Pr adak s hinameansc i
rcumambul ati
onofhol yplac esin
Hindu.Dev oteess tartcircumambul ationfrom thef rontandgoc l
oc kwi se.Andaf terreachingtheof f
eringsfor Not
e*
Shiva,theyc omebac kinant i
-cl
ockwi s eands oc ompl et ethec i
r cl
e.Thi splacebehi ndt hewombc hamber Thet
ruear
ch(
inwhi
cht
hepar
tsof
hasthrees i
desofbal conys oast obr ingv ent
il
at i
onandl i
ghtt oi nterior
. t
hear
char
esuppor
tedi
ntensi
onwi
t
h
3.Mandapa( hal
l): eachot
her
)wasunknowni
ncl
assi
cal
Iti
satrans
it
ionhallwithfourcolumnsandt wobal
coni
esoneac hside.Thehal
llocat
edbetweenart
haman- I
ndi
a. The ar
ches i
n Khaj
uraho'
s
dapa andmahamandapai somi ttedusual
l
yinsmall
ertemples. t
empl
e ar
e made by a t
echni
que
4.Art
hamandapa( entrancepor ch)
: known as cor
bel
l
ing,i
n a dome or
Formi
ngat ransi
ti
onalareabet weenmandapaandt heoutsideworld,i
twel
comesv i
sit
orst
hroughtheway ar
chi
scr
eat
ed by over
lappi
ng ma-
Basi
cpr
inci
pleof
ofgar
bhagriha.Justthemos tgr eattempl
eshavethesealltr
ansi
ti
onalpl
aces.InKandari
ya,theporchi
s sonr
ycour
ses.
cor
nelar
ch
decor
atedwithac eremonialarchal so.
3
Fract
alGeomet
ry
i
nKandariyaMahadevaTempl
e:

Repet i
ti
onsofel ement s,number softextural
detail
s,andc ascadesofs hapeinar chi
tect
ure
havebeendef i
nedbyf r
actalgeomet r
y.I
tsnev -
er-
endingnat uremak esthef r
actalfi
gur
easa
microcosm ofinfi
nity
.Thebes texampleoft his
i
sHi ndutempl ethatshowst heuni ver
seandi ts
energyalthought heywer ebuiltf
arbefor
et han
t
hef ract
altheory
Vast
upurushuma nda
lashowsthepos i
-
Fig1.a)
Top.9s quaredmandala.Bott
om;s i
desarebumpedupalong onof45g odsandg i
vesthedirecv e
cardi
naldi
rect
ions.b)theplanofKandari
yaMahadev aTempl
e.Ri
gh- pri
nci
ple
sofbui l
dingconstucona nd
t
up;developmentofnewel ementhavingagoldenrati
o.Ri
ght
bott
om; thel
ocaonofr oomsduet othenature
f
il
ledwithnewel ementinthreesi
desandov er
lappedwit
hsel
fsi
milar
. ofdei
tyrul
i
ngthatparc ul
ararea
.

FractalGeome tr
yi nF loorPl an:
Thedi agr
a m ofv astupur ushuma nda l
ai st hei nia l l
ayoutoft hef oundaonofHi ndut empl e .Thisdia gr
am ma teri
a l
iz
est hec os mos
theory.It
sfra ct
al qua l
ie sr e flectst hei ma geofc osmosde fine dinHi nduc osmol og y.Square sa rerepe atedwi thinas quarea ndot he r
-
squareswi thina nothe rs qua rea nds oon.E achne wl ybor ns qua r
epe rhapsde pi ctsthebi rthofne wuni versei nwhi chthec e ntreof
ma ndalaisthes our ceofc reaonofe a chs qua re,i.e.,eac huni ve rs
e .
Fi
g2.Ma i
ntowe ri
srepeat
eda bovemandapaand t
I ’
scons i
dere dtha ttheni ne -s
qua reg ri
dc all
eda spi tahma nda laisthefir sts hapet opr oduc et hepl anofKa nda ri
yaMa hade vat e m-
al
soa l
ong t he axis ofma ndapa tothe en- ple.
Inthefir stiteraon, thee nerg ycont a i
ne dbyt hec enterof ma nda l
abumpsupt hemi ddleof thee achs i
dea londt hefourdi recons .
t
rance
.Theser epe v etowersma ketomoveup
man’
se yesautomac all
ytothema int
owerabove Me ande r
inge leme ntst ha tist hec ombi naonof ag oldenr e ctang l
ea ndas qua re, area ppli
e dt othene wc orners.Onec opyof thisfra c
-
t
hesanctuar
y talpa e r
nbe come ss a nct ua ryandonebe come st hee nt ranc epa rt.Lastl
ythee nt rancepa rtispr oj
e cteda l
ongt hea x
isandt hefina l
planisobt a
ine d.Notonl yt heout erpl anbuta lsot hepl anofc entralsanctuaryi sa lsotheoffs e tofout erplan, whi c
hma keswhol et he
planasf r
acta l
.
FractalGeome tr
yi nE l
e va on:
Twodi me nsional ma nifest aonofHi nduc os mol ogyt ur
nsi nt othr eedime nsioni ne l
evaonofKa nda ri
y aMa ha devaT emple. Thea rc hi
-
tectcal
leda ss t
ha pa i nflue nc edbyna tur ea ndus edi tast hee xampl esoffractal. Simil
a rtos elfsimilarmount s
’ repeanga ndpoi n ng
upt othes ky,the yma dec ent raltowe ra ndr epl i
ca soft ha t.Whi l
ema intowe rS hik harade pictst hemount aint hatisdomi nateont he
earth,soari
ngt owe ri sas y mbol of seriesof repe v euni ve rse.Espec i
all
yint hec a seof Kanda riyaMa hade vtempl e ,
themount a i
nf orm
ofshikharaha sfur t
he rs igni ficanc ewhi chde pictst hemountk ailashwhe r
e(a ccor dingt oHi ndube li
efs)theL ordS hivadwe ll
s,be ca use
Fig3.Anot hersi
g nificanceofsucharra
nge mentof thi
st emplewa sde dicat edt ot heL ordS hi va.
sma l
l
ert owersont hes hi
khar
aofKa ndari
yaMa - I
nt heca s
eof Kanda ri
y aMa ha devt empl e ,thema i
nt owe ra bov ethes anc t
uar yisr epe a
t eda titsfourside sandt hes amepr oces sof rep-
ha devt empleist hema n’
spe r
cep onfors ee
ing
thewhol ebodyofs hikhar
ainit
sself
-si
milarpart
s e oni scon nue di ne a chne wlybor ns ma ll
e rtowe r,anda ga i
nt hisproce s
sr epe a tedint hel astne wlybor ns ma ll
ertowe r(F i
g. 11a )
.
from a nylocaonofv iewT hi
sfra
ctalpropert
yis Atthes ame mes ma ll
e rt owe r
sa rer epe ate dont hebodyof ma intowe ri
nwhi cht hewhol et owe ra a inssuc ha na r
rangeme ntwhe re
alsor eflectedfrom t hede gr
eeofde ta
il
si neach onec ane asil
yf e
e lthewhol einapa rtwi thina not he rpa rt.
pa rtofshikhar
a.

4
Re
fer
enc
es:

I
ase
fMdRi ana
,Ji
n-HoPa
rka,HyungUkAhna,Dongk
ukCha
ng b,
Fract
algeometr
yast
he
s
ynthe
sisofHi
nducos
mologyinKandar
iyaMahade
vtempl
e,Khaj
uraho,2007

Py
rce
,Wi
l
l.Wor
ldAr
chi
tec
tur
e:t
hemas
ter
wor
ks.
2008

h p:
//www.col
umbia.
edu/
it
c/meal
ac/pri
tche /
00r
out
es-
dat
a/1000_
1099/k
andari
ya/k
andar
iya.ht
ml

h p:
//pe
rsonal
.
car
thage
.edu/
jl
ocht
efe
ld/
pic
tur
epage
s/Khaj
uraho/
arc
hit
ect
ure
.ht
ml

h p:
//pe
rsonal
.
car
thage
.edu/
jl
ocht
efe
ld/
pic
tur
epage
s/Khaj
uraho/
kandar
iya.
html

h p:
//e
duca on.
asi
anar
t.
org/
expl
ore-
res
our
ces
/bac
kgr
ound-
in-
f
orma on/
kandari
ya-
mahadeva-
templ
e

h p:
//www.
gre
atbui
l
dings
.com/
bui
l
dings
/Kandar
iya_
Templ
e.
html

h p:
//www.
kamal
kapoor
.c
om/
hindu-
spi
ri
tual
-pl
ace
s/k
andar
iya-
templ
e.
asp

h ps
://
en.
wik
ipe
dia.
org/
wik
i/K
andar
iya_
Mahade
va_
Templ
e

h p:
//s
ony
aandt
rav
is.
com/
khaj
uraho-
madh
ya-
prade
sh-
indi
a/

h p:
//www.
rbar
nhi
l
l.
com/
Indi
a/Khaj
uraho.
php