Khajuraho | |
---|---|
town | |
Coordinates: 24°51′N79°56′E / 24.85°N 79.93°E | |
Country | India |
State | Madhya Pradesh |
District | Chhatarpur |
Elevation | 283 m (928 ft) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 1,762,857 |
Languages | |
• Official | Hindi |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
The Khajurāho Hanumān inscription is an epigraphic record on the base of a colossal figure of Hanuman, located at the temple site of Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. The inscription dates to the tenth century CE. The Hanumān is under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India, being listed as a monument of national importance. [1]
The inscription is on the base of a well-known image of Hanumān at Khajurāho. Because the figure is under worship and the shrine renovated, the inscription is not presently visible.
The inscription and the image of Hanumān are frequently mentioned in the literature on Khajurāho. [2] The inscription was first noticed by Alexander Cunningham in the nineteenth century. [3] D. R. Bhandarkar revisited the inscription in 1904 and published a new reading, in addition to a fresh interpretation of the date. [4]
The inscription is written in Sanskrit in three lines. The style of the characters supports a date in the tenth century CE.
The Khajurāho inscription is of great importance for the history of Hinduism because it gives a date of 316. This is taken by historians to refer to the Harṣa era, thus giving a date of 922 in the common era. While there are certainly figures of Hanumān that are older than the tenth century, this inscription makes the Khajurāho image the oldest dated Hanumān currently known.
The uncorrected text reads as follows:
Left side:
Right side:
part I
part II
The Khajuraho Group of Monuments are a group of Hindu and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India. They are about 175 kilometres (109 mi) southeast of Jhansi, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Khajwa, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from Rajnagar, and 49 kilometres (30 mi) from district headquarter Chhatarpur. The temples are famous for their Nagara-style architectural symbolism and a few erotic sculptures.
The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs.
The Udayagiri Caves are twenty rock-cut caves near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh primarily denoted to Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva from the early years of the 3rd century CE to 5th century CE. They contain some of the oldest surviving Hindu temples and iconography in India. They are the only site that can be verifiably associated with a Gupta period monarch from its inscriptions. One of India's most important archaeological sites, the Udayagiri hills and its caves are protected monuments managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Bharhut is a village located in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, central India. It is known for its famous relics from a Buddhist stupa. What makes Bharhut panels unique is that each panel is explicitly labelled in Brahmi characters mentioning what the panel depicts. The major donor for the Bharhut stupa was King Dhanabhuti.
The Chitharal Jain Monuments and Bhagavati Temple, also known as Chitharal Malai Kovil, Chitaral Cave Temple or Bhagavati Temple, are located near Chitharal village in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. They consist of stone beds with inscriptions, and two monuments – one rock cut Jain temple with outer wall reliefs and one Hindu goddess temple next to it that is a combination of rock-cut and stone that was added during the reign of Vikramaditya Varaguna Pandya. The monuments are from the 9th century CE.
The Jain temples of Khajuraho are a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Khajuraho. They are located in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of the city of Jhansi.
Eran is an ancient town and archaeological site in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It was one of the ancient mints for Indian dynasties as evidenced by the diverse coins excavated here. The site has 5th and 6th-century Gupta era temples and monuments, particularly the colossal stone boar with sages and scholars depicted on the body of the sculpture. The inscription stones found at Eran are important to reconstructing the chronology of Gupta Empire history. Eran or Erakina was the capital of Erakina (Airikina) Pradesha or Airkina Vishaya, an administrative division of the Gupta empire.
The Dashavatara Temple is an early 6th century Lord Vishnu Hindu temple located at Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh which is 125 kilometers from Jhansi, in the Betwa River valley in northern-central India. It has a simple, one cell square plan and is one of the earliest Hindu stone temples still surviving today. Built in the Gupta Period, the Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh shows the ornate Gupta style architecture.
The Bhima Devi Temple Complex, nicknamed Khajuraho of North India for its erotic sculptures, comprises the restored ruins of an ancient Hindu temple dating from between 8th and 11th century AD, together with the adjacent 17th-century Pinjore gardens, located in Pinjore town in Panchkula district of the state of Haryana, India. The old temple was destroyed by Islamic invaders and the present 8-11th CE temple is likely built on the same place under the old name, and the nearby ancient baoli still has old Hindu pillars. Bhimadevi belongs to the Shakti tradition that was derived from the Buddhist tantric goddess. Further, in the Devi Mahatmya it is said that in the Western Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh, Bhimadevi appeared in an enormous form of Bhimarupa and gave protection to the sages. The site was worked upon extensively by the team of Speaking Archaeologically from 2017 to 2019, with preliminary survey beginning as early as in 2015 and the report was published as the Speaking Archaeologically Journal Volume III:Bhima Devi Project Edition in 2020.
Tigawa is a village in Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and an archaeological site with a complex of about 36 Hindu temple ruins. Of these, the small but important and ancient Kankali Devi Temple is in good condition, and is usually dated to about 400-425 CE. Unless another building is mentioned, references to "the temple" below refer to this.
The Grahapati Kokkala inscription is an epigraphic record documenting the dedication of a Shiva temple. It dates to 1000-1001 CE. It is one of several Chandella era inscriptions that mention a Grahapati family.
The Vishvanatha Temple is a Hindu temple in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located among the western group of Khajuraho Monuments, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The temple is dedicated to Shiva, who is also known as "Vishvanatha", meaning "Lord of the Universe".
Parshvanatha temple is a 10th-century Jain temple at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is now dedicated to Parshvanatha, although it was probably built as an Adinatha shrine during the Chandela period. Despite the temple's Jain affiliation, its exterior walls feature Vaishnavaite themes. The entrance has an inscription with a most-perfect magic square. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other temples in the Khajuraho Group of Monuments, because of its outstanding art, architecture, and testimony of the Chandela period.
Adinatha temple is a Jain temple located at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is dedicated to the Jain tirthankara Adinatha, although its exterior walls also feature Hindu deities. This temple is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other temples in Khajuraho Group of Monuments.
Shantinatha temple is a Jain temple located among the Jain temple cluster in eastern Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. While its main deity is the Jain tirthankara Shantinatha, it includes 18 shrines with numerous Jain images.
The Ghantai temple, also known as the Ghanti temple, is a ruined Jain temple in the Khajuraho town of Madhya Pradesh, India. Similar in style to the Parshvanatha temple, it was dedicated to the Jain tirthankara Rishabhanatha. This temple is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other temples in Khajuraho Group of Monuments.
The Matangeshvara temple is a Shiva temple in the Khajuraho town of Madhya Pradesh, India. Among the Chandela-era monuments of Khajuraho, it is the only Hindu temple that is still actively used for worship. As part of the Khajuraho Group of Monuments, the temple was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986 because of its art, architecture, and testimony to the Chandela culture.
Arang Jain temples is group of three Jain temples in Arang, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. These temples dates back to the 9th and 11th centuries.
Sirpur Group of Monuments are an archaeological and tourism site containing Hindu, Jain and Buddhist monuments from the 5th to 12th centuries in Mahasamund district of the state of Chhattisgarh, India. Located near an eponymous village, it is 78 kilometres (48 mi) east of Raipur, the capital of the state. The site is spread near the banks of the river Mahanadi.
The Lakshana Devi Temple in Bharmour is a post-Gupta era Hindu temple in Himachal Pradesh dedicated to Durga in her Mahishasura-mardini form. It is dated to the second half of the 7th-century, and is in part one of the oldest surviving wooden temples in India.