Western Group of Temples

Khajuraho Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu and Jain Temples famous for their Nagara Style of Architectures and their erotic sculptures. For convenience in tourism and introduction the temples are divided into three groups Eastern, Southern and Western Groups of temples. First two the Eastern and Southern have been introduced earlier, now its turn to know the monumental temples of Western Group. Kandariya Mahadev temple is the biggest and the busiest temple in western group. This temple and other temples in this part are decorated with a profusion of sculptures with intricate details, symbolism and expressiveness of ancient Indian art. Some of the temples have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. Some scholars suggest these to be tantric sexual practices, others state that the erotic arts are the Hindu tradition of treating Kama as an essential and proper part of human life and its symbolic or explicit display is common in Hindu temples. Temples in Western Group follow a grid geometrical design called vastu-purusha-mandala. This design plan has three important components, Vastu means the dwelling structure, Purusha is universal essence at the core of Hindu tradition, and Mandal means circle. Some of the temples of the Western part built on the above described design plan are: