Parshwanath Temple

Parshwanath Mandir is a tenth century Jain Temple at Khajuraho, dedicated to Parshwanath although it was probably built as an Adinath Shrine during the Chandela period. The statue of Adinath was destroyed by the Mughal invaders and the main sanctum remained deserted for nearly four hundred years and then the idol of Parshwanath was installed in the main sanctum in 1847, and a statue of Adinath was placed in the secondary shrine attached to the rear of the temple. The Parshwanath temple is the largest among the Jain temples of Khajuraho. It has an entrance porch, a small hall, a large hall, a vestibule and a sanctum. The temple structure has an oblong architectural plan with projections at two ends. The front projection forms the entrance porch and the back projection is a shrine attached to the sanctum. The ceiling of the entrance porch features chain and floral patterns, and a pair of intertwined flying vidyadharas. The door lintel of the large hall has the sculpture of Adinath’s attendant- a ten armed Chakreshwari riding a Garuda. The sanctum features sculptures of the Jinas. The outer walls have three bands of sculptures featuring graceful women, flying couples, dancers, musicians, and celestial beings. Despite the temple’s Jain affiliation, the outer walls also depict Vaishnavism themes including the sculptures of Hindu gods and their incarnations with their consorts. The temple has an inscription with a magic square, one of the oldest known 4X4 magic squares containing all the numbers from 1 to 16. The sum of the numbers in every horizontal row, every vertical column, and the two diagonal rows is 34. The sum of the numbers in the smaller 2X2 squares at the four corners as well as those in the central 2X2 square is also 34. Tourists have lots of historical and non historical facts to know, learn and enjoy.