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Vamana Temple In
Khajuraho
 An Ode to the 'Dwarf Incarnation
(Built in This temple belongs to the eastern group of temples and is situated north of the Khajuraho village, about a furlong east of the Ninora Tal and almost the same distance north of the Javari Temple.
Devoted to the 'Vamana' (dwarf) personification of Vishnu, this temple consists on plan of a sanctum without ambulatory having a mono-spired 'sikhara', a vestibule, a 'maha-mandapa' with lateral transepts and a porch, of which only the plinth has survived. Of all the temples at Khajuraho it bears the close similarity to the Adinatha Temple, which likewise has no ambulatory and has a 'sapta-ratha' sanctum with a mono-spired 'sikhara'
Another noteworthy feature of this temple is that the top or third row of the 'jangha' (wall) shows framed niches containing diamonds in the place of sculptures, an early feature shared by the subsidiary shrines of the Lakshmana Temple.
It is one of the very few local temples, which have a cognizable 'samvarna' roof over the 'mahamandapa' and exhibit female struts on the ceilings of the balconied windows. In all other respects, this temple is broadly akin to the other developed temples of Khajuraho. On the evidence of sculptural and architectural method this temple is conveyable to 1050 to 1075 AD. |
