Graceful Khajuraho

Date palm tree

According to local legends, there is an interesting story of how and why the temples are called ‘Khajuraho’. The Chandela rulers, who began constructing the temples, got the entire area enclosed by a wall. The wall had about eight gates which were primarily used for entry or exit. It is said that each gate was flanked on either side by date and palm trees. The name was derived from these very trees and the temples were called "Khajura-vahika". In the Hindi language, ‘Khajura’ means ‘Date Palm’ and ‘Vahika’ means ‘Bearing’. The Date Palm tree is found in abundance in this region.

Beauty hidden for centuries

The Khajuraho temples were built by the Chandelas while they ruled the region. Over the centuries, the Chandela Empire began to wane and as a result, these magnificent structures lay neglected. Even worse, they were very vulnerable to the dangers of subsequent invaders and rulers from the 13th to the 18th centuries that destroyed many of the temples. Only 20 of the original 85 stand today. Due to their remote location and isolation, some temples were spared. These were covered by the overgrowth of vegetation and forests over the centuries. It was only in the last century that these were rediscovered and later restored and preserved.