Khajuraho is now a small village. For several centuries in the middle ages, it was one of the largest cities in India. Its ruins cover an area of about 8 sq miles.
The Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang, who visited India in the 7th century, mentions Khajuraho in his memoirs.
Khajuraho reached its zenith under the Chandellas, who ruled over Central India from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries. The Chandellas were Hindus belonging to a Rajput clan. They claimed that they were descended from the moon. The kings of this dynasty were noted for their enterprise in the construction of reservoirs and other utilitarian undertakings.
The Chandellas built the magnificent temples which attract the tourist today. They were built between 950 and 1050 A.D. The first few rulers of the Chandella dynasty appear to have been worshippers of Vishnu, the god of Preservation.
The later rulers were devotees of Shiva, the god of Destruction. Shrines dedicated to both these gods are to be found at Khajuraho. The Chandellas were tolerant towards members of other faiths and some of the notable structures erected at Khajuraho were dedicated to Jain Tirthankaras. A colossal stature of the Buddha was found outside the Ghantai temple and is now kept in the local museum.
Yasovarman (first half of the tenth century) was the first notable monarch of the Chandella dynasty. A Khajuraho epigraph dated 953-54 A.D. states that Yasovarman conquered the mountain fastness of Kalinjar and defeated his neighbors. He erected ‘a charming, splendid home of Vishnu which rivals the peaks of the mountain of snow’. This temple has been identified with the Laksmana temple.
Yasovarman’s son Dhanga or Dhangdev was another famed warrior. According to an inscription, he ‘obtained an empire’ after defeating the Maharaja of Kanauj. An inscription found at the Viswanatha temple states that Dhanga erected a shrine ‘with a spire as white as the autumnal clouds’ to house an emerald lingam dedicated to Shiva.
Vidyadhara, Dhanga’s grandson, was an important Indian ruler of his time. Temples built by the Chandellas are to be found at Mahoba also.