This temple was, not only a place of worship but a complete educational centre in itself.
This is how knowledge was passed from one generation to another.
1. The entire life cycle of human life is carved, starting right from the time it is conceived with an act of intercourse to the death depicted by the last rites.
2. Various events of Mahabharat, Ramayan, Krishna Leela & Vishnu Avatar.
3. 52 Pillars might be representing 52 weeks of the year.
4. 364 elephants and 1 lion carved out might be depicting 365 days in a year.
5. Walls depicting Solah Singhar and how women would dress up in those days, from extremely delicate jewellery to elaborate hairstyles even wearing lip colour and high heels was a norm back then.
6. Walls don’t shy away from erotic art too, It is mini Khajuraho.
All the erotic art is on walls higher than 4 feet making it inaccessible for kids.
7. Many activities from the daily lives of people like hunting, and agriculture.
8. Beautiful hairstyles
9. Optical Illusion art & amazingly crafted ceilings
10. Temple passes through the Tropic of Cancer, giving us a glimpse of how evolved technologies were back then.
11. Temple is built in a way that during the equinox(when day and night are equal in length), sun rays will fall on the diamond ornamented on the head of the Main deity Sun God, which will illuminate the entire temple with a beautiful Golden Glow.
pic - shared by our guide.
12. 12 different styles of Sun God representing 12 months.
13. Built using two different ways of locking systems - a male-female interlock system & rock locked with wood making it earthquake-resistant.
14. In the case of an earthquake, the structure would shake but not fall.
15. Some idols of the Sun are in Irani Style with Gumboots showing Iranian influence during that era.
16. 7 horses of the sun represent the 7 colours of the rainbow.
17. The horizontal stairs in the Kund are of different heights, making it easier for Adults to walk down with their Kids so that they don’t fall down.
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The temple was built around 1030 CE during the reign of King Vidyadhara (Chandela dynasty).
It's considered the pinnacle of Nagara-style architecture.
The temple follows the traditional Panchayatana layout and a Sandhara plan (meaning it has a circumambulatory path).
It is built on a high plinth, and the interior unfolds in a sequence of chambers:
🐊 Makar Torana – Meaning & Use in Indian Temples
Two Makara Heads
These floral scrolls curve gracefully and meet at the center in a kalasha (pot), kirtimukha (face of glory), or a central deity like Lakshmi, Shiva, or Ganesha.
✨ Entrance Ceiling – Kandariya Mahadeva Temple
As you step into the Ardha Mandapa (entrance porch),
Look up as you enter Kandariya Temple —
the ceiling unfolds like a stone mandala, once adorned with graceful apsaras in tiny niches.
Today, only empty holes remain.
The figures were likely stolen, now scattered in European museums,
far from the sacred space they once lit up.
🛕 Garbhagriha of Kandariya Mahadeva Temple
Stepping into the Garbhagriha is like entering the cosmos itself —
from the vibrant, sculpted exterior to this quiet, shadowed sanctum.
It’s a shift from form (sagun) to formless (nirgun) —
from spectacle to silence.
Here, the divine is not seen — it is felt.
89. Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple, Jayankondam, Tamil Nadu.
🛕 A UNESCO World Heritage marvel, Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple was built by Rajendra Chola I in 1035 CE to celebrate his victorious march to the Ganges.
🌊He brought Ganga water to sanctify the temple’s well, earning the epithet “Gangaikonda Cholan”-the Chola who conquered the Ganga
Inside and around the temple, you’ll find depictions of:
1. Lingam: The primary, formless aspect of Shiva is worshipped in the sanctum.
2. Lingōdbhava: Emergence of the Linga
3. Nataraja: Shiva as the cosmic dancer, symbolizing creation and destruction.
4. Ardhanarishvara: Half-Shiva, half-Parvati, representing the unity of masculine and feminine.
symbolising
5. Chandesanugraha: Lord Shiva, depicted in the act of bestowing blessings upon his ardent devotee, Chandesa
6. Ganga Visarjana : Shiva receives the mighty river goddess Ganga into his matted locks (jata) and then gently releases her to flow onto the earth, thus preventing her torrential descent from destroying the world.
7. Somaskanda: Shiva with Parvati and Skanda (Murugan), highlighting his familial aspect.
It is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for followers of the Tantric tradition and one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.
Built in Nilachal style (Nangra + Local Assamese).
The main sanctum houses a rock fissure instead of an idol, from which a natural spring flows, representing the yoni of the goddess
The temple is known for its unique worship of the goddess’s yoni (female generative organ), symbolizing fertility and power
The temple celebrates the goddess's menstruation period, symbolizing fertility.
The current structure of the temple was rebuilt by King Naranarayan of the Koch dynasty in the 16th century after it was destroyed by Kalapahad, a Muslim general under the Bengal Sultanate.
However, it is believed that a temple had existed on the site much earlier, with its roots in pre-Vedic times.
Kamakhya is part of the ten Mahavidyas (wisdom goddesses) and the temple holds a central place in Tantric worship.
Pilgrims and Tantric practitioners come here to seek blessings, as the temple is said to grant material prosperity, spiritual liberation, and fertility.