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Chitragupta Temple

Chitragupta Temple

Photo: Amitabha Gupta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Khajuraho, India
Client / Owner
—
Year
Completed 1020
Access
Tickets required
Typology
Spiritual
Style
—

Chitragupta Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Surya, the sun god, in Khajuraho, Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is part of the Khajuraho Group of Monuments, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Inscriptions date its construction to 1020–1025 CE, and it was probably consecrated on February 23, 1023, during Shivaratri.

The temple is very similar to the nearby Jagadambi Temple but slightly later, as its more ornate octagonal ceiling shows. It has a sanctum with a circumambulatory path, a vestibule, a large hall with transepts, an entrance porch and two balconies.

The main image is a partly broken statue of Surya, 6.9 feet (2.1 m) tall, standing on a chariot pulled by seven horses. The exterior carries erotic couples, apsaras and a rare depiction of an 11-headed Vishnu with his ten incarnations. Its sculptures date after those of the Vishvanatha Temple and before those of the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple.

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