City in Madhya Pradesh, India
Khajuraho (pronunciationⓘ) is a city, nearChhatarpur inChhatarpur district of theIndian state ofMadhya Pradesh. One of the most populartourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the country's largest group ofmedievalHindu andJaintemples, famous for theirerotic sculptures. TheKhajuraho Group of Monuments has been listed as aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site since 1986 and is considered one of the "seven wonders" ofIndia. The town's name, anciently "Kharjuravahaka", is derived from theSanskrit wordkharjur meaning "date palm".
The region was historically part of many kingdoms and empires. The earliest known power to have had Khajuraho in its territory were theVatsa. Their successors in the region included theMauryans,Sungas,Kushans,Nagas of Padmavati, theVakataka dynasty, theGuptas, thePushyabhuti dynasty, and theGurjara-Praithara dynasty. It was specifically during the Gupta period that architecture and art began to flourish in this region, although their successors continued the artistic tradition.[1]
TheChandelas ruled the area from the ninth century, who were subject to the Gurjara-Praitharas. During the reign of Dhanga (c. 950–1002) the Chandelas became independent and many important temples were built during this time. The Chandelas were dealt with fatal blows first from theChahamanas of Shakambhari in 1182 then fromQutb al-Din Aibak in 1202. Khajuraho declined to a small village as the Chandelas transferred their activities to the forts of Mahoba, Kalinjar, and Ajayagarh.[1]
Ibn Battuta visited Khajuraho and described the presence of temples and a few ascetics. Some temples were damaged bySikander Lodi in 1495. By the 16th century Khajuraho became an insignificant place and was only "rediscovered" by C. J. Franklin (a military surveyor) in 1819. However, the actual distinction of bringing Khajuraho back to the world's attention is given to T. S. Burt (a British army captain) who visited it in 1838. The next significant visitor wasAlexander Cunningham between 1852 and 1855.[1]
| Climate data for Khajuraho (1991–2020, extremes 1970–2020) |
|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.3
(93.7) | 38.6
(101.5) | 43.1
(109.6) | 46.9
(116.4) | 48.4
(119.1) | 48.0
(118.4) | 45.0
(113.0) | 41.0
(105.8) | 39.3
(102.7) | 42.8
(109.0) | 38.5
(101.3) | 33.2
(91.8) | 48.4
(119.1) |
|---|
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 23.6
(74.5) | 28.1
(82.6) | 34.4
(93.9) | 40.2
(104.4) | 43.2
(109.8) | 40.8
(105.4) | 34.6
(94.3) | 32.8
(91.0) | 33.6
(92.5) | 34.1
(93.4) | 30.5
(86.9) | 26.3
(79.3) | 33.4
(92.1) |
|---|
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.4
(47.1) | 10.7
(51.3) | 15.7
(60.3) | 21.7
(71.1) | 26.8
(80.2) | 28.3
(82.9) | 26.3
(79.3) | 25.3
(77.5) | 24.1
(75.4) | 19.1
(66.4) | 13.6
(56.5) | 8.9
(48.0) | 18.9
(66.0) |
|---|
| Record low °C (°F) | 0.8
(33.4) | 0.6
(33.1) | 6.0
(42.8) | 12.6
(54.7) | 18.6
(65.5) | 20.4
(68.7) | 22.4
(72.3) | 21.8
(71.2) | 17.3
(63.1) | 11.7
(53.1) | 4.8
(40.6) | 1.9
(35.4) | 0.6
(33.1) |
|---|
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 13.4
(0.53) | 21.3
(0.84) | 12.0
(0.47) | 9.5
(0.37) | 13.6
(0.54) | 112.2
(4.42) | 291.5
(11.48) | 383.4
(15.09) | 188.7
(7.43) | 31.2
(1.23) | 6.4
(0.25) | 7.0
(0.28) | 1,090.3
(42.93) |
|---|
| Average rainy days | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 5.9 | 13.2 | 13.8 | 8.1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 49.5 |
|---|
| Averagerelative humidity (%)(at 17:30IST) | 50 | 38 | 24 | 18 | 34 | 41 | 69 | 78 | 68 | 50 | 47 | 49 | 46 |
|---|
| Source:India Meteorological Department[2][3][4] |
As of 2011[update], the Indiancensus stated that Khajuraho had a population of 24,481. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Khajuraho has an average literacy rate of 53%, lower than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 62%, and female literacy is 43%. In Khajuraho, 19% of the population is under six years of age.
Khajuraho Airport has flights toDelhi,Varanasi andRewa. The airport is 3 km south of Khajuraho Town, and was opened in 1978 to facilitate tourism to the nearbyUNESCO world heritage sitetemple complex.[5] Concerns have been raised by experts regarding the feasibility of this airport and its impact on the world heritage site and the environment.
Khajuraho railway station connects the town by a daily train to Delhi viaChhatarpur,Tikamgarh, Jhansi, Gwalior, Agra, and Mathura. It provides a daily train connecting to Agra, Jaipur, Bhopal and Udaipur. A local daily train also connects to Kanpur, whilst Varanasi is connected three times a week. At present, Khajuraho is connected by rail with New Delhi by two trains, namely the Geeta Jayanti Express originating from Kurukshetra and the Uttar Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express originating fromHazrat Nizamuddin railway station.[6]
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