Parshvanatha temple (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Pārśvanātha Mandir) is a 10th-century Jain temple at

Khajuraho Khajuraho () is a city, near Chhatarpur in Chhatarpur district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the country's largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous ...

in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is now dedicated to Parshvanatha, although it was probably built as an

Adinatha Rishabhanatha (Devanagari: ऋषभनाथ), also Rishabhadeva (Devanagari: ऋषभदेव, ), Rishabha (Devanagari: ऋषभ, ) or Ikshvaku (Devanagari: इक्ष्वाकु, ''Ikṣvāku''), is the first (Supreme preacher) ...

shrine during the Chandela period. Despite the temple's Jain affiliation, its exterior walls feature Vaishnavaite themes. The entrance has an inscription with a

most-perfect magic square A most-perfect magic square of order ''n'' is a magic square containing the numbers 1 to ''n''2 with two additional properties: # Each 2 × 2 subsquare sums to 2''s'', where . # All pairs of integers distant ''n''/2 along a (major) diagonal su ...

. It is part of a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

along with other temples in the

Khajuraho Group of Monuments The Khajuraho Group of Monuments are a group of Hindu and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India. They are about 46 km (28.6mi) from Chhatarpur, Chhatarpur city, the district headquarter, 283 km (177mi) from Gwalior, southea ...

, because of its outstanding art, architecture, and testimony of the Chandela period.

History

The temple is believed to have been constructed by a prominent Jain family between 950 and 970 CE, during the reign of the Chandela king Dhanga. A 954 CE (1011 VS) inscription on the left door

jamb In architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and cons ...

of the temple records gifts and endowments of gardens by one Pahila. The gardens are named Pahila-vatika, Chandra-vatika, Laghuchandra-vatika, Shankara-vatika, Panchaitala-vatika, Amra-vatika and Dhanga-vadi. The inscription describes Pahila as a devotee of Jinanatha and states that he was held in great esteem by the king Dhanga. The earliest idol enshrined in the temple appears to have been that of

. When the British archaeological surveyor

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly crea ...

visited in 1852, he found the main sanctum deserted. He described it as "Jinanatha temple" and wrote that it had been repaired by a Jain banker in 1847. In 1860, a Parshvanatha idol was installed in the main sanctum. An Adinatha statue was placed in a secondary shrine attached to the rear of the temple. The temple has been classified as a

Monument of National Importance A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

Art and architecture

The Parshvanatha temple is the largest among the Jain temples of Khajuraho. It has an entrance porch, a small hall, a large hall (

mandapa A ''mandapa'' or ''mantapa'' () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture and Jain temple architecture. ''Mandapas'' are described as "open" or "closed" dependin ...

), a vestibule, and a sanctum. The temple structure has an oblong architectural plan with projections at two ends. The front (eastern) projection forms the entrance porch, the back (western) projection is a shrine attached to the sanctum. The ceiling of the entrance porch features chain and floral patterns, and a pair of intertwined flying vidyadharas. The door-

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

of the mandapa has the sculpture of Adinatha's attendant: a ten-armed Chakreshvari riding a

Garuda Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the D ...

. The sanctum features sculptures of the Jinas. File:Parshwanath Jain Temple Khajuraho 10.jpg File:Parshwanath Temple - Khajuraho - 2.jpg The outer walls have three bands of sculptures. These sculptures feature surasundaris (graceful women), flying couples, dancers, musicians, and celestial beings. Despite the temple's Jain affiliation, the outer walls also depict Vaishnavite themes including sculptures of Hindu gods and their incarnations with their consorts. These include

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

Balarama Balarama (, ) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana. The fir ...

- Revati,

Parashurama Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Virarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. Hindu tradition holds him to be the destroyer of the evil on Earth. According t ...

Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

and Yamalarjuna legend of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

. These sculptures are similar to those of the Lakshmana Temple in modeling, proportions and poise. Unlike the Lakshmana temple, the Parshvanatha temple doesn't feature explicit erotic sculptures, although one particular image appears to show a cross-legged

apsara Apsaras (, , Khmer language, Khmer: អប្សរា are a class of celestial beings in Hinduism, Hindu and Culture of Buddhism, Buddhist culture. They were originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, but, later play ...

masturbating with an object. File:Le temple de Parshvanath (Khajuraho) (8638393390).jpg File:Parsvanatha Temple side 1 Khajuraho.jpg File:Khajuraho ni05-14.jpg 6. Khajuraho Parsvanath South wall.jpg , Cross-legged

and

File:Khajuraho ni05-12.jpg , Goddess File:Le temple de Parshvanath (Khajuraho) (8638391942).jpg, Couple Le temple de Parshvanath (Khajuraho) (8637289891).jpg , Surasundari applying eye makeup File:Le temple de Parshvanath (Khajuraho) (8637288935).jpg , Tirthankara flanked by surasundaris and vyalas File:Kama sur le temple de Parshvanath (Khajuraho) (8638392628).jpg ,

Kama ''Kama'' (Sanskrit: काम, ) is the concept of pleasure, enjoyment and desire in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It can also refer to "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsका� ...

and

Rati Rati (, ) is the Hinduism, Hindu Devi, goddess of List of love and lust deities, love, carnal desire, lust, passion, and sexual pleasure. Usually described as the daughter of ''Prajapati'' Daksha, Rati is the female counterpart, the chief consor ...

Magic square

The temple has an inscription with a

magic square In mathematics, especially History of mathematics, historical and recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diago ...

, called the "Jaina square". This is one of the oldest known 4×4 magic squares, as well as one of the oldest known

s. This magic square contains all the numbers from 1 to 16. The sum of the numbers in every horizontal row, every vertical column and the two diagonal rows is 34. The sum of the numbers in the smaller 2×2 squares at the four corners, as well as those in the central 2×2 square, is also 34. The magic square is pandiagonal, aka diabolic: the numbers in its broken diagonals also sum up to 34. For example, 7 + (6 + 10 + 11) = 34.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Khajuraho Group of Monuments Khajuraho Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh 10th-century Jain temples