The Duladeo temple, also called Kunwar Math, is located 700m south-west of the cluster of Jain Temples, near the Khudar rivulet. This is believed to be the last of the great temples of Khajuraho, built around 1130 A.D. during the reign of the Chandella king Madanavarman.
Duladeo is dedicated to Shiva, and consists of a sanctum, vestibule, maha manapa, porch and no ambulatory.
By the time the British arrived, the temple was in a poor state of disrepair and partly ruined. Subsequently the side walls, columns and shikara were restored. These restored parts can be identified by lack of carvings and the lighter sandstone colour, as can be seen above.
Here at Duladeo that difference is quite obvious, although if you inspect most of the other temples of Khajuraho you will see the same differences, just less of it.
The Duladeo temple looks quite different architecturally and in the style of sculpture. Here the heavily ornamented figures have angular poses and sharp features. These carvings feel more rigid, less animated, with a distinct lack of depth.
Of course they are still amazing and I’m not criticising the skill involved here, but there is certainly a different feel to them. This has been interpreted as indicating a decline in aesthetic creativity towards the end of the Chandela period.
The temple interior is much plainer than some of the earlier temples to be seen at Khajuraho, and shows influences of western Indian architectural traditions.
The sanctum contains the central icon of a linga, this is not considered contemporary with the temple but a later replacement.
An unusual feature on the linga is the additional 999 more lingas carved all around its surface. Its religious significance is that by going around the linga just the once would amount to taking a circumambulation of 1,000 times around it.
| Group | Khajuraho Monuments |
|---|---|
| Western | Lakshmana ♦ Varaha ♦ Kandariya Mahadeva ♦ Mahadeva Shrine ♦ Jagadambi ♦ Chitragupta ♦ Parvati ♦ Vishvanatha ♦ Nandi ♦ Pratapeshwar ♦ Bhairava Statue ♦ Matangeshvara ♦ Chausath Yogini ♦ Lalguan Mahadeva ♦ Chopra Tank |
| Eastern | Hanuman ♦ Brahma ♦ Vamana ♦ Javari ♦ Ghantai ♦ Adinatha ♦ Parshvanatha ♦ Shantinatha |
| Southern | Duladeo ♦ Chaturbhuj ♦ Bijamandal |
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Categories: Duladeo Temple, India, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, Southern Temples Group
Kevin Standage 