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India Tourism » Agra Travel Guide » Cities Near Agra » Khajuraho Khajuraho  It is really one of the most fortuitous accidents of history that Khajuraho lies where it does - well away from the path taken by the fanatical hordes that periodically unleashed their destructive wrath on the towns and villages of medieval India. The amazing temples built here by the Chandela Rajput rulers during the 10 th to 12 th centuries, were thus spared the destruction and mutilation suffered by countless other temples throughout north and central India. Khajuraho has grown into a major tourist destination from the obscure village it was. The temple town lies on the northern fringe of the state and served by an airport where loads of tourists arrive to see the magnificent temples. Of the 85 temples that were originally built, only 22 remain but just these put Khajuraho right up there, top of the list of India's must visit destinations such as Delhi, Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi. Khajuraho, the temple city of central India, is famous throughout the world for its exquisitely carved temples in stones. Thousands of visitors and tourists from all over the world flock together to envisage this immortal saga of Hindu art and culture engraved in stone by shilpies (stone craftsmen) a millenia ago. The temples are superb examples of indo-Aryan architecture, but it's the decorations with which they are so liberally embellished that has made Khajuraho so famous. Around the temples are bands of exceedingly fine and artistic stonework. The sculptures have shown many aspects of Indian life 1000 years ago - gods and goddesses, warriors and musicians, real and mythological animals.  These temples were built during the Chandella period, a dynasty which survived for five centuries before falling to the onslaught of Islam. Khajuraho's temples almost all date from one century long burst of creative genius from 950-1050 AD. Almost as intriguing as the sheer beauty and size of the temples is the question of why and how they were built here. Khajuraho is a long way from anywhere and was probably just as far off the beaten track 1000 years ago as it is today. There is nothing of great interest or beauty to recommend it as a building site, there is no great population center here and during the hot season Khajuraho is very hot, dry, dusty and uncomfortable. Having chosen such a strange site, how did the Chandellas manage to recruit the labor to turn their awesome dreams into stone? To build so many temples of such monumental size in just 100 years must have required a huge amount of human labor. Whatever their reasons, we can be thankful they built Khajuraho where they did, because its very remoteness helped preserve it from the desecration Muslim invaders were only too ready to inflict on 'idolatrous' temples elsewhere in India.
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