Category:Jain temples of Khajuraho

Jain temples of Khajuraho 

9th to 12th century temples of Digambar Jains
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Instance of	group (Jain temple)
Part of	Khajuraho Group of Monuments
Location	Khajuraho, Chhatarpur district, Sagar division, Madhya Pradesh, India
Has part(s)	Adinatha temple Shantinatha temple Parshvanatha Temple Ghantai temple
24° 50′ 41.06″ N, 79° 56′ 11.22″ E
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The Jain temples of Khajuraho include the Ghanti (Ghantai) temple and a large group of about dozen temples found on the eastern side of the town. With the group are many small restored temples and three main and large temples are dedicated to Adinatha, Parsvanatha and Shantinatha Tirthankaras. The smaller temples are numbered from 1 through 9, and they are dedicated to other Tirthankaras of Jainism. All Jain temples, like the Hindu temples of Khajuraho, were mutilated and damaged after the 13th century. They were restored in 19th and 20th century, by addition of structures built of bricks, then plastered and painted over. The original sections can be easily identified as they were built from pink sandstone and their profuse though defaced/damaged decorations.

The larger group of Jain temples are now within a compound (it wasn't before 1950), newer temples have been added around the Shantinatha temple. The site also has a display of better preserved ruins and temple parts found near this site.

The Ghanti temple is even more damaged, most of the temple lost, except for beautifully carved pillars of its mandapa. These pillars stand alone. Given the lack of the sanctum and undamaged iconography, there has been some disagreement about the Ghanti temple. Colonial era theories suggested that it might have been a Buddhist temple because a damaged Buddha-like statue was found here. Others have suggested it to be a Hindu temple, given some damaged statues and iconography found here resemble those found in Hindu temples in Khajuraho. Since broken temple parts and ruins can be moved, the more accepted theories have focused on the mandapa that stands. This limited evidence suggests that the Ghanti temple was likely a Parsvanatha temple. It was built in late 10th-century.

The Jain temples of Khajuraho are exclusively from the Digambar tradition of Jainism (for reasons: See source).