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works to reinforce the rituals of worship that were also designed to reflect the same Vedic philosophy. |
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One can see a brilliant example of these vastu principles at work in the Indian village of Khajuraho, which was once the Rajput capital and religious center of the Chandella dynasty. The Chandella dynasty controlled a huge tract of territory from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Khajuraho is in the northern part of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, about 225 miles (395 km) southeast of the city of Agra, the location of the famous Taj Mahal. At this historic village, architects built at least eighty-five temples of which twenty-five remain. Additional temple mounds, however, were discovered in 1999 and await excavation. |
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Some of the restored temples, originally constructed at the decline of the Chandella dynasty, are magnificent. The Kandariya Mahadeva temple in particular represents one of the finest monuments in India and expresses the brilliance of vastu. The Kandariya Mahadeva not only overwhelms the eye but reaches deep into the soul. |
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This group of temples and two other temple clusters are the only reminder of the former kingdom's golden age in Khajuraho. Every inch of exquisite sculpture recalls a time when kings celebrated epic battles, royal births, coronations, deathsa time when kings were committed to the Hindu philosophy with its body of rituals, a time when kings fulfilled their dharma or duty to God by offering their blessings as patrons for the construction of temples. |
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The timing of the creation of these temples coincided with the high mark in Indian architectural development. By this time Hinduism had also gone |
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