Khajuraho: The First Thousand Years - Hardcover

Punja, Shobita

9780670891900: Khajuraho: The First Thousand Years

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670891908 ISBN 13: 9780670891900

Publisher: Viking, 1999

A thousand years ago, in a dense forest in Madhya Pradesh, the Chandella kings built an extraordinary temple complex. Some of these temples were accidentally discovered by T.S. Burt, a British engineer, in the nineteenth century. Subsequently, the forest was transformed into a popular tourist destination and the temples famed for their erotic carvings have been the subject of much debate and discussion by historians and archaeologists. Sifting through the varied perspectives that seek to explain the erotic sculptures, well-known art historian Shobita Punja unravels the intricate web of symbolism found in the temples which embody the ultimate in the fusion of the spiritual and the sensual. In the first part of this book, she details the historical development of Khajuraho through its first thousand years. This provides the context for her interpretation, in the second part, of the ritual celebration of Maha-Shivratri as the key to the understanding of the temples and their architecture.

In the epilogue, Punja deals with the present plight of this temple complex--which despite being declared a World Heritage Site, is still much neglected--and provides a blueprint for its restoration. An updated version of the critically-acclaimed Divine Ecstasy: The Story of Khajuraho, this is an eye-opening book on one of India's most fascinating heritage sites and is indispensable reading for all those interested in rediscovering India's cultural past. With sixty-seven photographs. 'Divine Ecstasy opens new vistas...exhaustive research and convincing argument make the book refreshingly different.' --Sunday Observer 'Dr Shobita Punja's book is a revelation: how oral tradition, rituals, a Puranic text, architecture, myth and poetry all come together in Khajuraho.' --Telegraph

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