Devi Jagadambi Temple

The Devi Jagadambi Temple is one of the Khajuraho group of monuments that were built during the rule of the Chandela dynasty. The building activity started almost immediately after the rise of their power, throughout their kingdom to be later known as Bundelkhand.G.S. Ghurye, Rajput Architecture, {{ISBN|978-8171544462}}, Reprint Year: 2005, pp 19-24 Most temples were built during the reigns of the Hindu kings Yashovarman and Dhanga. Yashovarman's legacy is best exhibited by the Lakshmana Temple. Vishvanatha temple best highlights King Dhanga's reign.{{Cite book | last = Sen | first = Sailendra | title = A Textbook of Medieval Indian History | publisher = Primus Books | year = 2013 | isbn =9789380607344 }}{{rp|22}} The largest and currently most famous surviving temple is Kandariya Mahadeva built in the reign of King Vidyadhara.{{sfn|Devangana Desai|2005|p=10}} The temple inscriptions suggest many of the currently surviving temples were complete between 970 and 1030 CE, with further temples completed during the following decades.James Fergusson, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofindiane02ferguoft#page/140/mode/2up/search/khajuraho Northern or Indo-Aryan Style - Khajuraho] History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, Updated by James Burgess and R. Phene Spiers (1910), Volume II, John Murray, London

The first documented mention of Khajuraho was made in 641 by Xuanzang, a Chinese pilgrim who described encountering several dozen inactive Buddhist monasteries and a dozen Hindu temples with a thousand worshipping brahmins.{{cite book |last1=Hioco |first1=Christophe |last2=Poggi |first2=Luca |title=Khajuraho: Indian Temples and Sensuous Sculptures |publisher=5 Continents Editions |year = 2017 |isbn=978-88-7439-778-5 |page=9}} In 1022 CE, Khajuraho was mentioned by Abu Rihan-al-Biruni, the Persian historian who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni in his raid of Kalinjar; he mentions Khajuraho as the capital of Jajahuti.J. Banerjea (1960), Khajuraho, Journal of the Asiatic Society, Vol. 2-3, pp 43-47 The raid was unsuccessful, and a peace accord was reached when the Hindu king agreed to pay a ransom to Mahmud of Ghazni to end the attack and leave.Mitra (1977), The early rulers of Khajuraho, {{ISBN|978-8120819979}}

Khajuraho temples were in active use through the end of the 12th century. This changed in the 13th century; after the army of Delhi Sultanate, under the command of the Muslim Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, attacked and seized the Chandela kingdom. About a century later, Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller in his memoirs about his stay in India from 1335 to 1342 CE, mentioned visiting Khajuraho temples, calling them "Kajarra"phonetically translated from Arabic sometimes as "Kajwara"Director General of Archaeology in India (1959), Archaeological Survey of India, Ancient India, Issues 15-19, pp 45-46 (Archived: University of Michigan) as follows:

{{Blockquote|1=...near (Khajuraho) temples, which contain idols that have been mutilated by the Moslems, live a number of yogis whose matted locks have grown as long as their bodies. And on account of extreme asceticism they are all yellow in colour. Many Moslems attend these men in order to take lessons (yoga) from them.

|2=Ibn Battuta|3=about 1335 CE, Riḥlat Ibn Baṭūṭah, Translated by Arthur CotterellArthur Cotterell (2011), Asia: A Concise History, Wiley, {{ISBN|978-0470825044}}, pp 184-185

}}

The central Indian region, where Khajuraho temples are, was controlled by various Muslim dynasties from the 13th century through the 18th century. In this period, some temples were desecrated, followed by a long period when they were left in neglect. In 1495 CE, for example, Sikandar Lodi's campaign of temple destruction included Khajuraho.Michael D. Willis, An Introduction to the Historical Geography of Gopakṣetra, Daśārṇa, and Jejākadeśa, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 51, No. 2 (1988), pp. 271–278; See also K.R. Qanungo (1965), Sher Shah and his times, Orient Longmans, {{oclc|175212}}, pp 423-427 The remoteness and isolation of Khajuraho protected the Hindu and Jain temples from continued destruction by Muslims.Trudy King et al., Asia and Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places, {{ISBN|978-1884964046}}, Routledge, pp 468-470Alain Daniélou (2011), A Brief History of India, {{ISBN|978-1594770296}}, pp 221-227 Over the centuries, vegetation and forests overgrew the temples.

In the 1830s, local Hindus guided a British surveyor, T.S. Burt, to the temples and they were thus rediscovered by the global audience.Louise Nicholson (2007), India, National Geographic Society, {{ISBN|978-1426201448}}, see Chapter on Khajuraho Alexander Cunningham later reported, few years after the rediscovery, that the temples were secretly in use by yogis and thousands of Hindus would arrive for pilgrimage during Shivaratri celebrated annually in February or March based on a lunar calendar. In 1852, F.C. Maisey prepared earliest drawings of the Khajuraho temples.Krishna Deva (1990), Temples of Khajuraho, 2 Volumes, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi

Some festivals celebrated at the temple are as follows:

• The Khajuraho dance festival
• Navaratri
• Durga Puja
• Ram Navami
• Dussehra

• {{cite book |author=Devangana Desai |title=Khajuraho |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amPqAAAAMAAJ |year=2005 |edition=Sixth impression |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-565391-5 }}

• [http://asibhopal.nic.in/monument/chhatarpur.html Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Division, Index Page for Khajuraho - Chhatarpur ]
• [http://asibhopal.nic.in/monument/chhatarpur_khajuraho_devijagadambitemple.html Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Division, Javari Temple, Khajuraho]
• [http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/NorthIndia/Khajuraho/DeviJagadambi02.jpg Photo of temple]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060420011008/http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/khajuraho/4-07lg.jpg Large photo of carvings]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051221195130/http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/khajuraho/4-06lg.jpg Naga Queens photo]
• [http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/khajuraho/khajag4.html Photo of Bhairava]
• [http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/khajuraho/khajag5.html Photo Vishnu and Lakshmi]
• [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/0900_0999/khajuraho/jagadambi/jagadambi.html Photos of the temple]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131021160514/http://www.mptourism.com/web/explore/destinations/khajurao.aspx M.P. Tourism Website, Official Website of Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Corporation, Khajuraho]

{{Commons category|Devi Jagdambi Temple Khajuraho}}

{{World Heritage Sites in India}}

{{Khajuraho Group of Monuments}}

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Category:Shakti temples

Category:World Heritage Sites in Madhya Pradesh

Category:Bundelkhand

Category:Hindu temples in Khajuraho

Category:Hindu temples sacked in the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent