One of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in India, Khajuraho in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, preserves the country's largest and most magnificent groups of medieval temples. It is located on the banks of the Khudar Nala, a tributary of the Ken river (ancient Karnavati). The area is surrounded by scenic waterfalls, and the low-lying hills of the Vindhya range, locally called Datla and Lavania Pahads, which provide a lovely backdrop to the temple complex. Today, Khajuraho is a small village. But, between AD 900 and 1200, under the Chandella dynasty, it was a flourishing temple town, called Kharjuravahaka, extending over an area of 13 square east of Jhansi. A tradition records that once there were eighty-five temples in Khajuraho; but now only twenty-five remain in varied states of preservation. (Devangana Desai, Khajuraho, Oxford University Press, New Delhi 2000)
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