Khajuraho Dance Festival

In News 

• Recently, the 48th Khajuraho Dance Festival commenced in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
  • The week-long festival will be held till February 26th. 

Image Courtesy: TOI

About Khajuraho Dance Festival 

• The festival is organised by the state Culture department, MP Tourism and the Archaeological Survey of India.
• The festival is being organized on the theme of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.  
• Highlights 
  • This festival highlights the richness of the Indian classical dance styles such as Kathak, Bharathanatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, and Kathakali with performances of some of the best exponents in the field.
  • Besides dance performances, tourists are getting acquainted with the local culture, art and food by participating in interesting activities like heritage run, village tour, water rafting, e-bike tour organised by the tourist department during the festival. 

About Khajuraho

• The Khajuraho Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu temples and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India.
• They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 
• The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.
• Historical records:
  • Most Khajuraho temples were built between 950 and 1050 by the Chandela dynasty. 
  • Historical records note that the Khajuraho temple site had 85 temples by the 12th century, spread over 20 square kilometres.
    • Of these, only about 25 temples have survived, spread over six square kilometres. 

• Features:

• The temples are famous for their craftsmanship that consist of splendid demonstrations of fine sculptures and exceptional architectural skills.
• They demonstrate in layout and physical form, the pinnacle of temple architectural development in northern India. 
  • Built-in sandstone, each temple is elevated from its environs by a highly ornate terraced platform, or jagati, on which stands the body, or jangha, whose sanctum is topped by a tower, or shikhara, of a type unique to Nagara, where the verticality of the principal spire atop the sanctum is accentuated by a series of miniature spires flanking it, each symbolizing Mount Kailasa, the abode of the Gods.
• The plan of the temples shows the spatial hierarchy of axially aligned interconnected spaces. 
  • The temples are entered through an ornate entrance porch (ardhamandapa), which leads to the main hall (mandapa), through which one accesses the vestibule (antarala) before reaching the sanctum (garbhagriha). 
  • The main halls of the temples were often accompanied by lateral transepts with projecting windows as well as a circumambulatory path around the sanctum. 
  • Larger temples had an additional pair of transepts and were accompanied by subsidiary shrines on the four corners of its jagati.

• Management: 
  • Khajuraho Group of Monuments is owned by the Government of India and managed by the Archaeological Survey of India through the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act (1958) and its Rules (1959), amendment (1992), and Amendment and Validation Act (2010).

Source: TOI