Devi Jagadambi Temple

Devi Jagadambi Temple belongs to the Western Group at Khajuraho, part of the UNESCO-listed Khajuraho Group of Monuments. Built by the Chandelas between 1000 and 1025 AD, it was first dedicated to Vishnu and is now a shrine to Parvati. Its raised platform is shared with the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple and a minor Mahadeva shrine, and its plan closely follows the Chitragupta Temple, though its doorkeepers appear only on the east and west.

The Nagara-style shikhara rises over a base laid out in five projections that become seven higher up. Three bands of carving wrap the outer walls, with deities in the lower two and sensuous figures in the top band. Dikpalas guard the directions, Yama stands out on the south side, and a three-headed, eight-armed Shiva appears on the west. A warrior fighting a mythical sardula, thought to be the Chandela emblem, faces arrivals.