Ghantai Temple

The Ghantai temple is a ruined Digambara Jain temple at Khajuraho, part of the UNESCO-listed Khajuraho Group of Monuments. It was built around 995 CE under the Chandela king Dhanga and dedicated to Rishabhanatha, the first tirthankara. It follows the design of the nearby Parshvanatha temple but at nearly twice the scale. Alexander Cunningham took it for a Buddhist shrine in the 19th century because a Buddha image lay nearby, but later study confirmed it as Jain.

The walls have fallen, leaving only the pillars of the entrance porch and the great hall with its ornate doorway. The pillars carry a chain-and-bell, or ghanti, motif that gives the temple its name. Over the hall door sits the eight-armed goddess Chakreshvari riding Garuda, and the architrave shows symbols from the dreams of Mahavira's mother. Dancers and musicians line the coffered porch ceiling.