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{{short description|Hindu temple in Madhya Pradesh, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Chausath Yogini temple
| native_name = Chausath Yogini Mandir
| native_name_lang = hi
| image = Khajuraho,Chausath-Yogini-Tempel.jpg
| map_type = India Madhya Pradesh#India
| map_caption = Location in Madhya Pradesh, India
| location = [[Khajuraho]]
| coordinates = {{coord|24.8495199|79.9181333|region:IN|display=inline,title}}
| religious_affiliation = [[Hinduism]] ([[Tantra]] tradition)
| deity = [[Devi]]
| district = [[Chhatarpur district|Chhatarpur]]
| state = [[Madhya Pradesh]]
| country = [[India]]
| established = 9th century CE
}}
The '''Chausath Yogini temple''' is a ruined [[Yogini temples|Yogini temple]] in the [[Khajuraho]] town of [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]]. Dated to the late 9th century, it is the oldest surviving temple at Khajuraho. Unlike the Yogini temples at other places, it has a rectangular plan, but like them it is [[hypaethral]], open to the air. As part of the [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments]], and because of its unique [[Chandela]] architecture, the temple was inscribed on the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage List]] in 1986.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web|title=Khajuraho Group of Monuments |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/240 |website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher = United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization |access-date = 25 June 2023}}</ref>

== History ==

The construction of the [[Khajuraho]] Yogini temple can be dated to approximately 885 CE.{{sfn|Rana P. B. Singh|2009|p=58}} It is the earliest extant temple at the [[Chandela]] capital, Khajuraho.{{sfn|Ali Javid|Tabassum Javeed|2008|p=201}} The temple has been classified as a [[Lists of Indian Monuments of National Importance|Monument of National Importance]] by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]].{{sfn|ASI MP List|2016}}

Ruins of [[Yogini temples]] have been found at other places in and around the territory formerly ruled by the Chandelas or their feudatories, including [[Gadarmal Devi temple|Badoh]], [[Chausath Yogini Temple, Jabalpur|Bhedaghat]] Dudahi, Lokhari, [[Hinglajgarh]], [[Chausath Yogini Temple, Morena|Mitaoli]], Nareshwar, and Rikhiyan. This suggests that the cult of the Yoginis was well-established in the Chandela territory. The Chausath Yogini temples are connected to the [[Kapalika]] and [[Kaula (Hinduism)|Kaula]] sects.{{sfn|Manohar Laxman Varadpande|1987|p=291}}

== Architecture ==
[[File:Khajuraho,Chausath-Yogini-Tempel2.jpg|thumb|left|Shrine cells]]
[[File:Khajuraho 64-yogini temple plan.svg|thumb|[[Yogini temples|Yogini temple]] plan, showing the 64 small shrines around a rectangular courtyard, and one larger shrine at the centre of the wall opposite the entrance]]

The temple is among the Western group of temples on a 5.4 m high platform.{{sfn|ASI Bhopal Chausath|2016}} It has a rectangular plan measuring 31.4 m x 18.3 m.{{sfn|ASI Bhopal Chausath|2016}}{{sfn|Ali Javid|Tabassum Javeed|2008|p=201}} It is one of the historic [[Yogini temples]] across India; many of the others have a circular plan,{{sfn|Shobita Punja|2010|p=39}} though those at Rikhiyan and Badoh are also rectangular, so there was at least a local tradition of building them in this shape.{{sfn|Vidya_Dehejia|1986|pp=115–117}} Like all Yogini temples, the Khajuraho temple is [[hypaethral]], open to the air.{{sfn|Shaman Hatley|2007|pp=114–115}}

The temple is made of large, coarse granite blocks, with an open courtyard at the centre. The courtyard was originally surrounded by 65 shrine cells: 10 on the front (north) wall, 11 on the back wall, and 22 on each side. Only 35 of these 65 cells now survive;{{sfn|Ali Javid|Tabassum Javeed|2008|p=201}} each has a small doorway made of two squared granite pillars and a lintel stone, and a curvilinear [[Shikhara|tower]] roof. Above the lintel of the best-surviving cells is a triangular pediment. There is no surviving trace of a central shrine, whether to [[Shiva]] or the Goddess, as found in other Yogini temples.{{sfn|ASI MP List|2016}}{{sfn|Shaman Hatley|2007|pp=114–115}}{{sfn|ASI Bhopal Chausath|2016}}{{sfn|Vidya_Dehejia|1986|pp=115–117}}

Apart from a single much larger cell for the deity, each of the 64 cells for yoginis is approximately 1 m high and 1 m deep. The large cell is located at the centre of the back wall, and faces the entrance at the north. It was probably a shrine of [[Durga]]. The other 64 ("Chausath") cells presumably housed the statues of [[yogini]]s.{{sfn|Ali Javid|Tabassum Javeed|2008|p=201}}

== Sculpture ==

No sculptures remain among the temple ruins. Three large statues of mother goddesses or [[Matrika]]s, found among the ruins, are now in the Khajuraho museum.{{sfn|Ali Javid|Tabassum Javeed|2008|p=201}} The goddesses have been identified as [[Brahmani (Matrika)|Brahmani]], [[Maheshvari]], and [[Hinglaj Mata|Hingalaja]] or [[Mahishamardini]]. The image of Brahmani has three faces; her [[Vahana|vehicle]] is a [[Hamsa (bird)|hamsa (swan or goose)]]. Maheshvari is depicted with a trident and a [[Humped cattle|humped bull]]. The image of Mahishamardini has one foot on a buffalo that she has defeated; she is holding its legs, and in two of her eight arms she wields a sword and shield.{{sfn|Vidya_Dehejia|1986|pp=115–117}} These statues are among the oldest sculptures of Khajuraho.{{sfn|ASI Bhopal Chausath|2016}}

==See also==
* [[Chausath Yogini Temple, Bhedaghat]]
* [[Chausath Yogini Temple, Ranipur Jharial]]
* [[Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli]]
* [[Chausath Yogini Temple, Hirapur]]

== References ==

{{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===

{{ref begin}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle |title=Chausath Yogini Temple |url=http://asibhopal.nic.in/monument/chhatarpur_khajuraho_chausathyoginitemple.html |access-date=2016-11-16 |ref={{harvid|ASI Bhopal Chausath|2016}} }}
* {{cite web |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle |title=Alphabetical List of Monuments - Madhya Pradesh |url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_alphalist_mp.asp |access-date=2016-11-16 |ref={{harvid|ASI MP List|2016}} |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102195954/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_alphalist_mp.asp# |archive-date=2 November 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
* {{cite book |author=Vidya Dehejia |title=Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition |publisher=National Museum, Janpath, New Delhi |year=1986 |url=https://archive.org/details/YoginiCultAndTemplesVidyaDehejia}}
* {{cite book |author1=Ali Javid |author2=Tabassum Javeed |title=World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iXVNBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA209 |year=2008 |publisher=Algora |isbn=978-0-87586-482-2 }}
* {{cite book |author=Shaman Hatley |author-link=Shaman Hatley |title=The Brahmayāmalatantra and Early Śaiva Cult of Yoginīs |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3292099/ |year=2007 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania (PhD Thesis, UMI Number: 3292099)}}
* {{cite book |author=Shobita Punja |title=Khajuraho: The First Thousand Years |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZpYCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT39 |date=14 October 2010 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-93-85890-40-6}}
* {{cite book |author=Rana P. B. Singh |title=Cosmic Order and Cultural Astronomy |publisher=Cambridge Scholars |year=2009 |isbn=9781443816076 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQoaBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60}}
* {{cite book |author=Manohar Laxman Varadpande |title=History of Indian Theatre: Classical theatre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOZB7MbeMrAC&pg=PA291 |year=1987 |publisher=Abhinav |isbn=978-81-7017-430-1}}
{{ref end}}

{{Khajuraho Group of Monuments}}
{{Yoginis}}
[[Category:Hindu temples in Khajuraho]]
[[Category:Devi temples in India]]
[[Category:9th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:Granite buildings]]
[[Category:Yogini temples]]

Chausath Yogini Temple, Khajuraho - Revision history

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