Chitragupta Temple

Khajuraho


The Chitragupta Temple (1000–25) is unique in Khajuraho – and rare among North Indian temples – in being dedicated to the sun god Surya. While its condition is not as good as the other Western Group temples, it has some fine carvings of apsaras and surasundaris, elephant fights and hunting scenes, mithunas and a procession of stone-carriers.

In the dark inner sanctum, at the base of the statue, you can make out the seven horses that pull Surya's chariot, while in the lower of the two main niches beneath the sikhara on the south side is an 11-headed carving of Vishnu, representing the god and 10 of his 22 incarnations.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Khajuraho attractions

1. Devi Jagadamba Temple

0.07 MILES

Devi Jagadamba was originally dedicated to Vishnu, but later to Parvati and then Kali. The carvings include sardulas accompanied by Vishnu, surasundaris …

2. Mahadeva Temple

0.08 MILES

Mahadeva, a small, partly ruined temple on the same platform as Kandariya-Mahadev and Devi Jagadamba, is dedicated to Shiva, who is carved on the lintel…

3. Kandariya-Mahadev Temple

0.1 MILES

The 30.5m-long Kandariya-Mahadev, built between 1025 and 1050, is the largest Western Group temple and represents the high point of Chandela architecture…

4. Parvati Temple

0.13 MILES

Walking around the Western Group enclosure from the Chitragupta Temple you come to the closed-up Parvati Temple on your right, a small temple originally…

5. Vishvanath Temple

0.14 MILES

Believed to have been built in 1002, the Vishvanath Temple anticipates the plan and style of the Kandariya-Mahadev Temple. Dedicated to Shiva, it's a…

6. Pratapeswar Temple

0.16 MILES

Near the Vishvanath Temple, the white Pratapeswar is a much more recent bricks-and-mortar structure built around 200 years ago.

7. Nandi Shrine

0.17 MILES

A 2.2m-long statue of Nandi, Shiva’s bull vehicle, faces the Vishvanath Temple dedicated to Shiva. The elephant frieze round the basement of this 12…

8. Lakshmana Temple

0.17 MILES

The large Lakshmana Temple took 20 years to build and was completed in about AD 954 during the reign of Dhanga, according to an inscription in its mandapa…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "india/madhya-pradesh-and-chhattisgarh/khajuraho/attractions/chitragupta-temple/a/poi-sig/1321939/356376",
      "destination": "Khajuraho",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "India",
      "city": "Khajuraho",
      "position": "superzone"
    }