As an excellent example of Nagara style Hindu temple architecture, the Lakshmana Temple consists of a shrine known as vimana (shell of womb chamber) and a flat roofed entry porch known as mandapa. The shrine has a base platform and a huge superstructure that visitors can see from a distance called sikhara (mountain peak).
The temples of Khajuraho are excellent example of Nagara architecture style. These temples have an exceptional feature; they are not encloses within a wall but they stand on high terrace of solid masonry in order to symbolize their elevation above their temporal surroundings. Lakshmana is an example of a larger temple made with even less granite at base than the earlier ones, as well as larger quantities of sandstone above. This shift of materiality; from granite to sandstone was due to the fact that granite was used in coarse, local granite was unsuitable for ornamental work and due to the increase in power of Chandella, the temple architectural complexity was increased with more sculptural elements.
The layout of the temple differs from others. The entrance is from the east and you pass through an ardha-mandapa entranceway, a mandapa and a larger maha mandapa that leads to the sanctuary. There are five projecting balconies and an ambulatory around the sanctuary. For the first time, the sanctuary and the maha mandapa were fused into an integrated unit whereas in earlier temples these units were discrete elements and were connected through a narrow passageway.
In this temple, you enter the interior through a simple Makara-torana flanked by gladiators. The porch has a circular ceiling (ardha mandapa) is a superbly carved open lotus blossom. Inside the hall (mandapa) there is an elevated platform that most of the time was used for dancing and tantric rituals. Pillars with carved brackets with apsaras are at each corner of the platform which are one of the finest sculptures at Khajuraho. Also, except from the sculptures, eight figures are on each column that represent the eight sects of Tantra. As the three-headed image of Vishnu as Vaikuntha was important, the ‘pancha-ratha sanctum’ (main shrine) was built to house it, as it features the head of two of Vishnu’s avatars and a human head, a boar and a lion.
The Lakshmana temple is exceptional example of a five-temple platform arrangement. Instead of having a single temple placed atop an elevated platform, four small shrines enclose the large central temple; the two are the rear point of the front of the platform whereas the other two are at the front point to its center. This specific temple marked a main shift in temple design. Both the sanctuary and maha mandapa were attached into an integrated unit showing the contrast with earlier temples where they endured discrete elements linked through a narrow passageway. In order to emphasize the verticality of the tower, Lakshmana has smaller decorative towers that cling to the sides. This was a significant stage due to the fact that these clinging towers will grow in numbers in subsequent temples.
The entrance porch of the temple (ardhamandapa), created a transitional area between the outside world and the hall. The hall in the temple also known as mandapa, formed a transitional space between the entrance porch and the great hall. The temple’s main entrance-hall also known as mahamandapa, is separated from a central shrine by a short vestibule called antarala. The vestibule in the temple also known as antarala, is a transitional space between the main hall and the inner sanctum where the image of the primary deity would be kept. This architectural element shows the liminal space between the exterior world and the divine world where these exterior panels are the main sites for the panels containing sexually explicit scenes. Then we have the Amalaka. It’s a stone disk, most often with ridges on the rim and it’s atop the temple’s main tower. On the one hand it may represent a lotus, thus the ‘symbolic seat for the deity below’. On the other hand it may symbolizes the sun leading to a gateway to heaven. Then you can see the inner sanctum also known as garbhagrha which exemplifies the basic function of a Hindu temple; to serve as the deity’s dwelling space and devotees come there to interact with worship.
A ‘bas-relief frieze’ on the temple platform portrays a demonstration of dancers, musicians, warriors, animals, soldiers, acrobats, domestic scenes, ceremonies, loving couples and elephants; all of them presume powerful poses. On the centres of the projecting balconies which are located on the base of the temple, you can find miniature niches with ‘deity sculptures’ inside. There is an important sculpture on the south side being a high state of preservation; the depiction of Ganesha – son of Shiva and Parvati, acts as the remover of obstacles. Moving higher up on the temple walls, you can see two registers of large panels. They show ‘deep bas-relief sculptures’; the ‘round-limbed’ figures are enormously natural in pose and are good rendered. Through the connection of the maha mandapa and the sanctuary; the meeting point of human and divine – correspondingly, illustrations on these panels show an erotic character. It’s one of the first temple at Khajuraho to indicate erotic reliefs.
The details on the sculptures found in the temple base are different between an officer (beard), general (beard and belly) and priest (beard, belly and stick). The representation of an ordinary soldier has none of these. Both gods and goddesses major sculptures can be found on the walls in two rows, with asparas or sura-sundari in attendance on the sections and loving couples carefully placed in the recesses. In addition, all of the figures are relaxed having the movement of resting their weight on one leg, thus emphasizing their curves. Also, the nymphs shown bearing offerings, playing musical instruments, attending to the toilet or as lovers, are accomplished with great skill. They are graceful with expressive and emotional faces and gestures.
Furthermore, throughout this temple the ideal female figure was very important. There is a specific sculpture of a woman removing a thorn from her foot on the northwest side exterior wall. Her face is round like the moon with a slender nose, lips, arched eyebrows, and eyes like lotus petals. ‘While her left hand raises a gesture of reassurance, her right hand points to the thorn in her foot’. Throughout the years sculptures of women like this one have mesmerized viewers for centuries. Portraying ideal female beauty was very important for temple architecture and was thought to be ‘auspicious’. Different forms of women were included in a temple’s sculptural program due to the fact that they emphasize their roles as symbols of growth, fertility and prosperity.
Additionally, on the Lakshmana temple images of loving couples known as mithuna appear as symbols of ‘divine union’ and moksha; the release from samsara (cycle of death and rebirth). Most of the temples including the Lakshmana temple at Khajuraho, are famous for these kind of images – variations of figures engaged in ‘sexual intercourse’. However, these erotic images were not proposed as provocative, but instead as a ritual and symbolic function important to the patrons, builders and devotees of these structures.
Also, there were some friezes that depict the kind of erotic art for which Khajuraho is famous for. This group is in a specifically exposed place, the first panel on the temple’s southern side which is immediately visible to anyone circling around the base of the temple, a public ritual practise. Such settlement shows that the maker of the temple wanted these parts to be visible.
Moreover, friezes instead of showing erotic art they illustrate images of daily life, love and war and many historical events of the Chandella period. When you climb the stairs of the plinth, you find another set of images that include deities sculpted within niches on the exterior wall of the temple. On the left of the niche the ‘elephant-headed Ganesha’ is shown. Ganesha is a god that most of the time is worshipped at the start of things suggesting the fact that devotees are in the correct direction for ‘circumambulation’.
Also, other forms are shown in lively, active structures: bent arms, swaying hips and titled heads emphasizing a dramatic ‘’triple-bend’’ contrapposto pose, illustrating three-dimensionality. Specifically on the exterior between the mandapa and the vimana is where the erotic images of couples are comprised is sexual union. This kind of architectural juncture illustrates a ‘symbolic function’ as the connection of the vimana and mandapa, is highlighted by the representation of merged couples. At each corner of the plinth four smaller shrines are there. These kind of shrines are shown as miniature temples by having their own vimanas, sikharas mandapas, and womb chambers with images of deities, initially other forms or avatars of Vishnu. Following circumambulation through the exterior of the temple, devotees experienced three mandapas, which arranged them to enter the vimana. Each of the mandapa has a pyramidal-shaped roof that increases in size while you move from east to west.
One of perhaps the most famous image from the Lakshmana temple is one of the few examples of bestiality. Even though is really small it acknowledges this as part of ‘human sexual experience, but this is a miniscule part of the whole.’ One can also read the numerous meanings of the behaviour of the woman behind the horse – ‘is she covering her eyes in disbelief, or is she sneaking a peek?