Pratapeshwar Temple — Attraction in Khajuraho

Pratapeshwar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Khajuraho town in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, India. This temple is situated in the western group at Khajuraho. It is considered as the newest temple among the Khajuraho Temples.

This Temple was built by Raja Pratap Singh in 19th century CE. The temple was closed in 1956 due to the States Reorganization Act, and the state archaeology department was unable to take care of the building thereafter. So, the doors remained locked until late 2016.

This Temple is situated in the same complex which houses Vishwanatha Temple, Lakshmana Temple, Kandariya Mahadeva Temple and Devi Jagadambi Temple. This Temple consists of Ardha Mandapa, Maha Mandapa and Sanctum. This Temple has a mix of three different architectural styles. It has a Rajputana dome over Ardha Mandapa, a pagoda style of ceiling over Maha Mandapa middle, and a typical Shikhara over the sanctum. The Sanctum houses black polished Linga.

The Temple is located at about 1.5 Kms from Khajuraho Bus Stand, 7 Kms from Khajuraho Airport, 7 Kms from Rajnagar, 9 Kms from Khajuraho Railway Station, 12 Kms from Bamitha, 41 Kms from Chhatarpur, 47 Kms from Panna and 379 Kms from Bhopal. Khajuraho is situated on Bamitha to Rajnagar route. Khajuraho railway station connects the town by a daily train to Delhi via Mahoba, Jhansi and Gwalior. It provides a daily train connecting to Agra, Jaipur, Bhopal and Udaipur. A local daily train also connects to Kanpur, whilst Varanasi is connected three times a week. Khajuraho Airport has flights to Delhi, Agra, Varanasi and Mumbai. Har Har Mahadev Jai Shiv Sankar Jai Maa Bharti...

It's also known as the Harmony temple cause the front portion of the temple has an Islamic Gumbad, the middle one looks more like a Buddhist stupa and last one has a Hindu Shikhar.

This temple is assignable in between 1784 to 1854 CE during the reign of King Pratap Singh of Chhatarpur state after whose name the temple was nomenclatured as Pratapeshwar temple. The temple is specimen of medieval architectural style having few characters of Chandella art. It is raised on a high platform consisting of a mandapa (entrance porch). sabhamandapa (main hall) and garbhagriha (sanctum). The sancium enshrines a small Siva linga on yonipithika. On elevation. the Vedibandha is devoid of any ornamentation while the jangha portion contains niches without enshrining the sculptures. The shikhara of mandapa. sabhamandapa and garbhagrina discriminates to each other in designs. The mandapa has a dome like shikhara preceded by two miniature domes at frontal corners. The sabhamandapa sikhara is pyramidal surmounted with a small amalaka and kalasha. The garbhagriha has a shikhara of Nagara pattern diminshing towaras up side topped by an amlaka and kalasha comparatively larger to the shikhara of sabhamandapa. The main shikhara is surrounded with...

This temple is believed to have been constructed in the early-mid 19th century. The Pratapeshwar Temple is the last of the significant monuments at Khajuraho. It was established in the early to mid 19th century by Pratap Singh, the second Raja of the Chhatarpur princely state, which thrived under the British Raj. Despite its prominent location, the structure seldom appears in Khajuraho guidebooks, probably because the monument may simply have been intended as a memorial to Pratap Singh himself, who fancied himself as a stalwart of Khajuraho's architectural heritage. The monument was sealed in 1956 per the States Reorganization Act and the central government refused to fund its protection, and the monument did not receive the same official recognition as other Khajuraho properties. In 2016, the Archaeological Survey of India took over the property and reopened it to visitors. Although the site does not bear much resemblance to the rest Khajuraho's western group of temples, historians stress that it possesses a certain charm, particularly in contradiction to the profusely ornamented and sculpture-laden temples in its...