The Lakshmana temple

The earliest and the best preserved evolved temples of Khajuraho, Lakshmana temple has all the principal elements of a developed temple, like, the entrance porch, mandapa (hall), vestibule and sanctum with an ambulatory. This is a Panchayatana (five-shrined) temple.

The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. An inscribed slab originally excavated at the base of Lakshmana temple is fixed in the passage of the big hall (Mandapa). Dated to AD 953-54, the inscription says that it was king Yasovarman who built this splendid mansion of Vishnu.

The temple appears to have been built between 930 and 950 AD, with its architectural and sculptural peculiarities. Many exquisite sculptures, the finest pieces of medieval art, can be seen on the walls of Lakshmana temple.