
Chausathi Yogini Temple, Hirapur












Khandagiri












Bhuvaneshwar





Chausathi Yogini Temple – Hirapur- The 64 yoginis are based on the Asta Matrakas or the eight major forms of Devi, the mother goddess. These are Brahmani, Vaishnavi, Maheshwari, Indrani, Kaumari, Varahi, Chamunda and Narsimhi. Each of these yoginis has eight attendants and when they are all assembled, they add up to 64 yoginis. Inside the open-air temple, the inner face of the temple wall has 60 evenly spaced niches just above ground level, each one containing an extraordinary standing figure (yogini) carved from fine grained chlorite. At the center of the temple stands a square Chandi Mandapa. It has entrances on all four sides, with two niches provided on either side of each entrance, resulting eight niches in total. While the four niches in the central chandi mandapa house Bhairavas, the remaining four niches house yoginis taking the total to 64 yoginis. Khandagiri Caves – Bhubaneswar-Located directly opposite the Udayagiri Caves complex on the other side of the road, Khandagiri Caves comprises of 15 caves in total, and it is believed the excavations here are a little later than Udayagiri. Of 15 caves, cave 7 known as Navamuni Gumpha has seven tirthankara images on the top row (Rishabhanatha, Ajitanatha, Sambhavanatha, Abhinandannatha, Vasupujya, Parshvanatha and Neminatha) on the back wall .On the row below is Ganesha on the far left, followed by the respective tirthankara guardians (Chakresvari, Rohini, Prajnyapti, Vajrasrinkhala, Gandhari, Padmavati and Amra). The right hand wall has carvings of Parshvanatha and Rishabhanatha