Chaunsath Yogini Temple

Chaunsat Yogini is the oldest of the surviving temples of Khajuraho, dedicated to goddess Kali. This is the only temple in Khajuraho built in granite. The name chaunsat (sixty-four) comes from the cells of 64 attendants of Goddess Kali, while one belongs to the goddess herself. This temple is in the western group and is also unique in being quadrangular in plan. Only 35 of the original 65 cells remain and no image of Kali has survived not surprisingly, since this is the earliest surviving shrine of the group dated to 900 AD. Built in late 9th century, situated about three furlongs south of the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, this monument belongs to a very rare class of temples, dedicated to the sixty-four Yoginis, which represented innumerable aspects or manifestations of 'Shakti'. The temple is built on a low rocky ridge and stands on a Cyclopean 'jagati' (platform), from 14 to 18 feet high, made of rough dressed boulders of coarse local granite.

This temples is the only one not aligned East to West. This is the only temple at Khajuraho, which is not oriented north south but is oriented northeast to southwest. This temple has many notable features. This is the only temple at the site, which is made entirely of granite, while most of the Khajuraho temples are made of a fine variety of buff or pink sandstone. Further, this structure is extremely simple in plan and design, with hardly any carvings or ornaments and has no pretensions for architectural elegance.