Chausath Yogini Temple, Bhedaghat

01The ring of goddesses

The Kalachuris of Tripuri, whose capital lay near present Jabalpur, raised this temple around the 10th century. A circular wall encloses an open court, and along its inner face run some eighty-one cells, each holding a seated yogini in stone, many with their names carved on the pedestal. These goddesses belong to the Tantric worship of the Devi in her many powers, done under the open sky. In the centre stands the Gauri-Shankar shrine, where Shiva and Parvati ride Nandi together; an inscription of the Kalachuri queen Alhanadevi of the 12th century relates to it.

02Above the marble rocks

Most of the yoginis have lost faces, breasts or arms; no record we can cite says when or by whom they were broken. About 150 steps below, the Narmada runs between white marble cliffs for some three kilometres, and boats go up the gorge by moonlight. Upstream the river drops at Dhuandhar, the smoking falls. Many visitors to the falls miss the temple; climb up.

The life of this place