Khajuraho, the ancient city of temples, is situated in District Chhatarpur in the heart of Central India.

The Khajuraho region, known in ancient times as Vatsa came to be called Jejakbhukti in medieval period and was renamed in the fourteenth century as Bundelkhand. Under the patronage of the flamboyant Chandella rulers like Yashovarman, Dhang, Gund and Vidhyadhara, the region witnessed a glorious era  of  art  and  architecture.  The  cultural heritage  survives in the form of the tall temples of Khajuraho profusely decorated with  elegant  and  exotic  sculptures.  The Chandella rulers also built tanks, forts and palaces. The temples were mainly concentrated in their strongholds of Mahoba, Kalinjar  and  Ajaigarh.  According  to  the tradition  Khajuraho  originally  had  eighty five temples, but only twenty five survive today.

The Khajuraho temples mark  the culmination of Central Indian temple style with distinctive features in plan and elevation. They are compact lofty temples without any enclosure wall and are erected on  high  platforms (jagati). Most of the temples have essential elements of temple plan viz., porch   (ardhamandapa), hall (mandapa), entablature (antra/a) and sanctum (garbhagriha). Some of the larger temples at Khajuraho have subsidiary shrines on the four comers of the platform, known as panchayatana temples. The temples belong to Brahmanical and Jain pantheon and are dedicated to Siva, Vishnu, Surya, Devi and Tirthankaras.

The temples at Khajuraho can be divided into three groups namely Western, Eastern and Southern. The Western group which includes Lakshman, Jagdambi, Kandhariya, Chitragupta and Vishvanath temples is the most important. Most of the temples of Khajuraho are decorated with beautiful sculptures of gods, goddesses, apsaras, sura­sundaris, animal figures, etc. Of all the sculptures, the apsaras or sura-sundaris are the most impressive.

The temple of Khajuraho were  built during the ninth to twelfth century A.D. The Department of Posts is happy to issue this stamp in commemoration of one thousand years of Khajuraho. The stamp depicts one of the Khujuraho sculptures, "Apsara removing a thorn from her foot". A picture of the Visvanatha temple dated 999 A.D. is shown on the First Day Cover.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India