Nandi Mandap
On the wide platform of Vishvanatha Temple in Khajuraho, there is a small deity, Nandi Mandap. It has an elegant pyramidal roof. There is a large single-stone image of Nandi, the devoted companion and mount of Shiva within the open mandap.
The mandap is a lovely place to sit and rest for a while. It offers a good view of the street below, the distant Dantla hills and the Western Group Complex. The inner passages around the mandap are also adorned with the images of gods and celestial ladies in characteristic poses. The mandap pillars built in front of the sanctum is a real testimony of the last remains of exquisitely carved bracket figure that have escaped the cruel hands of the thieves and art dealers.
It houses a 2.2 m polished sandstone Nandi bull (Shiva’s vehicle). He sits there with a sphinx-like expression that is hard to read – although it does seem from certain angles that he is staring longingly at the temple before him, the house of his master.
