Vishvanatha temple
The Vishvanatha temple , enshrining a Shiva-linga, is situated along the Bamitha-Rajnagar road in the north-eastern extremity of the Khajuraho with group. It is among the finest temples of Khajuraho with all the elements of the developed temple-type, viz.entrance-porch, mandapa, maha-mandapa with transepts, vestibule and sanctum enclosed by an ambulatory with transepts on the sides and the rear.

Like the Lakshmana temple, it was a temple of the panchayatana variety, but of the four subsidiary shrines only two have survived in the north-east and south-west corners. Architecturally this temple comes midway between the Lakshmana and the Kandariya-Mahadeva and its importance lies in the fact that it anticipates the Kandariya, which marks the culmination of the central Indian building-style.

Thus , the basement-mouldings of this temple resemble those of the Kandariya and the two temple also agree in the general arrangement and disposition of sculptures. Three sculptural bands of equal size on the facades of the jangha (wall) and the representation on the basement niches of the seven Mothers with Ganesha on one end and Virabhadra on the other are peculiar to these two temples at Khajuraho. Even the shikaras of the two temples are essentially similar in design , though that of Vishvanatha is appreciably simpler , showing fewer minor sikharas.

Of the two inscriptions now built into the mandapa-walls of the temple, the longer one was found in this temple and belongs to it. It is a long royal record which refers to the dedication of two lingas, one made of emerald and the other of stone, in a towering temple of Shiva-Marakateshvara, built by the Chandella king Dhanga in 1002. Although the stone linga alone has survived , there is no doubt that the inscription refers to the Vishvanatha temple itself, which , by its architectural grandeur and sculptural grace and exuberance, easily impresses as a monument worthy of a king.

This temple has indeed the most proportionate sculptures with admirable poise and balance, which include figures of sura-sundaris and couples, erotic or otherwise. Noteworthy among the figures of the interior are a divine couple and a sura-sundari playing on a flute. A sura-sundari plucking a thorn from her foot, appearing on the outer south façade, also deserves notice for the charming expression.