During the 10th and 11th centuries CE the Chandella Kings of central India; scions of a powerful Rajput clan who claimed the moon as their direct ancestor; built a total of 85 temples to the glory of God; the creation; and the Hindu pantheon. The Chandellas were devout Hindus.

Eclipsed by the Mughal conquest; the rise of rival dynasties; and the passage of time; the temples languished in the harsh sun and monsoon rains of central India; gradually becoming lost in the jungle. At the time of their re-discovery in 1839; they were so completely overgrown that T. S. Burt; their founder; thought no more than seven temples had survived. Happily this proved far from the case; for when the undergrowth was hacked back and the complex restored; no fewer than twenty two of the original structures were revealed standing.