There are questions posed by many regarding the religion in Khajuraho during its flourishing days. Even the very existence of religion here has been questioned. There is, however a very common belief that Khajuraho is a place for "free love". The name Khajuraho has become synonymous with erotic sculpture, and it is known to many as just a place of erotic display in stone. This however, does not seem to be the idea behind Khajuraho. Of the total number of sculptures that adorn the walls of Khajuraho, hardly one tenth of them are erotic. There are several images of divine beings, with many holding manuscripts and several others in yogic postures. Khajuraho was a place of worship and religious discourses were also held here. Many religious sects received patronage from the Chandellas. It is important to note that the monuments at Khajuraho were temples, built by their patrons primarily for the sake of worship. It is a well known fact that temples were the centres of both religious and artistic expression in medieval India.
Maniya Devi, a tribal goddess, was supposed to be the guardian deity of the Chandellas. The shrines of Maniya Devi are simple structures. These shrines can be found at Mahoba and Maniyagadh (Rajgadh) on the left bank of the Ken river. Beglar, a colleague of Major Cunningham, in the nineteenth century, described Maniya Devi as a square off between Parvati and the female deity worshipped by some Gond tribes. A seventeenth-century account also mentions Maniya Devi as the family goddess of the Chandellas, to whom they appealed in times of danger.
The temples built by the Chandella kings are in the Nagara style, mostly affiliated with the brahminical or Hindu religion. The temples built by their ministers or the Jain merchants belong to the Jain Digambara faith. Of the twenty-five temples that exist today, ten have Vishnu enshrined in various forms, such as Vamana, Varaha and a composite Vaikuntha form. Eight temples are
