At the western edge of the temple compound stands an open-pillared hall — the kalyana mandapa, or wedding hall — in which the divine marriage of Shiva and Parvati was to be celebrated annually. The sculpture programme was begun but never finished: dozens of granite columns stand half-carved, with figures still emerging from the stone, friezes blocked out in rough relief, capitals incomplete.
It is one of the most evocative spaces in any Indian temple — a sudden, unfinished pause in what was otherwise a complete and confident programme of work. Walk among the columns and look at the abandoned faces and torsos. The mandapa is open to the sky, with views east across the village and the surrounding plain.