Travellers` Accounts
A number of interesting accounts have been left, particularly by muslim travellers during the medieval period. Khajuraho is mentioned as "Khajuraha", the capital of Jejabhukti,the region of the Chandelas, by Alberuni, the famous historian who traveled to India with Mahmud Ghazni and also accompanined him during his raids, in 1022 AD. Even after the decline of the Chandalas, Khajuraho continued to be an important religious centre, until the fourteenth century AD. The noted Arab traveller Ibn Battuta, visited Khajuraho in 1335 AD, to see the miracles performed by the Jogis. He cites in his memiors, a large, one mile long pond, surronded by temples. He must be referring to the Shivsagara tank, which is near the western group of temples.

Khajuraho might have disappeared into obscurity by the sixteenth century, as it is not even mentioned in the records of the Moghuls. Though Abul Fazal, in his Ain-I-Akbari describes the nearby fort-town of Kalanjar, including the huge Bhairava image outside the Nilakantheshvara temple. It is possible that a dense forest might have enveloped around the site of Khajuraho by then.

Re-emergence in the Nineteenth Century
It took around three centuries for Khajuraho to surface again; On 3rd February 1813, a paper was presented on a Sanskrit inscription found at Mau near Khajuraho, by Lieutenant William Price, at the Asiatic Society of Bengal. This paper introduced the historians to the Chandelas. Khajuraho was included in a map prepared by Franklin in 1818, as "Kajrow".

The eighth volume of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, published a detailed account of the western group of temples. This was written by Captain T. S. Burt, a British engineer, who visited Khajuraho on a day`s trip from Chhatarpur in 1838. This article, brought Khajuraho to the notice of a number of art and antique lovers. An excerpt from Burt`s account, which also highlights the significance of these temples "... before finally taking the leave of the seven temples, I shall state my opinion, that they are most probably the finest aggregate number of temples congregated in one place to be met with in all India, and all are within a stone`s throw of one another".

The first local ruler to take interest in the preservation of these temples was Maharaja Pratap Singh, who, between 1843 and 1847 , undertook large scale renovation of the Khajuraho temples. However, since he used lime and brick in the repair work, which did not suit the ancient monuments, some of his renovations had to be removed later by the Archaeological Survey of India.General F C Maisey has been credited with the earliest drawings of Khajuraho, which he made in 1852.These can be found even today,in the India Office Library, London. Among Maisey`s numerous drawings, one can also see the fort town of Kalanjar.

Major Alexander Cunningham gave a more systematic description of Khajuraho. He visited Khajuraho on two occasions; First in 1852 and later in 1864, and this time he was the Archaeological Surveyor to the Government of India. His accounts in The Archaeological Survey of India Reports, Volumes II, VII, X, and XXI, are now a rich source of information on this site. He acknowledged the significance of Khajuraho, and declared that the area contains "perhaps the largest group of costly Hindu temples that is now to be found in Northern India".

Among the first photographers to photograph the Khajuraho temples, Raja Deen Dayal features prominently. He photographed the Khajuraho temples in 1882, and in 1886, these were published in "Famous monuments of Central India" by L.Griffin. In 1892, Some major inscriptions of Khajuraho were published in the first volume of the "Epigraphia Indica" by F. Kielhom.

Sir John Marshall and Henry Cousen, in 1904, drew a systematic conservation and protection programme for Khajuraho, which was implemented by the Archaeological Survey of India. The former director of the ASI, Mr. Krishna Deva, in his book, "The temples of Khajuraho" describes the renovation work of the temples. The Chaturbhuja temple, The Duladeva temple, The Devi Jagadamba temple, and The Chitragupta temple are some of the temples, that underwent extensive renovation. In1953, the ASI took direct charge of the Khajuraho monuments. The temples and the Archaeological Museum are under the supervision of the ASI ever since.

Eighteen out of more than fifty mounds that exist in Khajuraho have been identified for excavation by the ASI. Recently, a finely carved pedestal of a large early-eleventh century temple has been uncovered in the southern area of the site. This signals that the potential of the site is yet to be fully unleashed, inspite of the grandeur and splendour of the presently known temples.