This temple was covered with sand and rocks before being discovered, what an impressive find. The temple is amazingly intact, including many of the painted cartouches and artworks. Our river cruise boat docked in Quena, so the ride was short and convenient. Not busy compared to everything in Luxor. The entry to an underground crypt is an additional fee and definitely not worth it. Save the underground exploring for the crypts inthe valley of the kings.

Amazing, impressive temple with crypts that holds the famous "light bulb" hieroglyphs and many other fascinating reliefs. It used to house the famous zodiac, but now it has a copy in black. The tower stairway that leads up to the zodiac is also unique. Also the ceiling paintings of Nut are worth noticing. I would give it 5 stars, if it wasnt for the way it is really poorly managed. There are no signs to show tourists around, and they first said the temple was closing at 4, then they said 5 and in the end they closed 4.30. We bought an extra ticket for the crypt, and the ticket seller said it would give us entrance to 3 crypts, but when we found one of the crypts, a "guard" came and followed us. According to a sign there it is not allowed to do any worship "outside of designated areas" (I never found any designated area). When we just closed our eyes for a brief moment while standing the "guard" interrupted and said it was not allowed to meditate. He seemed to want money if we were meditating. When showing us the next two crypts he would only allow us 1 minute each place, and he got angry when we did not want to give him tips. I dont mind paying tips for good service but he really disturbed our visit. Because there were no signs, it was not clear to see which crypts were included in our tickets and which were part of his scam. He went and got another guard with a machine gun who also tried to make us pay under the table to meditate in a crypt. We just wanted to see the crypts that we had tickets to and to close our eyes for a few moments to sense the energy without being disturbed, but that was impossible. Also because there were no signs and because they could not tell the closing time beforehand, we nearly missed the whole upstairs part with the zodiac. It would probably be better to go there with a good guide, but guides that understand and explain about the esoteric side of the temples are hard to find.

Dendera Temple is definitely worth exploring. The inscriptions on its walls are fascinating. Outside the temple is a depiction of Bes, the protector of newborn babies and children. He has also come to signify music and dance. Bes is dwarf-like in stature and possesses both human and lion characteristics. Inside the temple is a depiction of the story of Osiris. He was killed and then resurrected. Note that he is ready to start the cycle of fertility once again. On the outer wall is a depiction of Cleopatra VII and her son Ptolemy XV. Cleopatra was the last queen of ancient Egypt. She was not Egyptian, but Macedonian. The Macedonian rulers of Egypt adopted Egyptian dress and customs. As you can see, the temple is quite impressive.

Dendera Temple was an incredible viewing that is vastly underrated. I was fortunate to go in July and whilst it was very hot in the sun yes, in the temple it was very cool and empty allowing you to have a great wander about the place without interruption. The columns and history of the place were a joy to behold and the pictures or videos do not do it justice. There are also some crypts that you can go into and visit but be mindful it can be a squeeze to get into the chambers. I spent a lot more time here than I anticipated and would happily go back.