“Oh my god!” I guess this is how T S Burt would have exclaimed with joy and excitement, when he landed at Khajuraho in the Bundelkhand heartland just by accident. He had no plans as such of an adventurous excursion while moving through central India, when his palki Wallah informed him about the temples of khajuraho. He decided to take a chance and diverted towards Khajuraho. And what he found there was something that changed the attitude of westerners towards India and Indian Culture. A plethora of medieval Hindu temples with richly carved statues surfaced and with them came a big question. What’s the motive of such erotic work in a Hindu temple?
Khajuraho derives its name from Hindi word “Khajura-vahaka” and became the seat of mighty Chandelas during the 10th century. It is believed; Chandelas were descendents of moon god and had political and military dominance in Bundelkhand for about two centuries before going into oblivion silently. During these years, they engaged in rapid temple making activities, and came up with around 85 temples in Khajuraho. Today, Khajuraho is a small village and only 22 of the original temples survive. But, they are more than sufficient to give you a glimpse of the Glorious Chandela Empire that it once was and the razor sharp chisel perfection of local artisans.
We started for Khajuraho on 12th night by Sampark kranti Express (AC-II) from Hazrat Nizamuddin. Took Chicken Biryani from Comesome and boarded the train. After finishing the Hyderabadi delicacy, Aninda and I, moved to our beds. Next morning at 03:35 AM we reached Jhansi; waited some time at the station and headed to the Bus stand. Just as we reached the bus stand, the MPSRTC bus “Shatabdi Express” was ready to leave for Khajuraho. I took the luggage and settled down in the bus, while Aninda managed to get a cup of hot steaming tea. Although khajuraho gets some Indian and loads of international tourists, even then transportation options are quite limited. MPSRTC bus “Shatabdi Express” was the best available alternative, but the seats were somewhat 4 that held us cramped for the next five hours.
Refreshing morning breeze kept us awakened and alert as we gazed thought the window. It was all green, very bright, and fluorescent. New tenders leaves have taken full bloom, while the rains have washed off nearly everything. Having passed through Chatarpur,…… and many other places, we reached Khajuraho. Plush five star hotels welcomed us at the outskirts; moved ahead towards the Bus Stand. In the first glimpse the whole area looked quite sleepy and dull. Took a rickshaw and moved towards “Casa da William” our pre-decided hotel.
After having a smoke (Rothmans-King-size) and a much-needed bath, we decided to start our tour-de-khajuraho form the western court. While having the breakfast cum lunch at the terrace of Casa da William we had the first snare at the high-rise spires of the magnificent temples. The food at casa was plain, less oily, and tasted like homemade stuff. After finishing the lunch, we moved towards the entrance of western court. Took the tickets and moved in after clarifying the small doubts that popped up in the mind of lady guard, because of the Sony-Handy cam case, that I had.
Western court is a sprawling courtyard that houses some of the most famous temples at Khajuraho. Kandariya Mahadev, Lakshmana, Vishwanatha …… along with some scaled down subsidiary shrines, placed around the main temples. Although we had the ASI guidebook on Khajuraho, indecision made us wander a bit till we decided to start the complex tourney from Lakshmana temple.
Lakshmana temple is one of the loftiest temples of khajuraho, with four subsidiary shrines at corners of the foundation plan. A series of rise steps leads to the main entrance carved in an intricate fashion. Most of the temples in khajuraho follow a basic architectural layout – main entrance, ardh mandapa, mahamandapa, garbha griha, and pradikshina are some of the basic elements. Watch out for those heavily carved ceilings and the waiting surasundaris inside the pradikshina. Having moved around the interiors, we decided to have an all-around look from outside. Exteriors of Lakshmana temple are adorned with an impressive number of around 576 statues. But, the scorch sun had already heated up the sandstone flooring to the extent that walking barefoot was becoming impossible.
Now, let’s do some rethink on the earlier debate. Why the erotic? There are many versions for the possible cause; some say to please lord Indra to avoid any divine wrath, others insist that Tantra was being practiced by the Chandelas which advocates Bhoga as one of the ways of finding nirvana. The presence of these statues only on the outer side is also explained to be a symbolic way to warn the devotees to keep off the erotic thoughts outside before entering the holy sanctum. However, the real story still remains an illusive secret. Some of the statues will actually make you laugh for their innovative and raw contents. We were totally spell bound by the chandela artistry; “Peltry in Sandstone” that’s how I would like to explain it.
Kandariya Mahadev, sitting next to Lakshmana temple was our next destination. This temples shares its platform with >>>>>>> temple with <<<<<<<>>>>>>> and <<<<<<>
Khajuraho derives its name from Hindi word “Khajura-vahaka” and became the seat of mighty Chandelas during the 10th century. It is believed; Chandelas were descendents of moon god and had political and military dominance in Bundelkhand for about two centuries before going into oblivion silently. During these years, they engaged in rapid temple making activities, and came up with around 85 temples in Khajuraho. Today, Khajuraho is a small village and only 22 of the original temples survive. But, they are more than sufficient to give you a glimpse of the Glorious Chandela Empire that it once was and the razor sharp chisel perfection of local artisans.
We started for Khajuraho on 12th night by Sampark kranti Express (AC-II) from Hazrat Nizamuddin. Took Chicken Biryani from Comesome and boarded the train. After finishing the Hyderabadi delicacy, Aninda and I, moved to our beds. Next morning at 03:35 AM we reached Jhansi; waited some time at the station and headed to the Bus stand. Just as we reached the bus stand, the MPSRTC bus “Shatabdi Express” was ready to leave for Khajuraho. I took the luggage and settled down in the bus, while Aninda managed to get a cup of hot steaming tea. Although khajuraho gets some Indian and loads of international tourists, even then transportation options are quite limited. MPSRTC bus “Shatabdi Express” was the best available alternative, but the seats were somewhat 4 that held us cramped for the next five hours.
Refreshing morning breeze kept us awakened and alert as we gazed thought the window. It was all green, very bright, and fluorescent. New tenders leaves have taken full bloom, while the rains have washed off nearly everything. Having passed through Chatarpur,…… and many other places, we reached Khajuraho. Plush five star hotels welcomed us at the outskirts; moved ahead towards the Bus Stand. In the first glimpse the whole area looked quite sleepy and dull. Took a rickshaw and moved towards “Casa da William” our pre-decided hotel.
After having a smoke (Rothmans-King-size) and a much-needed bath, we decided to start our tour-de-khajuraho form the western court. While having the breakfast cum lunch at the terrace of Casa da William we had the first snare at the high-rise spires of the magnificent temples. The food at casa was plain, less oily, and tasted like homemade stuff. After finishing the lunch, we moved towards the entrance of western court. Took the tickets and moved in after clarifying the small doubts that popped up in the mind of lady guard, because of the Sony-Handy cam case, that I had.
Western court is a sprawling courtyard that houses some of the most famous temples at Khajuraho. Kandariya Mahadev, Lakshmana, Vishwanatha …… along with some scaled down subsidiary shrines, placed around the main temples. Although we had the ASI guidebook on Khajuraho, indecision made us wander a bit till we decided to start the complex tourney from Lakshmana temple.
Lakshmana temple is one of the loftiest temples of khajuraho, with four subsidiary shrines at corners of the foundation plan. A series of rise steps leads to the main entrance carved in an intricate fashion. Most of the temples in khajuraho follow a basic architectural layout – main entrance, ardh mandapa, mahamandapa, garbha griha, and pradikshina are some of the basic elements. Watch out for those heavily carved ceilings and the waiting surasundaris inside the pradikshina. Having moved around the interiors, we decided to have an all-around look from outside. Exteriors of Lakshmana temple are adorned with an impressive number of around 576 statues. But, the scorch sun had already heated up the sandstone flooring to the extent that walking barefoot was becoming impossible.
Now, let’s do some rethink on the earlier debate. Why the erotic? There are many versions for the possible cause; some say to please lord Indra to avoid any divine wrath, others insist that Tantra was being practiced by the Chandelas which advocates Bhoga as one of the ways of finding nirvana. The presence of these statues only on the outer side is also explained to be a symbolic way to warn the devotees to keep off the erotic thoughts outside before entering the holy sanctum. However, the real story still remains an illusive secret. Some of the statues will actually make you laugh for their innovative and raw contents. We were totally spell bound by the chandela artistry; “Peltry in Sandstone” that’s how I would like to explain it.
Kandariya Mahadev, sitting next to Lakshmana temple was our next destination. This temples shares its platform with >>>>>>> temple with <<<<<<<>>>>>>> and <<<<<<>
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