March 13, Tuesday & March 14, Wednesday

March 13, Tuesday  &   March 14, Wednesday 

Tuesday

The drive from Agra to Khajuraho was only 180 km, but it took us 4 hours.   The first part wasn’t too bad on a 2 lane paved road with a 60 to 80 km speed, but we passed many villages where it was extremely slow going.  There are lots of wooden carts on the roads pulled by oxen or cows (not sure how to differentiate because their horns are all impressive).   We change states again, driving through Madhya Pradesh just after we cross the dam.  


 
The road degrades during the last half to barely paved and deeply rutted, making it painfully slow to advance. There is lots of traffic to contend with as well: trucks, cars, motorcycles, bikes, tractors, carts.
We pass Gwalior where the traffic is absolutely crazy and none of the signs are in English. Even Neema seems confused. At Jhansi we switch roads and head for Chatarpur, which we reach at noon and it takes us another hour to arrive in Khajuraho.

A ghat on a very small lake, with kids playing in the water.
 
A temple along the way

I’ve realized that Neema takes some type of tobacco product and tucks it under his upper lip.  That’s why I only saw him smoking that one day when we left Udaipur.   He must have run out of the stuff and has now found a new supply because he’s back to humming as he drives.  

I’m staying at the Hotel Usha Bundela; very nice, very clean, great food !  I actually get 2 hours to freshen up and grab some lunch before we are off to see some of the sites.  Unfortunately I somehow put my camera in my carry-all instead of my purse when I got out of the car, so I only have my cam-corder for the afternoon.  Pics will have to wait until I get back to Canada.

At 6:30 we leave to take in a folkloric dance show just 5 minutes away.   The theater is fairly small, maybe holds 300 people,  and beside it is.... a store of course !

Murals on the theatre building, not sure if they are carved or just molded before they were painted.

 They also sell sculptures, fairly big ones so you would need a pretty big garden or house !

 Beautiful art just at the door to the store

Close up of the handmade sewing on a cushion cover.  Check out the stones that have been integrated into the piece.  I was good.... I did not buy anything.

The show started about 10 minutes late due to missing tourists who were arriving by bus loads.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Back at the hotel by 8:30 and have a nice dinner with a glass of wine to end a very nice day.

Wednesday

I actually get to sleep in this morning without having to use an alarm clock.   We are leaving at 10 am to visit the Khajuraho Group of Monuments.  (That’s really what the site is called !)  Unesco has listed it as a World Heritage Site.  The temples are all Hindu and Jain temples, famous for their “beautiful erotic sculptures on their walls. It was in the year 950 A.D. that the construction of temples began in Khajuraho. Over the succeeding 200 years, hundreds of temples were built here with a unique architectural style that displayed medieval sexual life explicitly on the walls. Today, only 25 of the temples are intact. “ 

Temples……. so shoes off before you climb each temple, but that’s OK since today I brought my shoe covers from Agra and where those in-lieu of socks!

I was able to get an audio-guide to do this tour on my own and forego the local guide.  I love this since it allows me to go at my own pace and take photos and all the audio tapes I’ve rented in India have been professionally prepared and the English version has a definite “British/Indian” clipped accent.

    Khajuraho World Heritage Site

 
Lakshamana Temple (930-950)    The following pictures are all of this temple

Even the steps leading to the inner sanctum doors are carved
 
There isn't one inch of this temple that is not carved
 
Even the background images are carved.  The artists were amazing.

 
 
 
 

 Each steeple peak is topped by a Stone Lotus Flower

 You could swear that these statues are alive, the movement and placement of the limbs is so good, so well proportioned.

 This one is so well done that you can see the gosimer skirt detail on the woman's body

 The square base of each temple is also decorated, all the way around


The following shots are of the Kanddariya Temple (1024-1050)

 
I am amazed at all the sculpted portions EVERYWHERE

Nice balcony on this one

 Again, the base of the platform is decorate as well

And lots of erotica on this one

Ceiling detail entrance to the inner sanctum,  Jagadambi Temple

 The inner sanctum, Jagadambi Temple

 The gardens within the Khajuraho complex are beautiful and well maintained


 Chitragupta Temple  - If there is a flag on the temple, it means it is still being used as a religious site.

Vishwanath Temple,  check out the way the stone steps are attached to each other.  Not sure if that was done later as restoration work, or if it is original to the construction.   Did not see this on the other temple steps. 

 Inner sanctum

Smaller shrine beside it containing a "holy cow" sculpture


All the sculptures are so intricately carved, it is amazing.  There is hardly an inch of each temple that is not sculpted.

If you want to find out more about the “Temples of Love” you can check it out on the Internet, but be warned, you have close-up images of the sculptures that are quite erotic and which may be offensive to some.   I’ve kept the pictures I’ve posted to here to fairly "tame”. 

Beautiful statue of Ghandi being led by a little boy.

By 3 pm I was back at the hotel, which was fine by me, time to relax.