Passion in stone

Aradhika Sharma

The Khajuraho temples are splendid. Built a thousand years ago, the sheer grandeur of scale takes the breath away and when one gets over the first impact, one starts realising that the sculptures and architects of the gorgeous temples must have had a deep knowledge of and mastery over mathematics, design, architecture, biology and art. Located in Madhya Pradesh, in a town named after the dense khajoor(date) palms that grew in abundance there, the temples are among the Seven Wonders of India and are set in acres of immaculate gardens that add to the beauty of experience.

The red sandstone temples have a chequred history. Built between 950 AD and 1050 AD, the temples ranged over 21 sq km and contained about 85 temples built by various Chandela rulers. Of these, only 22 are still surviving. In the latter half of the 11th century, the Chandelas were forced to move out of Khajuraho. Although the temples were important in a religious context, these were forgotten after the 14th century. In 1838, Capt T S Burt from the British Army was given information about these and discovered these in an overgrown jungle. Today, the Khajuraho temples are listed in the Unesco World Heritage Site, and maintained by the Archeological Survey of India.

The temples are divided into eastern, western and southern group. The eastern group comprises medieval Jain temples as well as Hindu temples. The southern group is further away from the town and constitutes the two temples of Duladeo and Chaturbhuja.

The largest and most popular group is the western group of temples, which are situated in the heart of the town. The western group of temples comprises the Lakshmana Temple, the Matangesvara Temple (the only temple that’s still used for worship), Devi Jagdambi shrine, Devi Mandap and the Varaha Temple. The temples are devoted to the Trinity in the Indian tradition — Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Each temple has an entrance, a great hall, a smaller hall and a sanctum sanctorum. It is here that you will find the largest Khajuraho temple, the flawlessly proportioned Kandariya Mahadev that soars 31 m high, which is the most magnificent among the Khajuraho temples. The Beejamandal temple is under excavation.

The temples celebrate the form of women. The role of representation of these demi-goddesses was to lend auspiciousness to the temple. The sculptures are a wonderful replication of the traditional lifestyle of women a thousand years ago. You can see the perfect forms of goddesses, apsaras and even common women engaged in all sorts of womanly activities. On one pantheon will be a woman getting a thorn removed from her foot by a dasi and if she is not of the same social strata, there will be a sculpture of her removing it herself. At another panel, there’s an apsara applying kohl to her eyes while another is admiring herself in a hand-held mirror or washing her hair or playing games and dancing. The forms are exquisite, every fold and curve of the body captured by the sculptor. The temples represent the power of the female in the best artistic traditions of India.

The temples are famously known as the Kamasutra temples because of their erotic sculpture. The female and the male forms entwined in passionate embrace, in several positions and postures are unique to these amatory temples. However, most of these are found either on the outermost walls or the exterior walls of the temples, not close to the deities. Also, the lovemaking is never between the gods and goddesses but between mortals. However, the sexual sculptures are just about 10 per cent of the images.

It is believed that the amourous art of Khajuraho was to prepare the Indian youth (brahmacharis) for manhood. Another theory is that the more extreme sculpture on the outside boundary walls of the temples represent tantric practices.

The Khajuraho Son-et-Lumiere is absolutely mesmerising. The lights innocuously placed in the grounds of the western group turn the temples into a veritable enchanted land at sunset, as the smooth voice of Amitabh Bachchan captures the fancy and takes the audience through 50 minutes of sheer magic. The show is in Hindi and English, every evening. Tracing the life and times of the Chandela kings and the fascinating history of the temples, the show is both beautiful and educative.

Khajuraho has a laidback pace with the temples at the centre of its commerce and trade. The main business of Khajuraho is temple tourism that spawns hotels, guides, souvenir shops, restaurants and so on. The guides here are linguists, and you can hear snatches of Russian, French, Chinese, Japanese, German and, of course, English and Hindi. The rates for the guides are given on the boards outside the temples.

While most of the big hotels are situated a little away from town, there are many small ones that dot the temple area, cheaper and more pedestrian. Cafés abound and you will get a lot of Italian food here. Wood-fired pizzas, being among the best anywhere. Don’t be surprised to come across Zorba di Buddha, Bella Italia, Mediterraneo (really excellent pizzas) or la Dolce Vita. Apart from these are restaurants serving local Bundelkhandi food.

There isn’t much in terms of shopping — the usual touristy geegaws, some brass items and some artefacts of Dokra art that you can buy as souvenirs.

Factfile

How to reach: Nearly 630 km from Delhi, one can take an overnight train from Delhi (Nizamuddin). Daily flights (Jet and Air India) go to and from Khajuraho. There is no direct bus between New Delhi and Khajuraho. You can take state transport bus from New Delhi to Agra then change buses there.

Places to stay: There are plenty of Khajuraho hotels to suit all budgets. Many of them are located close to the Khajuraho temples. Luxury hotels include the Lalit, and the Taj Chandela; medium-rung hotels include Isabel Palace, Jhankar and Payal while the cheaper hotels can be Hotel Zen, Hotel Harmony.

What to do: Visit the temples; watch the Sound and Light Show. The MP tourism has a performance of folk dances every day (paid). Shop for knick-knacks at the souvenir shops outside the temples. It’s worth it to consider a jungle safari to the Panna Tiger Reserve, 57 km away from Khajuraho