Khajuraho
December 8th to 10th
It’s difficult to wander amongst the magnificent temples of Khajuraho without indulging your inner adolescent and smirking somewhat at the illustrative erotic tableaus. For a country where a glimpse of more than a woman’s face, hands and feet can seem scandalous and kissing onscreen is still taboo the carvings of Khajuraho are a beautiful and bizarre affront to the modesty of everyday life.
We arrived in the overnight train from Delhi travelling again in 3 tier a/c class which hands out blankets thus ensuring a reasonable nights sleep unlike the sleeper train which in the north resembles a refrigerated box in desperate need of an antiseptic clean. We have three days in Khajuraho owing to the train timetable and frankly one or two days is probably all that is needed however as we have three I shall endeavor to see if I can find a more bizarre carving than the man sodomizing a horse that appears on the base of Lakshmana Temple. The western group of temples which we visited yesterday are the largest and best preserved and even without the erotic carvings that sheer splendid of the architecture and mastery of the design is worth a visit but of course it is the intertwined figures that have made Khajuraho famous. The temples were rediscovered in the early 1800s by a passing British soldier and their purpose remains in debate. One suggestion is that tableau are intended as a guide to love making similar to the infamous Kama Sutra however given that many of the carvings show a couple requiring attendents to achieve their position I find that argument somewhat dubious, of course I do not pretend to be any sort of expert on roles of servants in ancient india.
