Situated in Chhatarpur
District (in the heart of Central India, in the state
of Madhya Pradesh), about 385 miles (620 kilometres)
southeast of Delhi, the capital city of India. Khajuraho
is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India.
Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu temples,
famous for their erotic sculpture. The name Khajuraho
is derived from the Hindi word khajur meaning date palm.
The fascinating temples of Khajuraho, represent the
expression of a highly matured civilization. The Khajuraho
group of monuments has been listed as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. An Airport has been built in This small
village has an Airport, therefore, tourists can fly
Delhi-Agra-Khajuraho-Delhi in a day! There are a lot
of hotels in the area to stay. A few are run by foreginers.
If you like handmade items then you'll enjoy shopping
here as shops in Khujaraho sell a lot of handicrafts
and some of them are really nice and reasonably priced.
History
The
Khajuraho temples were built over a span of a hundred
years, from 950 to 1050 A.D. during the reign of Chandel
Empire. The Chandela capital was moved to Mahoba after
this time, but Khajuraho continued to flourish for some
period of time. There were originally over 80 Hindu
temples, of which only 22 now stand in a reasonable
state of preservation, scattered over an area of about
8 square miles (21 km²). With the wane of the Chandela
empire, these magnificent temples lay neglected, and
vulnerable to the ravages of Nature. They were rediscovered
during the late 19th century, restored and granted the
recognition that they justly deserve.
Architecture
The Khajuraho temples are finest
example of Indian architectural genius in the Medieval
period. They are constructed with spiral superstructures,
adhere to northern Indian shikhara (mountain peak
- refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture
of North temple style and often to a Panchayatana
plan or layout. (It consists of the worship of five
deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha. Depending
on the tradition followed by Smarta households, one
of these deities is kept in the centre and the other
four surround it. Worship is offered to all the deities).
About
Erotic Sculptures
The sculptures are divine in these temples, and are
not only a tribute to Life but also the celrbration
of woman and her myriad moods and facets. Popularly
known as the 10th century temples, they represent a
time frame when Khajuraho art was at its peak. Erotic
visuals represent a relatively small part of the carvings
and the rest depict the common man's life of those days.
For example women applying makeup, musicians, potters,
farmers etc. and all these are outside of the temple
but sensuous eroticism prevails throughout all of the
sculptures. It is assumed that the goddesses and gods
represent the many manifestations of the divine Shakti
and Shiva, the female and male principles, the Yin and
the Yang.
One tourist from Australia remarked, " these
temples depict scenes from elephant fights, mythical
lions, gods, and erotic couples. In a frieze that
seemed to be an exception a sodomistic scene was depicted
where onlookers hold their hands in front of their
eyes in disgust. The erotic scenes are sort of a 3-D
rendering of the Kama Sutra book, a graphical instruction
manual." Laurence Rogerson another tourist from
UK says the statues and carvings cover every inch
of every ceiling and wall. The erotic carvings on
the temples at Khajuraho give the place it's fame.
Erotic or not the level of detail is quite magnificent
as these pictures clearly do show.
However, Khajuraho is a unique experience for students,
historians, culture lovers, environmentalists, conservationists
or anyone who is in look out for an exotic destination
with varied attractions.
What
To See
The Khajuraho temples are grouped
into three geographical divisions : eastern, western
and southern.
Eastern Group of Temples:
Parsvanath Temple
Ghantai Temple
Brahma Temple
Vamana Temple
Javari Temple
Western Group of Temples:
Lakhmi Temple
The Kandariya Mahadeo Temple
Devi Jagdamba Temple
Chitragupta Temple
Viswanath Temple
Southern Group of Temples:
Dulhadev Temple
Beejamandal Temple
The Archaeological Museum (Closed on
Fridays)
State Museum of Tribal and Folk Art
(Closed on Mondays)
Light and Sound Show at Western group of temples.
Festivals
& Events
Khajuraho Dance Festival
-Every year a dance festival is held here in March,
every year, wherein, leading artistes of different dance
forms participate to celebrate the true spirit of Khajuraho.
Mahashivaratri (Feb/Mar) - On the occasion
of Mahashivaratri, large numbers of devotees visit the
Matangeshwar temple.
When to Go
Khajuraho is not a place to be missed
during any time of the year. However, September to March
is the best period to visit these temples.
How to Reach
By Road: Khajuraho
is well connected by regular bus services with Mahoba,
Harpalpur, Satna, Jhansi, Gwalior, Agra, Jabalpur
and Bhopal.
By Train: The nearest railheads are
Mahoba (64 km) and Harpalpur (94 km). Jhansi (175
km) and Satna (117 km) are convenient railheads for
visitors from Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Agra
and Varanasi. Satna is on Allahabad-Mumbai main line
while Jhansi is on the Delhi-Bangalore mainline. It
takes around 6 hours to reach Jhansi from Delhi by
train.
By Air: There is a small airport
in Khajuraho and it is connected by Indian (Indian
Airlines) and Jet Airways.
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