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Aziz Haider

The world-famous temples of Khajuraho are known for their unique images of love. Aziz Haider takes in the beauty of these temples, which host the prestigious Annual Festival of Dance in March.

An exquisitely carved pillar at Khajuraho.

Somebody put it quite aptly! The temples of Khajuraho, worked by the sensitive chisels of master craftsmen, immortalise the ecstasy of passion and fervent beauty of love. So, it is not surprising that the Khajuraho temples stand out among the numerous others embellished by similar erotic sculpture.

Khajuraho boasts of erotic art and sexual imagery of a very explicit kind. These manifestations on temple walls, practically nude, are among the most sensuous and seductive known. Tourists from across the world throng to this little village to see for themselves the coming together of art and sculpture.

Besides, there are several other attractions in and around Khajuraho, which go to making it a complete holiday destination.

The sleepy village of Khajuraho comes to life in the first week of March during the colourful Shivaratri celebrations and the week-long Annual Festival of Dance. The temples provide just the right backdrop for the classical dance performances in the post-twilight hours, when the temples seem haloed by a crimson sky, with their spires rising majestically to the accompaniment of tinkling anklets and musical notes.

It was in Khajuraho that we, courtesy our young son Zaki, realised that this art of the tender moment transcends present-day prudery. The expression of the sacred love between the male and the female, encompasses the preparation through shringar, interprets the agonies of separation, waiting and fulfilment and enacts the play function of sex through the perfection of nerves and muscle.

Is all this not part of our worldly life? Yet, a thousand blushes creep up our being when this is put in public!

Innocent of these adulterous thought streams, Zaki enjoyed it all — be it the sound and light show in a starlit night, the visit to the temples and the museum, the amazing variety of flora and fauna at the Panna Tiger Reserve, the waterfalls, the landscape, the forts, or the comfort of the newly inaugurated Usha Bundela — the Usha Shriram Hotels' new venture in this temple town.

It is only at Khajuraho that one appreciates that Indian workmanship in some of the delineations of the flavours of love surpasses that anywhere else in the world.

Women, as shown in Khajuraho, are not much different from carvings in other places in the country, where she is largely shown as full-breasted, and sometimes pregnant, with a protuberant rounded belly, lovingly configured. And she has a child in her arms, being suckled, or held up to the face lovingly. She is often a young woman, depicted as the object of man's desire, alluring him with her soft limbs, her exquisite face and an aura of virginity.

But where Khajuraho stands apart is in its depiction and artistic excellence of these very women. The yoga of the sexual embrace has been made incarnate in hundreds of sylph-like, cylindrical, inter-twining male and female forms, redolent with the sap of life running through their smooth and graceful presences. The lovers bow down, with infinite grace, while the beloveds look up with inspired tenderness. The apsaras, surcharged with the beauty of youth, play indolently. One takes a painful thorn out of her foot. The other pats a ball. The third combs her tresses of hair. The fourth looks at herself in the mirror. The fifth ties the bells to her ankles in preparation for the dance.

The world here is the lila (sport) of youth in the pure play function of the senses, in the enjoyment of passionate embraces, where each becomes both.

The temples of Khajuraho play host to the Annual Dance Festival

It is said that there were 85 temples in all, of which only about 20 survive today. The main group of Hindu temples, referred to as the western group, includes the `Lakshmana Temple' (950 A.D.) and the `Vishvanatha Temple' (dated 1002 A.D.), the `Chitragupta Temple' and the most splendid of them all, the `Kandariya Mahadeo Temple' (c. 1025-50) dedicated to Shiva.

Kandariya Mahadeo is the largest and most typical of temples in Khajuraho, with depictions of musicians playing different instruments, lovers in fond embrace, huge crocodiles, winged gods and goddesses. Since the gods were believed to dwell on high mountains in the Himalayas, the architects who built Khajuraho's holy places gave this a symbolic `sacred mountain' look. This temple has been symbolised as representing Mount Kailash, believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva.

To the south of the Kandariya Mahadeo is the Chausath Yogini temple (temple of 64 female ascetics/demons). Devoted to Kali, whose idol unfortunately no longer exists, it is built entirely of granite.

But the temple that's most frequented by the local populace is the Mataneswara temple, also dedicated to Vishnu. The object of veneration here is the colossal 2.5-metre lingam installed in the sanctum. In front, is a small shrine of Varaha, a reincarnation of Vishnu.

The eastern group of temples comprise the Hindu temples, Brahma Vamana and Javari, and three Jain temples: Ghantai, Adinatha and Parsavanath, the last-mentioned being the largest and finest of the Jain temples at Khajuraho. The Ghantai temple, located to the south-east of the village of Khajuraho, is an interesting structural variation. It is named after the bell-and-chain ornamentation on its pillars. An eight-armed Jaina God, riding the sacred bird Garuda, is carved at the entrance.

Situated five km away, the southern group of temples consists of two isolated temples. The Dulhadeva temple is dedicated to Shiva. Its ceilings are embellished by the detailed carving of a playful female figure around trees. The Chaturbhuja temple, dedicated to Vishnu, has a colossal, exquisitely carved image of the deity. Later, we also found several exquisite specimens of Jain and Buddhist sculpture at the Archaeological Museum at Khajuraho and in the open space to the south of the Matanesvara temple. The latter is now known as the Khajuraho Museum.

This was followed by a viewing of the Sound and Light Show, held daily in both English and Hindi at the site of the western group of temples. Conceived by the Archaeological Survey of India, it glimpses the history of these temples. The background voice in the Hindi show is the unmistakable baritone of Amitabh Bachchan.

There's so much of exquisite artistic excellence scattered everywhere in Khajuraho that the most passionate lovers of art could spend days studying them.

But for those who plan a brief visit, it must be mentioned that a trip to Khajuraho cannot be complete without an exploration of the immense natural bounty of the region.

Sadly though, when you go out of the hotel looking for these, you are greeted by some of the most pathetic roads you may have ever seen. This is perhaps Madhya Pradesh Government's own way of letting you know that you are in their territory.

Pictures by Phal S. Girota

Fact file

Getting there: Khajuraho lies 560 km from Delhi. For those travelling by train, the Shatabdi Express provides a good connection, leaving Delhi at 6 a.m. to arrive at Jhansi (via Agra) in five hours. From Jhansi, one can proceed by road to Khajuraho, which is 175 km away. Tourists travelling to Agra can also take the rail or road route from there to Khajuraho.

Accommodation: Besides the newly opened Usha Bundela, there are the MP Tourism hotels that offer good rooms at reasonable rates. One could also opt for the more opulent Oberoi or Taj or Clarks — all five-star hotels.

Other places: A short stopover at Orchha (170 km) is recommended while driving from Jhansi to Khajuraho or vice versa. Built by the Bundela rulers as their capital in the 16th and 17th centuries, Orchha is located near the Betwa river and offers visitors the opportunity to explore three palaces, whose `chhatri'-like domes dot the sky in impressive manner.

Besides, there are numerous temples that dot the landscape alongside the gently flowing river.

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