Khajuraho - the Kama Sutra Temples

A view of a temple complex. These temples were built between 930 and 1100. These temples are outstanding even without the erotic images found here and there along the walls. Some of them are quite shocking, and most involve attendants helping the loving couple attain difficult positions.

When you look at the temples from below, you think of spaceships or computer circuitry. there is something uber modern about the design and I wonder if the Art Deco folks ever saw the decorative work on the temples.

A sunrise? Palm tree? Whatever, something very modern about the design.

This snap from below doesn’t begin to show the detailed circuitry at the top of the temple After the figures, which adorn the bottom half, complex patterns decorate the top.

A guard insisted on taking my photo in front of the temple. I had to suck up to some of our group members to ditch him.

See if you can locate the dirty bits.

A closeup of a simple tryst.

Living in a Palace

The big event for the day is living in a palace. Our palace was built in the 1700s by the local Maharaji. The palace has been converted to a hotel. We were given a primo room with tons of space and a bathtub and two balconies.

Looking out at the balcony.

The steps in inner courtyard 


Long view of inner courtyard 

Top floor terrace

We did a short village walk. Alipura is a village of 14,000 and full of people and animals. 



A local potter

Offering  on the stoop of a house on brother and sisters day. The offering is made from dung and there is always a head on top. The sister removes the head which is symbolic for destroying the brother’s enemies.


Cow dung is also mixed with straw and dried for cooking fuel. Here Chime is sniffing the brick to show that it has lost its smell.

Goat in foreground, water buff also in background.

Orchha and Diwali

Orchha is a relatively small village, but it is surrounded by immense Hindu monuments from the 16th and 17th centuries. It is quite otherworldly walking through narrow village streets and seeing these epic structures in the background. 

We are staying at a resort, and there are many higher end hotels here because apparently this is a tourist town. Our itinerary said we would stay in permanent tents. My fantasy was that we would have two giant tents on platforms, and would live communally. This is just not the case, this is probably the nicest room we’ve stayed in with a hot pot, ac, tv, and lovely soft walls. What a surprise!

Our luxe tent is very cozy.

Our tents with monuments in the background.

They even have a spa at this hotel. I booked a service for weight loss/detox (too much naan, puri, chapati, etc.) It was ok. The remarkable thing about it was the complete lack of modesty....felt rather vulnerable, but the massage was okay and I slept very well.

In the evening we went to a local house for dress up in saris, a cooking demonstration, dinner, and Diwali Pooja ceremony.

Our hostess Vandna had a large collection of saris and dressed us all up so that we looked like royalty. 

Peggy getting dressed

Voila



Our group in full regalia

Next came the cooking demonstration. She made poulo (Muslim version is biryani, word comes from pilaf), cauliflower, eggplant, and puri. Absolutely yummy.

Cooking demonstration

Performing rituals at the altar

Finally it was time for the Diwali ritual. The family had a decent-size altar in the corner of their house where the father of the house spent considerable time creating and burning fairly complicated concoctions. They sang a song in Sanskrit. We were allowed to make wishes in the alter by holding a flame and circling it clockwise seven times. Finally came the setting of the lights and fireworks. We went up the the roof where fireworks were all around us and the family set off Roman candles, sparklers, and furry whirligigs. We also set up candles comprised of ceramic dishes filled with mustard oil with a wick made of cotton fiber manually formed into a thread.

Diwali and the celebrations are meant to bring wealth and prosperity to the family. Happy Diwali to all!

Colors for sale at the market. The family creates drawings at the front of their house using these color powders.

We were staying right next to a ghat leading down to the river. There were actually speakers quite close to our tents and music — Diwali music — looped continuously from around 3:00 am until dawn. Unfortunately I awoke during one of the cycles, so listened to the music all night long.

The ghat behind our tents

The holiday was filled with bands of young men carrying peacock feathers. They were visiting the same palace and filled many of the rooms with merriment. Occasionally groups would dance...one group in particular did an entertaining stick dance. The mean are said to be followers of Krishna, who is often depicted with a peacock feather in his hair.

Some resellers with their bunch of peacock feathers.

The cows are also decorated for Diwali. Cows everywhere, but only a few were actually decorated. The first day of diwali is said to be cow day. 

Festive cow.

Chanderi, More Ruins, Dance Performance

The Muslim worship place where Friday service is celebrated.

A niche in the mosque where the Imam’s Voice carries across the complex

Temple of Saturn. Today is Saturday, the day of Saturn. Worshipers give mustard oil as offering to improve their luck.


The symbol of suttee, too sad for me.

View from medieval hunting lodge 

Saffron sweets in the market

Monkey on fort wall at dusk



Indian dancing. That’s Peggy and me trying to keep up.

Chanderi - Ancient Ruins, Family Meal, Henna, and Ancient Coins

The ruins at Chanderi are everywhere. It is a medieval walled city dating mostly from 14th to 15th century. The town is currently a popular set for Bollywood movies, and our guide filled out an application to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mustavva took us to the monuments, but also showed us his ancient coin collection. He collects them just after the monsoon season when the ground is disturbed. His oldest coin is from 300 B.C.

Oh, and he had us over to his house for a lovely dinner.

The oldest coin, from 300 B.C.

The dinner his wife made was fabulous, with dal, homemade chapatis, cashew curry, and more. It was the best food we’ve had so far.

We ran into this group of kids on the road to one set of monuments. Our guide Chimme is there on the left. Mustavva, our local guide, wants us to send him prints so that he can give them to the children.

Sunset from one of the many Chanderi monuments.


The ruins of a monument to star-crossed lovers from the 15th century.


Mustavva’s daughter painted our hands with henna. She did all of this detailed work in less than an hour.


A group shot from Mustavva’s House. He is in the far left and his wife is in the center. The rest of our group are holding up their cards with their names in Arabic, Hindi, and Sanskrit. 



Me thanking Mustavva’s wife for the hospitality.

So Mustavva comes from a Muslim family. His house is in a weaving conclave and as we walked there we passed many men working on their looms...some with silk, and others cotton. I know how hard it is to sit at those looms for even one hour.

We peeked into the window here. At the left is the father of the house weaving, and to the right are mother and children.

Chanderi - the Ancient Market

We got on another train for a four-hour journey to our destination, the small town of Chanderi, a village of 40,000, tiny compared to Delhi and Agra. Looking out the window it seemed that the pollution was following us, but miraculously was clear in the town. Our elevation, according to whatismyelevation.com, is 1495 feet, enough to help with the dusky air.

On the way, we also saw many cows, pigs, and sheep, and women washing clothes in a reservoir. Intrepid hired a very knowledgeable guide for us, Mustafa, who is a local and national celebrity. He has his own stamp showing his profile, and a companion stamp of a dahlia named after him. This man traces his ancestry back to the year 1304! He is part of the Muslim community which comprises 30 percent of the village.

Mustafa first took us through the ancient market, which has been in continuous operation for 800 years. The streets were very narrow — it is a medieval walled city — and motorcycles drove through the street amongst the pre-Diwali shoppers and the shop displays which also lined the narrow streets. In the mix were cows and goats. As a lover of markets, I must say this was way up there in the 99 percentile. The noise and associated fear of the motorcycles was the only damper on enjoyment.

The narrow alleys of the Chanderi market

This is a wider street.

A blurry photo of a baby cow and cart

A goat lounging in a recession in the thick city walls

Indian Trains, Red Palace, Taj Mahal

Thank goodness for our guide and the fact that we booked a tour. I worry that I would never be able to navigate the train system without help. Our Intrepid guide, Chimme, took us deftly through the Delhi station and onto our train seats. Thank goodness they booked air conditioned cars with breakfast included as well as local newspapers.

Peggy reading the paper on our luxe train.

Breakfast on the train...dal, chapati, wheat bread, juice/ They also pass out water and tea or coffee.

The Agra Fort, Tragedy on the Road in Agra

Off the train, we piled into a tour bus...we are after all on a tour. Unfortunately for me I was looking out the window at the display of garbage, cows, tuk tuks, bicycle rickshaws, motorcycles and dogs. On the side of the road was a dog who had just been hit by a vehicle yelping at the top of its lungs. I am still haunted. Since people are not really cared for here, what hope did that dog in its agony have of any relief. This is a topic to meditate upon. the visible suffering everywhere is hard to take.

The Agra Fort, built by a Moghul ruler in the16th century, provided some distraction. 

Entrance to the immense fort. It has two moats...the water moat contained crocodiles and the dry moat tigers.

View of the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort. Note the pollution...dangerous air quality everywhere.


One of many vistas in the fort, this was the space where the sultan gave audience to his subjects.

I was quite taken by the many images of flowers in the Fort, more specifically bulbs. I couldn’t identify all of them, but this is definitely a daffodil!

The Taj Mahal

Finally it was time to see the Taj Mahal up close. First we were shuttled to the grounds where we boarded an electric jitney which took us just outside the gate. From there, we walked with hundreds of people into the main gate where traffic stopped as those in front began to take photographs, even with the obstructed views from the crowds. As we finally got into site of the Taj, it seemed hopeless to actually get an unobstructed photograph. I ended up kneeling down and pointing the camera upwards to get photos.

As our visit progressed, we were treated to many other vistas. The Taj Mahal is stunning, even with the throngs of tourists. Many of the tourists visited in full native dress. For example, there was a Thai contingent dressed in traditional Thai garb and I saw a Chinese contingent. And of course there were thousands of Indians, many dressed to the nines.

We sprung for a visit to the inner sanctuary to see the actual grave, but it was quite a disappointment as we could barely move in the space and not much was visible.

We waited past sunset to see the Taj Mahal in darkness. From the photographs I took, you could not really distinguish the progression of dusk, so this is the best I could do.