Khajuraho - A Pristine Poetry in stone - I

        Visited Khajuraho, the UNESCO Heritage site, in January 2018, which was a long cherished dream. I was accompanied with two colleagues  whose age is equal to the length of my service in Government.  It was an official visit to Rewa and Khajuraho was a stopover for proceeding to Rewa. We reached Khajuraho in the afternoon and in the evening we went to see the light and sound show. It is good to project the history through light and sound shows at such places as it gives a brief description of the place and also provides life to these places after sunset. (Why do we have only one voice for all these Light and Sound shows????) One of my colleagues who was visiting with me remarked that had he was aware of light and sound show, he would not have come to see the show. People have different tastes and priorities. 

        When we landed at the Airport, the Airport appeared to be a mismatch.  To meet the so called INTERNATIONAL LEVELS, the Airport is designed with steel and glass which is a practice these days.  On the behest of maintaining these INTERNATIONAL LEVELS, we are leaving our own Levels at the back stage which are being used only for clapping and for future reference to show off . 

 

The authorities have tried to add some Indian designs on the walls of the airport, which gives one an idea of the place of visit.  This beautification is also appears to be out of place

The Khajuraho Temples which were built during the period 950 to 1000 BC by the Chandelas, has a group of temples which is further divided into :

• Western Group of Temples 
• Eastern Group of Temples
• Southern Group of Temples

The Western Group of Temples is a cluster of :

1. Lakshaman Temple
2. Vishvanath Temple
3. Chitragupta Temple
4. Devi Jagadambi Temple
5. Kandriya Mahadeva Temple 

        I simply clicked the pictures of the temples, its arches, its pillars, its domes and its sculptures.  I could have had noted down the descriptions.  Secondly I avoided the guide as I was more interested in clicking the pictures. Anyways, there is always a second chance.

This restoration appears very poor and a complete mismatch😒😒

These temples which were built between 950 to 1000 BC during the reign of Chandels, were 85 in number whereas presently only 20 temples can be found.  There are various factors which are responsible for the destruction of these temples.  Among these the major factor I see, largely is the apathy by the followers besides the destruction by the foreigners. Ironically, the reference of these temples is found in the the books written by two Arabic Muslim Travellers who accompanied their rulers during 1000 AD to 1400 AD. These temples were discovered by The British Indian Army Captain T. S. Burt in 1838 and re-introduced to the world. Till that time these were covered under the forest and were dying a slow death.

Basically the Khajuraho Group of Temples belong to three schools of faith:

• The Vaishnavism School of Hinduism
• The Saivism School of Hinduism
• The Jainism

Now the Archeological Survey of India is restoring all these buildings.

The panel in the picture below is fixed in the platform of one of the temples.

All these temples are adorned with magnificently carved figures of men and women in different postures. Before my visit to this place, I was, like all others,  in the impression that these temples are full of erotic sculptures.  

I was surprised to see that only a 10% of total figures are in erotic positions. 

Then who popularized these temples as a depiction  of Kamsutra,

 where as such postures can be seen in other temples also. 

In the carvings one case see the processions, performing religious rituals, celebrations etc. besides Apsaras  which are carved magnificently with utmost precision 

In the picture above, probably a war scene is created.

Here in the picture above, all types of pieces are put together to recreate the platform whereas the domes and walls of the temples have a plain plaster. 

Conservation by Archeological Survey of India

A lady removing a thorn from her feet, is a posture which is favourite among guides at Khajuraho

        This type of figures on the columns in ancient architecture are very common.  I have seen such figures in Ajanta Caves, where guides' depiction is very interesting.  I remember, in one of the caves in Ajanta, the guide was relating these figures to Celibacy.  He explained that only a Celibate can bear a pressure of a building.  Such is the force of Celibacy. Here I don't know how do they explain it. 

The following sculpture was described by the guide as

 "A dancer is seducing a sanyasi"

The Khajuraho Group of Temples is basically known for its irotic sculptures only, which i believe is unfair.  All these temples are dedicated to one deity or the other, therefore, there are sculptures of these deity along with others which have been beautifully carved.

In the above picture, one can see the work done 2000 years back and in the following picture, restoration done in 21st century. 

 Anyways, ASI is doing a good job within their limited resources.

The above picture reflects a poor reconstruction of temple. 

Instead of putting the correct stone at a right place, they have used all the carved stones to built a platform (in the following picture) whreas the dome of the temple is kept plain .

 In all these ancient buildings the angle for the support of the column above are always in the form of a beautiful sculpture, which is missing in the picture below. We can see holes only in the bellies of the sculpture.

Crecsent of Moon adorning the temple

Mutililated sculputres but remarkably beautiful in the picture below

Visited one of the houses where i found few arte facts, which might have given the antique look or probably few of these might have been antiques.  On seeing my interests in all these things, the owner of the house cum shop enthusiastically showing all things.  

The item shown in the above picture is probably a hair pin 

as told to me.

When I chose few items, he very cleverly increased the rates, which actually came into the notice of my colleagues who pointed out to me that the shopkeeper has increased the rate by Rs.300/-. The owner then brought down the cost of the item.  Though these are not rich people, therefore, I didn't bargain though my colleague was not happy with my attitude.  He suggested me to negotiate the cost, but I denied. 

Purchased two inkpots from the items shown 

in the following picture

Then I saw a handwoven mat.  I wanted to buy it and when I asked for the price, the owner in his imagination believed that he is dealing with foolish lady, so he quoted a very high price, which I refused to pay and didn't buy it. 
People have no consideration for the those who are nice to them. 
 For these, other's nice behaviour  is interpreted as "a good bargain and the person can be taken for  advantage".  

A piece of wall is lying on road side.

 It appears to be freshly carved one, as some name is carved on the base of the sculpture.

A piece of a tree trunk. In comparison to carving on the walls of temples, the Nature has created its own sculpture.  a perfect elephant's face and a human face can be seen in the picture below.

A shop in the area, selling these freshly carved structures. When I entered the shop, i was amazed to see that the erotic sculptures were in demand.  Where these are being placed, no idea!!

The sculptures put up for sales were the wonderful copies of what was created on the walls of the temples.  These can easily be sold as antiques and who knows......



        When we were returning from Khajuraho, My other colleague, while leaving Khajuraho, commented  "In whole of Khajuraho, there is only one good building and that building is the Airport." Again, people have different mind sets.

        People normally say that during those days when the technology was not so advance, such things were created. They are absolutely wrong because technology is always advanced in every era.  These creations are the advancement of technology only. Technology never means Computers, Laptops and e-Gadgets only. 

In Khajuraho, when i conversed with local people I came to know that many hotels are now at the brink of shutting down as the influx of tourists is decreasing with every year. They told me the reasons which are related to Government Policies and also related to the socio-economic behaviour of the residents.

I was told by the locals that overseas tourists are cheated every time they want to buy the pieces of art.  Many fake items were sold in the name of antiques.  This habit of locals has diminished the image of our country as a whole.

Khajuraho, a UNESCO site, deserve to be a very flourishing place.  Flourishing in all aspects, but alas.........

Anyway, Khajuraho, I love you and will be visiting again.