Khajuraho: Exploring the Kamasutra Temples
Ever started giggling or blushing by the sight of a temple? Sounds contradictory but this is what happens here – especially to young and innocent Indians from villages 😉 It’s Kamasutra time in Khajuraho!
Side note 5 years later: I’ve seen a LOT of temples in my now 11 years in India and let me tell you, Khajuraho is still by far one of the best places I ever visited.
Khajuraho is basically a village with three temple complexes out of which the Western temple complex is the biggest and most important one. Apart from temples, there’s a lot to see: village life (hotels offer village tours and even people on the street ask you if you’re interested), safaris at Panna National Park, a waterfall, a trip to Kalinjar Fort, star gazing…
After getting to know about the fort from the hotel guys who offered trips there (takes 2 hours one way by car/bike), I randomly decided to extend my stay for a day and do that the day after. They also booked the evening bus to Jabalpur for me (sleeper bus).
I started my temple tour around 9 am (again so late, I should really start getting up earlier) and felt the sun burning already. The sound and light show in the evening as well as most recommended restaurants were close to the Western temple group, hence I started with the Eastern one.
The Eastern Group of Temples
The first one you come across is the Brahma Temple which is actually a Vishnu (according to my book) or Shiva (according to a villager) temple. It’s rather plain, directly at a lake (which was fully dry though since it was March) and opposite some houses in the village. A guy there explained a bit about it and told me to look into the windows. And voila, a lingam (phallic stone) with 4 faces! He unfortunately didn’t leave it at that but offered me a village tour, ride, and eternal friendship but thanks no.
Passing wild pigs, donkeys, goats, and of course cows, I continued to Javari temple, just a bit further but outside the village.
Another one, the Vamana temple is even further ahead (all not more than 5 minutes walking distance from each other). Outside I met the book seller Sachin who offered me a book about the history and information about the temples. That’s when I realised that I forgot my wallet at the hotel. “Not to worry Ma’am, your hotel is close to my home, I can pick up the money later.” Done!
Turned out to be a very helpful and interesting book and a good investment. In every temple, I sat down somewhere in a shady corner and read a bit. There are of course also some boards with information outside the temple but using only terms like “Shikar, Mandap etc. without explanations which isn’t helpful at all.
My reading was interrupted by a cheerful voice: “Hari Om! Where are you from, my friend? I don’t know you but I like the way you’re reading. Is this the real colour of your eyes? You’re lucky! My group wants a pic with you! [To some women] You sit there, you there, closer, closer! Put an arm around her.” Took my sunglasses and exchanged them with the ones of the woman who just sat down beside me. I was both a bit overwhelmed and amused by this sudden ambush so I let it happen and even took a selfie with them myself. At the beginning of a day, I’m usually a bit more patient with these things and the tour guide was kinda funny. Hari Om!
The next stop were some Jain temples for which I had to cross the entire village. Took me maybe 10 minutes. Outside the temples, Coke was calling me and I luckily had a few bucks left to get a can. A young shopkeeper approached me and turned out to know two sentences in German. I sat down with him and taught him two more till my coke got over. “Come back later!” Yes yes, sure. (Maybe I should’ve also taught him the meaning of a German “Ja ja”.)
There’s a small museum in front of the entry to the temples, charging 10 INR/~0.15 $ entry. I mistook it for the entry to the temples otherwise I might have missed it. It’s very small and only contains lots of statues of Adinath so it can be done within 5 min.
Inside the temple complex was the newer one, the Shantinath temple in which you find a 14 ft. high statue of Adinath, the Parshwanath temple as well as the Adinath temple. The Parshwanath temple was one of the nicer ones and the first one on my way having an ambulatory passage, which means you can go around the sanctum inside the temple. I almost missed it if it wasn’t for a guard handing me a flashlight, indicating that there were more statues to see there.
The Southern Group of temples
This concluded the Eastern group of temples and I carried on to the Southern group starting with the Duladeo temple, another 10 min walk at the border of the town.
“Hari Om!” Oh, hello again! After getting done with the temple, I had read in the book that the next one, Chaturbhuj, was 3 km away from the town so I thought I’d skip it. “Where are you going next, my friend?” “Western group.” “Why don’t you go this way, there is one more. And if you take a left, there’s a new excavation site where they discovered a brand new one. Only 15 min walking! I can give you a ride there. Or give you a bicycle, for free! … but come come, one more picture with the group!”
If it wasn’t for ‘Hari Om’, I would’ve missed the best part of today’s trip. Leaving the temple behind, I once again found myself surrounded by fields and nature. After 10 min I reached a village that I had to cross.
I first went to the excavation site of Beejamandal. I wonder if they’re planning to rebuild it or leave it as it is.
Another 10 minutes later I reached Chaturbhuj which was fully worth the long walk as there was a beautiful statue inside.
On the way back, I crossed a small water hole with water buffaloes chilling at the banks. The whole village experience paired with these beautiful temples fully made my day.
After exactly 10 km and around 5 hours, I came back to the hotel to finally pick up my wallet. Luckily, none of the temples had charged anything.
A well deserved break
Being extremely hungry and close to hangry, I searched for some restaurants. The recommended ones were directly opposite the Western temple group. Unfortunately, the first few of them only opened in the evening so I went to the first open one I could find. Big mistake… I ordered a sweet Lassi and Mutton Chilchilla, something I’d never heard of. In the meantime, a huge and noisy Indian family sat down at the next table. Didn’t help to overcome my hangriness… finally, the Lassi came – but tasted super weird. Yay… the food wasn’t much better. I don’t know what exactly they did but it was the weirdest mutton I’ve ever tasted. The poor thing had died in vain… which made me even more annoyed. Either you know how to cook mutton or just don’t do it! The worst part was that the very next restaurant would’ve been the recommended Raja Cafe, not only with a great view and good service, but also excellent food (which all I found out later at dinner).
The Western Group of Temples
With this excellent mood, I had to enter the touristy zone of horror AKA Western group of temples. They charged 650 INR/~9.30 $ entry for foreigners and a guide offered his services for ONLY 1600 INR/~23 $ (for all three temple groups though, it was a fixed rate written on an official sign board). For only the Western one, he gave me a special discount, only 1200 INR/~17 $! What a “Schnäppchen” but thanks no!
Lacking a guide, I once again consulted my book. It was definitely enough for my purpose and I anyway had reached a stage where I didn’t tolerate any people around me. ‘Hari Om’ would have a hard time right now if we’d crossed paths again. Bad food is a mood killer, I tell you…
On a more positive note, the temples were amazingly beautiful both from the outside and inside. And it was fun to watch villagers start giggling at the sight of the Kamasutra positions. Even I had fun spotting them, some were just too funny 😀
Eventually, I found refuge under a tree far enough away from anyone to bother me with selfie requests. The perfect spot to wait for sunset.
To make up for the crappy food, I went to Raja Cafe and ordered a Coke (always helps) and a pepperoni pizza. Great food, service and ambiance, just loved it!
The English Sound and Light show started at 7:30 pm, starring Amitabh Bachchan as the master sculptor. I guess they’re still paying his fee since it cost nothing less than 700 INR/~10 $ for one hour (the firang price of course)! It was nice but completely overcharged. I had found the one in Orchha for half the price nicer. Anyways, they nicely narrated the history of Khajuraho and how the temples were built.
After a total of 16.5 km, my day finally came to an end. What I didn’t know yet was that my butt would hurt even more than my feet today after tomorrow’s expedition. 😀
The Summary
Distances covered
By foot: 16.5 km
Accommodation
Hotel: Ramayana Hotel
Price: 700 INR/~10 $
Rating: 5/5
Food
Lunch: Hotel Siddharth, Sweet Lassi and Mutton Chilchilla
Price: 500 INR/~7 $
Rating: 1/5 (the poor mutton died in vain… and how do you screw up something basic as lassi?!)
Dinner: Raja Cafe, Peperoni Pizza
Price: 700 INR/~10 $
Rating: 5/5 (not mindblown but great, excellent service and ambiance, with a great view over the temples)
Entries
Western temples: 650 INR/~9.30 $
Sound and light show: 750 INR/~11 $
Jain temple museum: 10 INR/~0.15 $
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