2012-02-17
Monkeys and Temples
Got to the Temples first thing in the morning at 6:30am and started the Temple tour along with tourists from all over the world. There were groups of Israelis , Japanese, Korean and others. Fortunately, the place is well maintained and huge so it did not feel like crowded at all.
A little history lesson: The Temples were built by Chandale Dynasty over the period 900 to 1200 AD. The story goes that Moon God fell in love with a very pretty women Hemwati and she got pregnant ( unwed and virgin) . He told her to go to the jungles of Khajuraho and gave her the blessing that her son will be a powerful king and he will build the temples and the empire ( I wonder why the sons of single unwed women became powerful in old times….as in Egypt’s Pharo , Jesus and quite a few Indian kings…) . Anyways, the Temples are dedicated to Vedic Trinity but as usual mostly to Vishnu ( and his incarnations) and few to Shiva and his family( Ganesh) . Again, it is interesting to note that till that time, the Hindu Gods were only three families ( Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) and not the now popular Rama , Krishna and others. I wonder when did King Rama and King Krishna became Gods ? It seems like the poets like Meera, Tulsi Das, KAbir and others transformed them from Kings to Gods….
Anyways, the temples have amazing carvings and unlike the popularized version of the carvings, they are mostly devoted to religious stories and to daily life of the society at that time. The society was prosperous and open minded about sex and things ( including homosexuality etc) . All temples follow a similar pattern: There is a dome with chakra, lotus and kalash ( Indian religious symbols ) on top followed by panels the Demon king holding the temple corners and of carving on the outside. The carvings are in rows and columns with set pattern of God’s legends, Dragon legends ; daily life including the erotic images of various types. I think it is interesting to see the openness and intermingling of Kama and Karma in the temples.
Inside of the temples , there is a statue of either Vishu or Shiva and some more carvings. Inside is all religious stories and related carvings. Overall the place is quite impressive and the carvings are amazing in quality as well as in quantity. One explanation for all these carvings is that , one has to go through life of Maya and Kama ( lust…) and overcome it before one can achieve inner peace and salvation. So, one has to go through looking at the outside carvings before you can appreciate the inside of the TempleJ
Near the Khajuraho is the wild life sanctuary of Panna. It also has Tigers but we did not have enough time to go through it but managed to see the wonderful Nil Gai ( blue cow) . It is an endangered animal belonging to the deer family. The male is light blue …as in most animals male was so much better looking than the female.
It was time to drive back and that story in the next blog…good night..saroj
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