So we head further East and a touch North to Khajurao known most famously for its karmasutra temples.
There used to be over 85 of these amazing and large sand stone carved temples now after Muslim - Hindu wars and erosion 22 survive today spread around this small village. The carvings and decorations are amazing let alone we are not talking about one temple but 22 (and we can only imagine what 85 would have looked like). They depict scenses showing every aspect of life including sex, but apparently the people who built these temples are a little more flexible than you or I when it comes to it. Also they don't seem to have been particularly bothered about having just one partner many carvings are of a group.
The insides of the temples howerer do not have any such scenses and are the sactuaries of there idols and there are quite a few different ones. Hence so many temples. The story goes that the leader of the time in that region had a dream in which he was told to build great temples to the gods showing every part of human life in all its detail and glory.
The main reason people believe the sex sences were so blaitant, detailed, acrobatic and involving groups was that these people also believed in tantrism. This means getting closer to god through tanric sex, thisinvloves karmasutra positions, I suppose you could compare it to Yoga which is also meant to bring you closer to god because the poses make you healthier. Well these people thought karmasutra made you happier and the feeling of being near to god. (they must have been a happy bunch)
All though once you have sene the first 5 or so of these temples it can get a bit repetative if you are not an archeologist. Not to say they are not impressive but seeing 22 all at once might make the last 10 you seen a little less impressive. Once again the scale of so many is quite insance when you see them up close.
The town istelf is also really nice, we sit in the market square and eat street food while drinking chai masal tea with the locals. Digby tries a local cigaret bascially a dried up leaf rolled with a tiny bit of tobacco all held together by a bit of string. He gets a little light headed, maybe the string is plastic? We don't know.
During the day we walk in the old town through the different cast area's, we see a school funded by charity money. Some Dutch people raised money for a water pump, some other sent pens and books. The character of the village is really lovely.
All in all a really nice calm place to visit, very friendly feeling. Great sites to see but also a nice ambience in the village, also very cheap compared to the rest of India so far.
There used to be over 85 of these amazing and large sand stone carved temples now after Muslim - Hindu wars and erosion 22 survive today spread around this small village. The carvings and decorations are amazing let alone we are not talking about one temple but 22 (and we can only imagine what 85 would have looked like). They depict scenses showing every aspect of life including sex, but apparently the people who built these temples are a little more flexible than you or I when it comes to it. Also they don't seem to have been particularly bothered about having just one partner many carvings are of a group.
The insides of the temples howerer do not have any such scenses and are the sactuaries of there idols and there are quite a few different ones. Hence so many temples. The story goes that the leader of the time in that region had a dream in which he was told to build great temples to the gods showing every part of human life in all its detail and glory.
The main reason people believe the sex sences were so blaitant, detailed, acrobatic and involving groups was that these people also believed in tantrism. This means getting closer to god through tanric sex, thisinvloves karmasutra positions, I suppose you could compare it to Yoga which is also meant to bring you closer to god because the poses make you healthier. Well these people thought karmasutra made you happier and the feeling of being near to god. (they must have been a happy bunch)
All though once you have sene the first 5 or so of these temples it can get a bit repetative if you are not an archeologist. Not to say they are not impressive but seeing 22 all at once might make the last 10 you seen a little less impressive. Once again the scale of so many is quite insance when you see them up close.
The town istelf is also really nice, we sit in the market square and eat street food while drinking chai masal tea with the locals. Digby tries a local cigaret bascially a dried up leaf rolled with a tiny bit of tobacco all held together by a bit of string. He gets a little light headed, maybe the string is plastic? We don't know.
During the day we walk in the old town through the different cast area's, we see a school funded by charity money. Some Dutch people raised money for a water pump, some other sent pens and books. The character of the village is really lovely.
All in all a really nice calm place to visit, very friendly feeling. Great sites to see but also a nice ambience in the village, also very cheap compared to the rest of India so far.
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