We had to fly into this little village called Khajuraho to visit a very unique, intriguing part of Hindu temple history. These temples are a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site and are awesome to see:
Back in 950- 1050 AD, a sect of Hindus called Chandelas built 85 of these marvellous wonders, one for each of the Maharajahs living during these times. But with the decline of this sect, the temples lay forgotten for many centuries. It wasn't until the 1860s that an Englishman, out hunting here, went to climb what he thought was a particular mountain. It turned out it was one of these temples completely covered over by greenery.
The excavation started and there are 26 structures almost completely untouched by centuries of time. This, in itself, is truly spectacular. But there is another part of this history which is- shall we say- rather risqué. Of the tens of thousands of carvings on these walls, some depict couples and even people with animals in compromising positions:
One theory is that this sect believed that gratification of earthly desires is a step towards attaining the infinite liberation of nirvana. Another theory is that they built these temples revealing human passions to show a realization of the emptiness of human desire. Whatever the actual belief is, there is no documented evidence, so you can be the judge.
Not all these sculptures are risqué but it's not like I had to spend hours finding each of these (but I would if only for the pursuit of history!). The carvings on the walls all show the human body as bountiful and many in graphic poses.
No comments:
Post a Comment