The Ancient Version of the Internet - The Erotic Temples of Khajuraho

There seems to be two types of foreign visitors to Varanasi--those who can spend months immersed in the spirituality of the city and those who just want to get a glimpse of what all the hype is about.  We are the latter, so we were ready to move along after just one day.  We took a hour-long flight to Khajuraho.  Being that Air India is government-run, it has a poor reputation.  The Jet Airways flight to the same destination that left 10 minutes before ours was packed with a huge tour group from Taiwan.  We literally had only six passengers on our large Airbus.  We landed safely, and that is all that matters.

We had an issue with our reservation with the Khajuraho Radisson Hotel.  Although we had booked with them months in advance, they decided to bump our reservation at the last minute so that they could accommodate a large tour group.  Likely the Taiwanese.  Unlike the high marks given to other Radisson Hotels throughout India, this one has received tepid reviews from TripAdvisor and Frommer's especially on account of their service.  Pulling crap like this does not help their reputation.

Although it was not their fault, our travel agency arranged for lodging at another place at no extra cost.  The five-star Lalit Temple View Hotel!  By far the best show in town, the Lalit was a welcoming change to our accommodations in Varanasi.  The room was spacious and modern, the shower had great water pressure and maintained hot water, the pool area was relaxing with views of the tops of the temples in the background.  The service was excellent whether it be the tall doorman impeccably dressed and topped with a red turban or the helpful waiters or busboys.

While the hotel is great, the only real reason any tourist comes to Khajuraho is to see the temple complexes.  Built by the Chandela dynasty between 900 to 1100 A.D., they were lost to the world for about 400 years before being discovered by the British in 1838.  Of the original 85 temples, only 24 survive to this day.

We first visited the Western Group of temples which towered over the small neighboring village.

There are thousands of figures on these monuments, intricately carved from sandstone with amazing detail.  Some are individual statues...

Others depict soldiers on campaign...

There are a wide variety of animals or beasts...

But always, the women are voluptuous.  The double D's don't seem to hurt.

What really makes the Temples of Khajuraho so famous are the depictions of the Kama Sutra.

Fellatio...

Hand jobs...

Doggy style...

Piledriver...

69...

Reverse cowgirl...

Menage-a-trois...

and Menage-a-four.

I don't know if this position even HAS a name.

Despite what Ricky Bobby's friend said, Americans 
did not invent the missionary position.

The most shocking depictions are the bestiality scenes.

One damaged relief shows the Queen secretly getting pounded by a
bull behind a tree as the King and his soldiers look the other way.

Since they didn't have a wagon train with prostitutes à la General Joseph Hooker, soldiers
on campaign would do the next best thing--go Catherine the Great on their horses.

As a UNESCO site, the area is beautiful with perfectly trimmed lawns and large blooming dahlia's in a rainbow of colors.

There was even a large pack of langurs frolicking along the grounds,

We also visited the Eastern Group of temples devoted to the Jain religion.  Those temples are also impressive but nowhere as magnificent as the more popular Western Group.

As fitting for the Jains, there was also wildlife there.

They also have a nighttime laser light show and folk dance presentation in the town, but we decided to skip both so that we could better enjoy our hotel.  We spent the last part of the afternoon at the large clover-shaped pool.  It was eerily quiet, as there seemed to be nobody around.  We dined at Lalit's Panna restaurant.  The large flat-screen TV blasting a cricket match assured us that casual attire was fine.  We ordered a soup of roasted Bengal prawns in saffron and tomato soup to start.  It tasted like a good tomato soup with rubbery shrimp.  We then had doi machh (east India fish curry), matkewala chicken (country style dish cooked in an earthenware pot), and aloo ki nazakat (potatoes stuffed with sesame seed).  Those dishes were really good with prices very reasonable for a hotel of this caliber.

Overall, we really enjoyed visiting Khahurajo.  The hotel was great.  The gardens around the Western Temples are so beautiful and organized when compared to the rest of the country.  It is amazing how much skill and labor was involved in carving those temples, especially considering that they were done over a millennium ago.   Although we knew we were going to see some erotic sculptures, we were still shocked at the extent of the vivid depictions of the various sex acts.  It is good to know that 1000 years ago, people were just as depraved as they are today.