KHAJARAHO (Day 10)

On top of a rather unpleasant night, the reception clerk tried to charge us extra for the room, but we refused. We also discovered that Mukesh had slept in the car. He claimed it was because he was worried the radio would be stolen, but I suspect it was because the hotel wanted to charge him for a room (normally drivers get to stay for free in a group room).

We were on the road quite early. It was about 100 miles to our next destination of Khajuraho. It had rained all night making the drive somewhat slippery and treacherous (even more so than usual).

We pulled over at a small stand for our morning stop for chai. At first it was the usual scenario... one or two men staring at us. But within 5 minutes, the crowd had doubled, then doubled again. After about 15 minutes, the place packed with men, and a wall of kids stood directly in front of us... staring without even blinking. We felt like museum pieces. Ron decided to 'stare' back through the video camera, but he turned the viewscreen around so the kids them see themselves. At first they didn't understand, but within a matter of seconds were all pushing to get a look at themselves. Eventually even some of the adults came over as well. They all seemed to have a really good time and the kids even ran after the car as we left. They had offered to give us the tea for free, but we felt we could afford the mere 21 cents.

Upon arrival in the small city (population of around 6,500), we went to visit its most famous attraction... a set of erotic temples.These 22 temples (originally 85 of them) were built between 900 and 1150 AD during the local Chandela Dynasty. They are said to mark the highest level of development of Indian architectural design.

We paid our entrance fees and entered the gate into a large park dotted with ancient temples.

The structures were covered with carved scenes from daily life... as well as scenes that most people might not consider part of a daily routine, such as wild sex acts (shown in great detail and not limited to just human figures).

At one point, as we stood admiring one temple, an army (literally, with uniforms, rifles, etc) showed up. So while I stood looking at erotic images of men and women entangled in positions that defied the imagination, some 50 heavily-armed men stood watching... me, all the while making incomprehensible comments. There were very few other females about (either tourist or local). Suffice to say it was a bit uncomfortable. We quickly moved on.

We then drove to a museum located inside a Jain temple. There were plenty of small statues, pictures of huge statues, paintings and real life photos of... naked men. Apparently in the Jain religion, the men can’t wear clothing (or be circumcised).

The city was unusually full due to the huge festival tomorrow (Maha Shivaratri, the night of Shiva). Behind our hotel, a huge Ferris wheel and tons of tents were being set up. At one point, we saw many people coming down the street chanting: they would walk a of couple steps, then lay down on their stomach in the street, stand up, walk a bit further, lay down... the whole time chanting as they made their way down the entire street.

I decided to take the opportunity to buy a sari. The store was rather small but had plenty of selection. Ron bought a dhoti (wrapped pants) and kurta (a long top). The power in the entire city went out twice while we were trying on clothes. So the employees simply set up a huge gas lantern.

Back on the street, people followed us wherever we went. One old man walked up and asked Mukesh where I was from. Mukesh told him. The man then looked me up and down several times quite intently, then left. Mukesh explained that many of these people were from very tiny villages in the area and only come to this 'big' town once or twice a year, including this festival. Many of them had never seen a Westerner before.

We continued on to the fair. Everywhere were calls of 'gora' and 'gori' (fair-skinned man and fair-skinned woman) and we drew crowds every time we bought anything. A large crowd gathered and watched me try on some shoes to match the sari I had purchased.

The Ferris wheel was not something any sane person would try. It was driven by a belt connected to a benzine generator and seemed less than stable. The music was extremely loud and as always, blasted over very poor crackly speakers.

We then sat on the roof and enjoyed the cool, misty night. From our vantage point, we could see people sleeping across the street by the lake; some of them had tents, others just found shelter under blankets or pieces of plastic. The sounds of music, singing and dancing came from all sides. Every now and then an announcer could be heard over the loud speaker or there was an occasional firework.

return • continue