Mesmerizing Khajuraho
Posted by mohit09 on October 2nd, 2011About Khajuraho
Khajuraho,the name itself makes perceptions go wild for those who have heard about this place and enliven the mesmerizing moments of those who had ever visited this place.
In the temple architecture of India, the Khajuraho complex remains unique. One
thousand years ago, under the generous and artistic patronage of the Chandela
Rajput kings of Central India, 85 temples, magnificent in form and richly carved, came up on one site, near the village of Khajuraho. The amazingly short span of 100 years, from 950 AD – 1050 AD, saw the completion of all the temples,in an inspired burst of creativity.
Today, of the original 85, only 22 have survived the ravages of time; these remain as a collective paean to life, to joy and to creativity; to the ultimate fusion of man with his creator.The creators of Khajuraho claimed descent from the moon. The legend that describes the origin of this great dynasty is a fascinating one: Hemavati, the beautiful young daughter of a Brahmin priest was seduced by the moon god while bathing in the Rati one evening. The childborn of this union between a mortal and a god was a son, Chandravarman. Harassed by society, the unwed mother sought refuge in the dense forest of Central India where she was both mother and guru to her young son. The boy grew up to foundthe great Chandela dynasty. When he was established as a ruler, he had a dream-visitation from his mother, who implored himto build temples that would reveal human passions, and in doing so bring about a realization of the emptiness of human desire.Chandravarman began the construction of the first of the temples, successive rulers added to the fast growing complex.
Though the best time to visit Khajuraho is supposed to be between October-March,I got the opportunity to visit this great place which is one of the World Heritage sites in the month of July.Rain God was kind enough that while it was pleasant to enable me to be a part of this cultural heritage,it did not rain.
The road distance between New Delhi and Khajuraho is approximately 596 kms or 370 miles,however commuting by road is not advisable. Khajuraho is on the Railway connectivity Map of India.One can take UP Sampark Kranti Express Train which leaves Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi at 20:15 hrs and reaches Khajuraho at 6:35 am the next morning.Jet Airways,Kingfisher Airlies and Air India offer air connectivity to Khajuraho from New Delhi.I personally took Air India’s flight which was a hopping flight with stoppage at Varanasi.My flight reached about 01:00 pm.
It is disappointing to share that when I visited Khajuraho, there were no effective options of public transport like Auto-Rikshaws, Rikshaws or busses and the only mode of transport were the private taxis which would charge you flat Rs 200/- to Rs 250/- from airport to hotel(which in most cases is merely 3 to 5 kms) .Thanks to my adaptation skills,I wasted no time and took a taxi to Usha Bundela (a 3 star Hotel which is a reasonably priced good property with all amenities except good service….). By now it was pretty clear to me that all my plans for a good vacation would go for a six if I do not find a quick solution to problem of commutation in this temple town,and so, I struck a deal with taxi driver to take a fixed amount for being with me till he drops me back to airport for my return journey, a deal which later proved to be a boon as Mr Yusuf,my taxi driver acting as a local guide took me to the places of tourist interest in and around Khajuraho.I found people to be generally very nice with pleasing disposition towards tourists.
Khajuraho temples are spread over this town and are locally identified as 
Western,Eastern,Southern and Northern group of temples.By the time I settled down in my hotel,it was 2 pm.I had my lunch and ventured out to Western group of temples.The first temple which captivated my attention was the Varaha Temple in the western group of temples.
In Hinduism, Varaha (वाराह) is the third avatar of Vishnu, in the form of a boar. He appeared in order to defeat Hiranyaksha, a demon who had taken the Earth (prthivi) and carried it to the bottom of what is described as the cosmic ocean in the story. The battle between Lord Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to have lasted for a thousand years, which the former finally won. Varaha carried the Earth out of the ocean between his tusks and restored it to its place in the universe.
Apart from Varaha Temple, West side of temples cover Laxman temple,Lord Shiva temple, Chitragupta temple, Parvati temple, Nandi temple, and Mataji temple out of which the most prominent are the Laxman and Kandariya Mahadev Temples.
It was interesting to see that the villages en-route still bore resemblance to the vivid discription of villages given by M.N Srinivas,the noted sociologist in his celebrated work India’s Villages (1955) more than half a century back,if not literally ,at least in comparison to the much urbanized villages of Haryana and Punjab.Life in these villages still seems to be much self dependent with very less interaction with the Urban India,unlike villages of Punjab and Haryana where one can see all the fruits of so called development permeating life of one and all.
encounter with nature in its fast and furious form,yet so amazingly beautiful.I was told by the guide that it is said that there used to be a volcano at this site thousands of years ago that erupted and water from these falls fall into the crater so formed by the volcano.Water from this group of falls then passes through the gorge .Most of the rocks in this area are granite with some rocks which are dolomite.
along with us,thus ,we took the forest guide and he took us towards the Pandav falls which are inside the Panna Reserve.The falls are approximately 150 ft down from the parking area.The beauty of the majestic Pandav falls is difficult to confine to words and can only be experienced being there in person.The guide told us that during the agyatwas( period of banishment) of Pandavs,they has stayed near these Pandav falls.I must say that Pandav falls are one of the most beautiful falls that I have seen in my life for the reason that these falls are so picturesquely situated in the jungle that seldom can one see such a mesmerizing site.
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