Sex Manuals for the Devout. The lost Temples of Khajuraho. (Khajuraho Temples (India))

Member Name: GillMN

Product:	Khajuraho Temples (India)
Date:	29/05/09 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazingly beautiful temple site with graphic sexual scenes.

Disadvantages: Looking at it all gives you neck ache and sunburnt tonsils from your jaw dropping open!

Khajuraho can be found in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, Northern India. The name comes from the date tree which proliferates there and is largely responsible for the temples being 'lost'. Their lostness saved them from despoilation by invading Moslem armies who destroyed non Muslim places of worship as an act of faith.

We travelled there by road but it is possible to fly into the local airport. If you travel by road, take a good cushion for your bum and a crash helmet. Our coach hit so many potholes that I became airborne at one stage and brained myself on the luggage rack!

Khajuraho had been an important area historically and the Chandela kings built the Khajuraho group of temples between 950 AD to 1050 AD. For the last eight hundred years or so the area declined and the mighty town become a small and remote village. A visiting British soldier/engineer with an interest in archaeology discovered a complex of temple ruins covered by the jungle in 1838 and initiated the reclaiming of this amazing site. Today their are 22 temples remaining standing out of an initial 85.

The grounds the temples sit in, is a huge cleared space. Trees and gardens adorn the area and many wild birds are to be seen waiting for food to be dropped for them. The peace is only broken by the shrieks of the monkeys.
It has been declared a World Heritage Centre. It is easy to see why because it is magnificient. The temples, often built on huge plinths, rise majestically from the surrounding lawns, each quietly demanding that you explore them.

The temples are most famous for their erotic art which depict every sexual position you could imagine. (and a few you wouldn't want to) They are carved beautifully into the stonework, completely covering the walls of one temple and liberally scattered amongst the others. All aspects of sexuality are celebrated here, and I mean all!

Our very scholarly guide explained the religious significance of the carvings and sculptures and cleverly used a little mirror to highlight the parts of the structure he was talking about. Our little group listened dutifully and refrained (mostly) from making ribald comments about what we were seeing. (After all we were British and typically reserved about such matters!) This restraint did not extend to the the three American tourists who had tagged on behind to listen. Our lecture was interspersed with cries of....
"Oh my Lord Amylou! He's doing it with five of them!"
"Five? Was that legal then?"
and.....
"You'd think he'd take all those robes off first wouldn't you? but I suppose they were used to all the heat!"
and.....
"What's she doing with that bunch of feathers?"
and.....
"Look at that Winston, he is fornicating with a bobolynx!"
"Don't look like no bobolynx to me!"
"Sure it's a bobolynx. I know a bobolynx when I see one!"

The fact that the man in question was depicted enjoying sex with a large wildcat seemed insignificant to them. The fact that the nearest Bobolynx was a good few thousand miles away in North America didn't seem to register with them either!

We tore ourselves away from what was becoming a heated discussion and attended to the guide and the temple walls. The particular temple we were scrutinising was over fifty foot tall and every inch of it's exterior was covered in carvings. The detail was extraordinary. It would have been extraordinary whatever it depicted. The fact that every one of it's carvings depicted a different sexual position graphically, made it quite mind boggling. Presumably the people depicted never had 'headaches'.

The thing that amused me, was that all of the carvings had slightly bemused looks on their faces. They didn't look as though they were entering into a "Heightened sexual and spiritual communication with the Gods." They looked mildy amused and suprised.
Perhaps I would look like that if I was in the middle of an energetic orgy with three men and a boa constrictor, and a stone carver rolled up and told me to "Hold that position for a minute love, whilst I carve you!". I doubt I'll ever find out though. Ho hum!

The Americans, bored with facts and figures, had wandered inside and their incredulous but muffled shouts could still be heard.
"Whoah, he's a big boy!"
"Don't look at these Winston, I know you're sensitive!"
Sensitive? Hmmmm.

The temples are not all open to the public at once, to be honest you would need to know a lot more about architecture, Hindu imagery and spirituality to need to see more than we did. Having said that, you could potter about the site all day, relatively unmolested, if you wanted to, just enjoying the peace.

We went into five of the temples and each one was worth seeing for the beauty of it's lines, or carvings, or artwork. The sense of timelessness is hard to describe. It was as though time stood still when the temple area was deserted by humans and the forests started to encroach. Now that they are restored as far as is feasible, they just stand as a testament to man's creativity and desire to communicate and honour their Gods.


Khajuraho itself is a small town heavily reliant on the tourist industry. Hotels and souvenir shops abound. You can buy key rings which would be designated as pornographic if the site they came from was not so venerable. The souvenirs fascinated me. Imagine lugging home for Aunty Doris, an explicit stone statue of two very well endowed men in the soixante neuf position, then explaining to her that she didn't have to hide it from the Vicar because it was "All about spirituality, Dear!"

I got quite turned on looking at some of them, it beat the Kama Sutra anyday and the detail was meticulous! The carvings of some of the more adventurous sexual positions gave me pause for thought. Some of them depicted servants helping out the ones having sex, by supporting their bodies in the right positions. "Blooming heck! It's not my turn to hold it in for him again is it? Can't I do the dishes instead?" Some servants get all the dirty jobs!


I never really understood why so many were built so close together. Perhaps our guide told us and I didn't take it in. There was an awful lot to absorb. Perhaps our American friends distracted me at the moment he explained. I asked our hotelier when we got back later this evening. His reply was "Perhaps Mem, they were just wanting to and they could." It was as good an explanation as anybody else offered!

For more information or to see some of the carvings you can go to

http://www.liveindia.com/khajuraho/index.html

I came away from Khajuraho thinking that if the Church of England adorned its Cathedrals with such images of enjoyable and celebratory sexuality, there might be a few more bums on pews. The sermons would be more interesting too! (if the Vicar refrained from the Missionary position long enough to preach them.)

Summary: See these temples before you are too old to practice what they preach!