The evening after visiting the Taj, we went to a show. This was a very Indian show of the story of the Taj Mahal. Lots of dancing and bad acting. It was not particularly good. The focal point of the whole show was a scale model of the Taj. Clearly a lot of work had gone into the remarkably detailed construction. It was impressive. Not impressive enough to save the show but a good effort. No photographs allowed.
During the night the train sneaked down the track to Orchha. In the morning, we were whisked off to Orchha Fort in tuk-tuks. This was one of those situations where we lost contact with the guide completely. I mean, we tried to follow him but he was noticeably quiet with a strong Indian accent. I just could not work out what he was saying at all.
Work was started on Orchha Fort in 1501. Various by successive Maharajas expanded it over the following 150 years. Ultimately, it was abandoned in 1783. Left to our own devices, we wandered around at random. There were a lot of impressive carvings. I particularly liked the elephants used to hold things up.
The surrounding countryside seemed especially jungle like. This gave a wonderful feel to the place. A lost fort deep in the dark forest. We found several buildings. All quite similar and all echoing an age of opulence. Off to one side, was a high-ceilinged stone shed originally constructed to home camels. Inside we found some cows.
Back into the tuk-tuks we went off to see a traditional village. I found this a bit weird. It was, sort of, a traditional village but one that had set itself up to receive scores of tourists. There were a few visits and talks. I was impressed by a potter working on the floor outside a house. He span a heavy stone wheel balanced on a point by using a stick. Once the great lump of heavy stone was spinning like a gyroscope, he proceeded to throw small clay pots and cups on it. Impressive skills.
Back on the train for lunch we proceeded to Khajuraho. This is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. The country’s largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples are here. They are famous for their erotic sculptures and are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We arrived there late afternoon and were shown round by a particularly boring guide. I could understand him fine. He just didn’t seem to have anything interesting to say.
Most of the Khajuraho temples were built between 885 CE and 1000 CE by the Chandela dynasty. By the 12th century, there were around 85 temples although only 25 now survive. The complex was forgotten and overgrown by the jungle. Their “discovery” was in 1838. Captain Burt, a British engineer, visited the complex and reported his findings in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
Again, we ended up wandering around on our own. There are a lot of temples here. We just focussed on the most famous one. The walls are covered with intricate carvings depicting many types of human behaviour. Some quite lewd. While they are famous for their erotic sculpture, sexual themes cover less than 10% of the temple sculpture. The erotic scene panels are neither prominent nor emphasized at the expense of the rest. They are in proportional balance with the non-sexual images. It was fun to spend a while spotting the X-rated carvings. Eventually, the sun was setting and it was too dark for photographs. We headed back to the train for an “Indian Evening”. More of that in the next post.
