Khajuraho Kama Sutra Temple

Warning: You must have been born prior to 1992 to view these photos...

Teg- Khajuraho had both great moments and bad. For the first half of it Mike was done-in with some sorta stomach bug which definitely sucked. So we took it easy, going and spending a few hours here and there wandering the town or checking out the unbelievable temples, bit by bit. There were a few different groups of temples scattered around the area, the ‘western’, ‘eastern’ and southern’, all named just based on their location. The ‘westerners’ were the most prestigious of them all and thus of course, the ones we had to pay to go see. They were well worth it though ‘cause they really were beautiful and extremely well preserved. It was quite surprising actually to see just how many sexual sculptures there were, all over each temple! Some were HILARIOUS!! It definitely explained the overwhelming amount of touts selling this-n-that karma sutra stuff all over town!

Great story, but I must start at the beginning so bare with me. On our second night in town, one of the men at the hotel who had helped us get train tickets to Agra had also went out and got us tickets for this Indian Folk dance. Mike ended up not being able to go to this dance because his stomach was malfunctioning, so I jumped on the back of the hotel-man’s (Naqash’s) motorbike and was driven over to see the performance. Before we get there, he makes a pit-stop at this tiny little shop, apparently owned by his uncle. I agree to go in and look around ‘cause we got 15 mins to kill before the show starts. Turns out, this shop is owned by a man who lives in Kashmir, ‘Super Mario’, who comes down to Khajuraho for 6 months of the year to run the store.

I sit, enjoy tea (amazing! Kashmiri tea) with two other French woman and get shown tons of the man’s works. He has these beautiful shawls and scarves and quite quickly I become attached to two of them. One is expensive and the other is reasonable, worth bargaining for. I end up getting the cheaper one – a Sunday-Monday – and pass on the other, heartbreaking though because it was SO nice. I couldn’t make him budge below 4200 Rps.

After the tea and scarf purchase Naqash takes me over to the dance, and waits for its ending so he can drive me back to the hotel. The great guy that he is, I ask if we can stop at the chemist so I can pick up some meds for Mike and it’s no problem. Once we get back, he offers to lend me his motorbike so Mike and I can visit the temples further away the following day. Without hesitation, I accept.lol 

So tomorrow comes and I’m eager to take Mike to this little Kashmir shop because I know he’s been mentioning an interest in rugs lately, and I know Super Mario had some great rugs! Plus, I wanted some more of that tea...lol. We wander over there with Naqash and first thing I see when I step inside, my fav shawl lying on one of the beds, just staring at me. It was painful. After our teas we pretty much get up and leave, Mike is uninterested.

Once we get back to the hotel to pick up some things for the days’ adventures, plans suddenly change and instead of getting on the bike, we are gunna do it tomorrow ‘cause Mike has to get a permit to drive the thing.

I hang out in the hotel garden while Mike scampers off to get his permit, and on his return, nothing but smiles. I just figured he was pretty amped to be the one able to drive, something we had earlier been debating over. 

Best part. The next (and last) day in Khaj we planned to use the motorbike to drive to this waterfall (which Mike ended up HATING) but Naqash was a no-show so we had to auto-rickshaw it there instead. Before heading out to the falls we decided to pack our bags so that we could head to the train station right when we got back. As I dig into my pack to start organizing it, what I think is the medical bag that I’m pulling up out of my pack turns out to be THE AMAZING SHAWL I had been heartbroken over!!! At this time Mike is lying on the bed reading, and as I’m rustling the bag the shawls in, getting it out, I can just see his book inch closer and closer to his face. A long silence ensued before he finally lowered the book to reveal a huge grin. He had got me good!!!

As I drape myself in the shawl, Mike tells me the story of how he pretended to be getting a permit (which don’t exist I guess) while instead he went back over to the Kashmir shop and bargained with both Naqash and Super Mario to get a way better price on the shawl!!! That pretty much sums up Khaj for me haha! Super Mikey ;)!

Mike – haha thanks Teg… After witnessing Teg’s look when she left the scarf I couldn’t resist… It was difficult to keep “Super Mario” from ruining the surprise as he was intent on making the sale immediately. There were a lot of nudges, nods, and careful looks being exchanged so as not to ruin the surprise. She’s been taking care of me through many ills this trip, so it was the least I could do.

Khajuraho was pretty shocking to say the least. For how modest Indian culture has become, it is pretty unbelievable to see how sexually promiscuous they once were – what happened!? The Chandela dynasty – who built the temples – were a perfect example of a Ken Kesey-esque definition of a psychopath: “Someone who likes to fight and likes to screw” (not in those words, but you get the gist). Most of the carvings on each of the temples consisted either of scenes of war, glory, or seemingly impossible, and sometimes gravity-defying, sexual escapades, which usually involved multiple partners, and sometimes animals… Let’s just say that the Chandela’s weren’t moot for experimentation.

On the front page of the local newspaper there was a story about the highest searched queries amongst Indians. In the “How To” category, the highest googled query was “How To Get Pregnant”. I couldn’t help laughing at the irony of the situation while we were at Khajuraho, staring at some carvings that would make Larry Flynt look like a choir boy. What a wild and crazy country.

It was interesting how – besides the few Jain temples – were literally each knock-offs from the previous one. The temples themselves were nothing short of spectacular, and the sculptures were some of the most detailed that we’ve encountered yet in India, but when they’re replicated over and over again the novelty starts to fade.

Anyway, there’s not much else to write about. I lost days due to sickness again. It seems that I collect germs as most people collect souvenirs, building immunities from place-to-place; I’m looking forward to the time when I can just be healthy.