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Today we were up early to hit the road for eight am. We were travelling from our palace in Allopura to head to see the karma sutra temples in Khajuraho. It was a three hour drive on a very bumpy road but we managed a bit of sleep, and arrived just in time for the midday heat. The world heritage listed temples are gathered into three groups, firstly we went to see the western group which is an example of some of the finest carvings in the world.
It is said that Khajuraho was founded by Chardravarman, the illicit son of the moon god Chandra who had descended to earth one night to make love to a beautiful lady bathing in a stream. Over a period of creativity, eighty five temples were built of which now only twenty five remain. We went to see the western group and these are scattered around a beautifully kept park, surrounded by trees, flowers and green lush grass.
The temples are absolutely incredible... each one covered in intricately carved pictures depicting every aspect of life ...from war to sex. They are superb examples of Indo-Aran architecture. The carvings, although many erotic, are amazing... Such detail and skill have been put into them. We walked around each of the western temples and it felt a bit like a school trip, as there was a guide trying to tell us the story behind each carving and we were all giggling like school kids despite Abhi telling us to focus on all the stunning work. Most of us did however, take pictures of the erotic carvings, the most photographed being a solider having intercourse with a horse while a man fondles himself as he waits his turn and another shocked person covering their eyes.... really quite graphic!
This was on the Lakshmana temple which took an incredible twenty years to build and completed in AD 954. This is the most preserved of the temples and is mind blowing, I really enjoyed all the stories the guide had about each carving ....some naughty and some funny, but all entertaining. It was a refreshing morning out as it was a bit lighter and we were all a bit templed-out. After the tour we were given free time to take photos or just chill in the grounds so we all did silly poses and jumping shots, lol... so mature! We haggled with the crazy guys outside (who I lost my temper with more than once) and bought some erotic key chains for our brothers. The hagglers here were of a new level... so annoying! I didn't want to buy anything from them out of principle but knew the boys would love them! They are so funny!
After that we headed out to find somewhere for lunch and found ourselves at Ghandi's cafe... not sure the great man himself was the owner but his face was on the door, haha! We had a Byriani each and then headed home via another temple. On the three hour drive back... I mostly slept, but we also stopped for some rum (a litre bottle costing only six pounds) at an English wine shop that did not sell wine!? We then drove off back towards the palace. As the light fades the countryside really comes to life, very few have electricity here so throughout the darkness you can see fires littered around, illuminating the faces of those who want to absorb its warmth. The air smells of smoky wood and charcoal and it is quite warming. In each little house you can see candles glowing and incense burning, old men sitting around smoking their pipes and women cooking.
On arriving back we headed to check the Internet with no luck... Abhi's laptop works though so we took it in turns for a quick check-in back home, then everyone had dinner... I however skipped it and sipped my water. Then we all headed upstairs and played some snooker on the king's private table. After a while I headed up to chill out on my own for a while and left the boy playing snooker. I got into my pyjamas and made a coffee (this is the first hotel to have such facilities!!) and then climbed into bed and read my book.... bliss!! It was so nice and eventually feel asleep before Jack rudely awoke me! But did eventually get back to sleep and loved the fact that we are having a lie in tomorrow, yay! xxxxx
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