~Khajuraho~
July 30th 2007 12:55
Category: No Category
“Khajuraho”.
Take a wild guess...An isolated island surrounded by the sound of endless waves crushing the beach in Mauritius? A deadly dry dessert in the Middle East? Or maybe an undiscovered snow-topped mountain in the ranges of the Alps?
If those were the guesses, you are most likely to be wrong.
Unlike any of these sensational locations, Khajuraho is a village in India. Nothing but a mere village you may think. But this is a village that is one of its kind located in Madhya Pradesh, geographically, "located in between or/and below Rajastan and Uttar Pradesh right smack in the middle of India" (www.mapsofindia.com)
"Khajuraho is stated to be virtually in the middle of nowhere and it is fortunate that it is served by air from major cities. Like for example, it is a a distance of 280 km from Gwalior, and 175 km from Jhansi and 120 km from Satna, all three being major railheads" (www.indiantemples.com).
Now, you may be wondering why I had chosen to explore this one small village by the name of Khajuraho which seems to be very much isolated from the outside world instead of the hundreds of glamourous locations that is found in India. Not to stereotype but like it has always been, I too would like to group India with one of its undenying specialities: temples of centuries old.
Before going any further, I’d like to say that I am not preeching that other temples in India or anywhere else are not worthy for your visits. What I’d like to focus here is the speciality or uniqueness of the temples in Khajuraho compared to the rest of the temples in India, which I believe have their own specialities.
Now, lets get back to these temples in Khajuraho. Just like others, these temples are also surrounded by fine works of art which might have been completed over a century ago (or more), portraying gods and goddesses. What makes these temples rather stand out the crowd was the fact that these sculptures and statues were portrayed in an erotic manner unlike the others found in other temples. One might point out that the culture and practices of Hinduism are not on the same boat. Like, instead of following Hindu’s customs and traditions, which 'generally' demands or prefers Hindus to be in 'non-sexy or somewhat non-revealing' attires, Khajuraho temples portray otherwise.
What I think is that these statues represent Gods and Goddess of Hinduism. And the locals go there everyday without fail to get their blessing and to worship God. If they can refer to these erotic statues as purity, then I think there should be no reason why we (or others) can’t look at these statues the same way the locals do. Even when the theme portrayed in these temples was of "erotic sculptures featuring Apsaras and mithunas (couples)" (www.indiantemples.com).
Well, I guess it all depends on us individuals rather than blaming different thoughts due to different factors.
Take a wild guess...An isolated island surrounded by the sound of endless waves crushing the beach in Mauritius? A deadly dry dessert in the Middle East? Or maybe an undiscovered snow-topped mountain in the ranges of the Alps?
If those were the guesses, you are most likely to be wrong.
Unlike any of these sensational locations, Khajuraho is a village in India. Nothing but a mere village you may think. But this is a village that is one of its kind located in Madhya Pradesh, geographically, "located in between or/and below Rajastan and Uttar Pradesh right smack in the middle of India" (www.mapsofindia.com)
"Khajuraho is stated to be virtually in the middle of nowhere and it is fortunate that it is served by air from major cities. Like for example, it is a a distance of 280 km from Gwalior, and 175 km from Jhansi and 120 km from Satna, all three being major railheads" (www.indiantemples.com).
Now, you may be wondering why I had chosen to explore this one small village by the name of Khajuraho which seems to be very much isolated from the outside world instead of the hundreds of glamourous locations that is found in India. Not to stereotype but like it has always been, I too would like to group India with one of its undenying specialities: temples of centuries old.
Before going any further, I’d like to say that I am not preeching that other temples in India or anywhere else are not worthy for your visits. What I’d like to focus here is the speciality or uniqueness of the temples in Khajuraho compared to the rest of the temples in India, which I believe have their own specialities.
Now, lets get back to these temples in Khajuraho. Just like others, these temples are also surrounded by fine works of art which might have been completed over a century ago (or more), portraying gods and goddesses. What makes these temples rather stand out the crowd was the fact that these sculptures and statues were portrayed in an erotic manner unlike the others found in other temples. One might point out that the culture and practices of Hinduism are not on the same boat. Like, instead of following Hindu’s customs and traditions, which 'generally' demands or prefers Hindus to be in 'non-sexy or somewhat non-revealing' attires, Khajuraho temples portray otherwise.
What I think is that these statues represent Gods and Goddess of Hinduism. And the locals go there everyday without fail to get their blessing and to worship God. If they can refer to these erotic statues as purity, then I think there should be no reason why we (or others) can’t look at these statues the same way the locals do. Even when the theme portrayed in these temples was of "erotic sculptures featuring Apsaras and mithunas (couples)" (www.indiantemples.com).
Well, I guess it all depends on us individuals rather than blaming different thoughts due to different factors.
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Comment by Sharal