Khajuraho temples and Varanasi

A local guide escorted us to a Hindu temple complex just outside of town. There were at least half a dozen very large temples, and several smaller ones. Most of the temples at this World Heritage Site date back a thousand years, with a less grand one added only about 150 years ago.

The primary feature of these temples are the many hundreds (thousands?) of intricate carvings, mostly on the exterior, but some on the interior, depicting various gods, but also many scenes of daily life as it was in ancient Hindustan prior to the Mughal invasion. Many of these scenes might be described as erotic.

 This is the land of the Kama Sutra, and all manner of sexual activity was depicted at the lower levels. As the eye scans higher, there are fewer people having sex and more gods. Perhaps this is an example of transcending base desires, but an alternate reading might be a celebration of love-making. In any case, our entire group was quite entertained. And as our guide pointed out, there is nothing new under the sun.

After finishing with our sex education at one site, we drove across town to a Jain temple complex that was much smaller, but similarly endowed with erotic sculptures. The guide provided a rather inept explanation of the differences between Hinduism and Jainism -- the official party line in this country is that Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism are all one faith. This plays well to national unity in contemporary politics, but oversimplifies the nation's long and rich history.

We returned to the hotel for a light early lunch and to pack up and check out to head to the airport for our flight to Varanasi. Although it was a short flight, we had a nice, newish Airbus 320 with good service. Things were not as smooth on the other end. Luggage was slow in coming out. Then our bus took us over some of the worst roads ever to an ancient Radison hotel that was long past its sell-by date.

The hotel doorman in Khajuraho had quite the moustache!

            After settling in, we met our local guide and got back on the bus for a trip to the last ghat of Varanasi -- the set of steps down to the water that is furthest up river. At dusk, we boarded a wooden river boat with a very loud engine for a trip down river. Our goal was to see the grand thanksgiving ceremony at the main temple along the riverbank. In this service, young priests in training from the main Ashram burn incense and candles in time with a chanted mantra thanking Mother Ganga (the holy river Ganges) for another day of life.

However, the Prime Minister of Bhutan happened to be making a state visit, and he, too, wanted to see the thanksgiving service. Police patrol boats prevented us from getting near. We did, however, see the lights and hear the loud music from some distance, and we were able to see a smaller, more local version of the same service up river at a different temple/ashram, but with recorded instead of live mantras.

            In addition, we took part in our own little Hindu river ceremony, with the direction of our guides. The boatman had purchased little boats made of leaves that contained marigold flowers and a small votive candle. There was a little mantra played from a cell phone, followed by a time of silence during which we were to extend the blessing of the river to those back home who were not able to make this pilgrimage with us. We then set the lights on the water and watched them float away.

            The boat also stopped for quite a while just off shore from the holiest cremation site in all of India. There were at least 20 pyres burning here, some just started, and others near the end of the 2.5 hour cycle. 

We watched a couple new bodies brought down for their final dip in the holy river prior to cremation, and watched a young man in mourning garments toss the large bones of a close relative into the water (the femurs and pelvis do not burn, and so are picked up from the ashes and thrown into the river at the end of the cremation). I had expected quite an odor here, but amazingly, it only smelled of wood fire.

            The boat returned to its ghat and we rode the bus back to the hotel. Interestingly, there was a rather high class Hindu wedding reception taking place at the hotel, complete with brass and percussion band, fireworks, and the groom riding in on a white horse. We took a bottle of beer and a couple glasses down to the mezzanine so that we could sit near the railing and watch the women walking through the lobby in their elegant sarees (except for the groom, the men just wear Western-style suits). We did manage to catch a glimpse of the bride and groom. So we got funerals and weddings all on one evening.