185) THURSDAY, 29 DECEMBER 1977 : 187KMS. - GULGANJ
In the morning, we started
to visit the temple group in the west of KHAJURAHO. They were constructed likely of carved sandstone or granite, yellow, green and pink mixed
together on the outer surface. They had been cleaned and we could see the
carved works very clearly.
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The group of 4-5
temples was built in the reign of King Chandellas (between AD 950-1050), The
sculptures around the temples depict most of the gods and goddesses of various important
forms of Shiva and Vishnu. The
carved art works are also as human being in different gestures and animals as well as musicians,
etc..
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There are myths and questions about the causes of building KHAJURAHO temples. What
was the motivation to create such a beautiful monuments of rock sculptures. Even the interior, it was as beautiful as what
one can see of the outside.
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The main thing that makes KHAJURAHO the world famous is stone carving depicting
erotic scenes of lovemaking, which are clearly
shown. They are mixed with normal human
figures and animals on every panel. KHAJURAHO is believed to comprise of 85 temples
but had ceased to decay over time. They
remain only 22 temples as of the present
time (1977).
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After our visit to major temples of KHAJURAHO , we continued via CHATARPUR to GULGANJ.
We chose very nice proper spot for parking overnight on the roadside.
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WIKIPEDIA: The Khajuraho temples contain some sexual or erotic art outside the
temple or near the deities. Also, some of the temples that have two layers of
walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. There are
many interpretations of the erotic carvings. It has been suggested that these
suggest tantric sexual practices. Meanwhile, the external curvature and
carvings of the temples depict humans, human bodies, and the changes that occur
in bodies, as well as facts of life. Some 10% of the carvings contain sexual
themes; those reportedly do not show deities but rather sexual activities
between people. The rest depict the everyday life of the common Indian when the
carvings were made and activities of other beings. For example, those
depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians, potters, farmers, and other
folk. The mundane scenes are all at some distance from the temple deities. A
common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho
are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities.
