It had long been on one's mind to witness the "Khajuraho Dance Festival" . This year, late in Jan, browsing through the internet, one chanced upon an advert which said that the said festival was to happen this year in February last week.
The mind was abuzz.. the tickling in the feet...one resorted to the state tourism website.
The hubby wanted to club the Panna National Reserve trip.. hence we zeroed in on Hotel Jhankar which seemed mid way the temples and the national park.
So, on Feb 24, we eagerly boarded the Sampark Kranti from Hz Nizamuddin to Khajuraho. This train has a few bogies journeying to Khajuraho and others to another destination. We were joined by SK and family.
Anticipating heavy Delhi traffic ahead of a weekend, we were well on time at the station.. journey was comfortable..had a bunch of crazy 60-something girlies for company !
The hotel had sent pick up cab.. Khajuraho is a small town...pretty newly built railway station and airport. The road to the Hotel was lined with huge trees, road was clean..pretty impressive for a first time traveler.
Khajuraho has three major groups of temples. Most of these were built by the Chandela rulers during the 8th- 10th centuries. The most famous being the Western group, which was only about 5 mins drive from our hotel. After freshening up, the receptionist , Ms Kirti Sen, arranged for a guide for the day (@ ₹1500) and a cab. About couple of hours at the Western group...we traveled back in time.. to the land of "khajur" or date trees and architectural awesomeness! Starting with the Lakshamana temple, one was awestruck at the Kandariya Mahadev temple. It seemed indeed like the high rising Himalayas! Such perfect example of engineering and immaculate architecture. Onward covering the Jagadambi Temple, Vishnu temple guarded by the Nandi shrine...one wowed at the cleanliness and well maintained lawns . One was most captivated by the Parvati temple, which had three minarets, each representing the Christian, Muslim and Hindu architecture...there was so much of unity even all those centuries ago!
Having taken a lunch break, we proceeded to the southern and eastern group of temples.
The southern group consists of the the Chaturbhuj and the Dhuladeo temples. The Chaturbhuj temple houses a huge idol of Lord Vishnu. In the backdrop are the only active diamond mines of India.
The Dhuladeo temple opens its sanctum only on the Mahashivratri - which was just the preceding day...we had missed only by a few hours!
Finally, we visited the Jain temples, which are unique in the way that they house two sanctum sanctorums , one facing the East and the other facing West.
Quite exhausted by our rapid fire trip , yet content to have visited all places we returned to the resort to rest for a while.
Evening arrived , with renewed vigour and keenness we once again journeyed to the Western Temple complex, where we would now witness the famed Dance festival. prior to that we attended the evening Arati at the only active temple in Khajuraho group of temples - the Matangeshwara Temple.
Later we were awestruck by the Odissi and Kathak dance recitals. As the third dance form of Manipuri was starting , we made our way out for some trivial shopping from the adjoining fair.
We dined at one of the nearby Raja Cafe, which seemed to be a favourite of the performers and their entourage.
Thus ended Day 1 of our Khajuraho sojourn.
The mind was abuzz.. the tickling in the feet...one resorted to the state tourism website.
The hubby wanted to club the Panna National Reserve trip.. hence we zeroed in on Hotel Jhankar which seemed mid way the temples and the national park.
So, on Feb 24, we eagerly boarded the Sampark Kranti from Hz Nizamuddin to Khajuraho. This train has a few bogies journeying to Khajuraho and others to another destination. We were joined by SK and family.
Anticipating heavy Delhi traffic ahead of a weekend, we were well on time at the station.. journey was comfortable..had a bunch of crazy 60-something girlies for company !
 |
| Mountain like architecture |
Khajuraho has three major groups of temples. Most of these were built by the Chandela rulers during the 8th- 10th centuries. The most famous being the Western group, which was only about 5 mins drive from our hotel. After freshening up, the receptionist , Ms Kirti Sen, arranged for a guide for the day (@ ₹1500) and a cab. About couple of hours at the Western group...we traveled back in time.. to the land of "khajur" or date trees and architectural awesomeness! Starting with the Lakshamana temple, one was awestruck at the Kandariya Mahadev temple. It seemed indeed like the high rising Himalayas! Such perfect example of engineering and immaculate architecture. Onward covering the Jagadambi Temple, Vishnu temple guarded by the Nandi shrine...one wowed at the cleanliness and well maintained lawns . One was most captivated by the Parvati temple, which had three minarets, each representing the Christian, Muslim and Hindu architecture...there was so much of unity even all those centuries ago!
 |
| Unity in diversity |
 |
| Diamond mines in the background |
The southern group consists of the the Chaturbhuj and the Dhuladeo temples. The Chaturbhuj temple houses a huge idol of Lord Vishnu. In the backdrop are the only active diamond mines of India.
The Dhuladeo temple opens its sanctum only on the Mahashivratri - which was just the preceding day...we had missed only by a few hours!
Finally, we visited the Jain temples, which are unique in the way that they house two sanctum sanctorums , one facing the East and the other facing West.
Quite exhausted by our rapid fire trip , yet content to have visited all places we returned to the resort to rest for a while.
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| Matangeswara Temple - evening Arati |
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| Kathak |
We dined at one of the nearby Raja Cafe, which seemed to be a favourite of the performers and their entourage.
Thus ended Day 1 of our Khajuraho sojourn.
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