My solo venture to Khajuraho - For the love of architechture

The idea of sitting idle in room scared me; the idea of travelling solo scared me too; But the scariest part was my poor Hindi. But deep in heart, I knew I would regret later wasting my time in room if I hadn't taken this trip.

I decided to proceed with the trip all by myself. Here's me signing in to write about my solo venture to Khajuraho-For the love of architechture.

I boarded the bus to Khajuraho at around 8:30 pm in ISBT, Bhopal. The bus ride was bumpy- jumpy ride where I was actually flying in my seat. I could hardly sleep.

At around 6 am in the morning, everyone in the bus was getting down. I got down from my seat to check the name of the place. Board sign showed 'Chchatarpur'. Thanks to my attentiveness in hindi classes. Yes. All the sign-boards were written in Hindi for heaven sake.

I wondered how on earth not even a single soul was heading to Khajuraho. I verified with the driver whether the same bus would take me to Khajuraho. He confirmed that the same bus would take me. One hour passed by. No one got into the bus. Bus didn’t seem to start.

Slowly few people started getting into bus. When it was 15 past 7 o clock, bus left chchatarpur bus stand. I wondered how a sleeper bus turned to be a town bus from Chchatarpur(Sigh!!). Bus reached Khajuraho at 8:30 am. I took an auto directly to western group of temples.

Very first shot in Western Group of temples

The story of antiquity is required to understand why so many temples were built in the small town named Khajuraho. Centuries ago, Chandel kings who ruled the Chandel dynasty had a custom of building temples to commemorate their triumphs in war.

Each chandel king who returned after their success in war would build a temple to celebrate his success. Like that, around 85 temples were built by various Kings of Chandel dynasty. Out of those 85 temples, only 20 temples remained unchanged enduring the the test of time and that of invaders(Ghazni, Aurangazeb, etc.,).

Those temples were divided into three groups as
       i) Western Group of temples
      ii) Eastern Group of temples
     iii) Jain Temples

In 1982, these group of temples were declared as "UNESCO World Heritage site"

Western Group of temples

Western Group of temples

Wonderfully preserved temple complexes had taken me back to the bygone era. I didn’t hire any guide, as I personally felt that would be a disturbance while admiring the arts. The carvings engraved on those monuments appeared to me as if they had got life. Even the emotions were intricately chiselled on those sculptures. I wondered at the patience of the artificers of those era.

I wondered how difficult would it have been to carve those intricate sculptures on the whole. Later I got to know that those sculptures were all carved block by block and assembled in Khajuraho by interlocking system of stones. I stood there marvelling at the cementless temples of the epoch.

Intricate Architechture

One of my long time wish is to try my hands on a pencil sketch of a monument. (I would rather say I made it to this place alone just for the sake of doing pencil sketch).

I was searching for a shade to start my pencil sketch. A tall tree inside the temple complex came to my rescue. However I knew that the tree could only half protect me from the harmful sun rays.

Scorching Sun

Sun was two hours higher now. Neither the scorching sun, nor the fluttering winds could stop me from finishing the pencil sketch. I felt inside “This is so Me”. Sometimes living your life on your terms not bothering about what others might think is all happiness right?

The Pencil Sketch by me vs the monument itself :)

After having brunch in the nearby hotel, I headed to Jain temples. I heard from locals that tourists were not allowed to visit the eastern group of temples(I don't know how far it is true). As I was dead tired myself by the blistering sun, I called it a day after visiting the Jain temples.

Jain Temples

As I had to catch my bus at 6 pm, I couldn't watch the light and sound show of Khajuraho being played at western group of temples, having Amitabh Bhachan on vocal, taking you back on the journey to the erstwhile years. I would visit again just to watch the show. 

Khajuraho was indeed a celebration of craftsmanship of centuries.

Month of Trip       - June'16
No of day of trip   - 1 Day
Overall Trip Cost - INR 1500