Orchha and Kajuraho

We hopped a train from New Delhi to Orchha, about 4 hours away. Orchha is a very small village and this was a drastic and welcome change to the overwhelming ciaos of Delhi. Don't worry, cows wander and rule the dirt streets here too. The town has some beautiful structures that we spent the day visiting- Orchha Palace (it seems the king was quite a fan of the DP (dance parties) as his court yard was set up to be a dance floor and there were tons of engravings of dancing all over the walls, my kind of guy) and the Lakshmi Temple which is also quite beautiful. We went to a local temple that night to watch Hindi prayers and offer flowers of sacrifice to the Hindi Gods. I find the temples in India so full of life, every person was singing the prayers with such joy while they are dressed in their brightly colored garmets. Just beautiful.

The next day we drove to Khajuraho to see the famous temples. They have the largest group of medieval Hindi and Jain Temples that are famous for their erotic sculpture. There are several spiral-like temples that are completely covered with external complex carvings. We had a great tour guide that spoke very good English and he told us all about the carvings and what the different things symbolized (ex. a scorpion symbolizes desire). Some of the carvings showed everyday life of the common people in India at that time- musicians, potters, or farmers. Additionally, many of the carvings showed kama sutra positions and the typical idealized goddess of that day. Honestly, it was very interesting to learn about what all the different carvings meant- now get your head out of the gutter...