Just one of the highlights of our tours to North India is a visit to the magnificent – and mysterious – Khajuraho.
A capital of the Chandela rulers – a dynasty of Rajput warriors that came to power at the beginning of the 10th century – Khajuraho is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Of the 85 temples that were constructed during the Chandela period, only 22 have survived the ravages of time. Spread over an area of about 6 sq kms, they fall into three distinct groups and belong to two different religions – Hinduism and Jainism.
Known for their highly original Indian temple architecture, these monuments – ‘stairways to heaven’- feature soaring vertical sweeps, with a series of shikharas (spires) that grow successively higher.
However, they are most famous for their profusion of extraordinary sculptures depicting many aspects of secular and spiritual Indian life a thousand years ago, including gods and goddesses, warriors and musicians, and real and mythological animals. The erotic carvings, reserved for specific parts of the temples, in accordance with ancient treaties on architecture, have been interpreted in a number of ways over the years. One theory is that the temple is a representation of the life of an ordinary man; the erotic sculptures, concentrated on the lower levels, change as they go higher, from sexual to spiritual, thus symbolizing man’s journey towards the divine.
Khajuraho features prominently in our North India tour packages.Our Best of North India group tour explores the architectural and artistic wonders of this amazing site.
