Monday, March 3, 2008

Khajuraho








When I got a chance to work with an UK crew on a television serial, I agreed instantly. Apart from the fact that I would be working with the best technicians from India and UK, one more thing which made me say yes to this project was - it was gonna be majorly shot in Khajuraho, a village in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, located in Chhatarpur District, about 385 miles (620 kilometres) southeast of Delhi, the capital city of India.
I had never been to Khajuraho before but heard so much about the place especially the temples and the erotic sculptors on the temples.
It is almost a month now that I am in Khajuraho and i am loving every moment. Work is hectic but challenging. But Khajuraho is a fascinating place. One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous for their erotic sculpture.
They say there were originally over 80 Hindu temples, of which only 22 now stand in a reasonable state of preservation, scattered over an area of about 8 square miles.
The temples are a fine example of Indian architectural styles that have gained popularity all over India and abroad. They were rediscovered during the late 19th century and the jungles had taken a toll on some of the monuments. When I visited the temples, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the erotic sculptors one kept on hearing about was a misnomer. Yes, the temples do have some erotic carvings on the outer walls.
Local Old folks say for seeing the deity, one must leave his or her sexual desires outside the temple. Hence, these carvings but they constitute only 10% of the sexual themes. But there is more to Khajuraho if you honestly ask me.

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