We explore the history,
legends and travel information of the Khajuraho Temples in Madhya Pradesh,
India, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Khajuraho lies about 385
miles southeast of Delhi, India’s capital city. Today, it is a quaint little
town that gets submerged by the daily planeload of tourists, but a thousand
years ago, it was once the religious capital of the Chandella Rajputs, a tribal
dynasty who ruled this part of India from the tenth to the twelfth centuries.
Brief History
At that time there were
over 80 temples here, and the whole area was enclosed by a wall with eight
gates, each flanked by two golden palm trees. Khajuraho literally means “the
road of the date palms.” The name is probably derived from the large number of
these trees found here. Only 22 temples remain now, in various states of
repair, scattered over an area of about 21 square kilometers. Forgotten and
unvisited until the mid-1960s, the place is now, after the Taj Mahal, India's
biggest single tourist attraction, known for what is probably the world’s
greatest display of erotic sculpture.
Oddly enough, most
visitors don’t seem to realize that the erotic scenes are only one of a number
of subjects treated in the carvings. In fact, there are more elephants than lovers
on the temple walls, and almost as many deities. Images of couples locked in
sexual embrace are found in other temples as well, such as the Konark Sun Temple.
These couples were known as maithunas.
Why Erotic Sculptures?
Many explanations have
been given for such figures. One book coyly suggests that the goddess of
lightning was an innocent virgin, and the carvings acted as a sort of lightning
repellent that worked by scaring her away with their explicitness. Another
authority states that the languid ladies and copulating couples were a test of
the monks’ celibacy. The most absurd explanation was one put forward by an
all-too-serious European scholar. He claimed that the temples were built at a
time when the population was in a serious decline, and the carvings were a sort
of celestial sex education to show the people what they should do about their
waning numbers! India seems to have rectified that situation now, with its 1.2
billion people!
Sculptures
at Khajuraho
Intellectual explanations
such as these miss the point. Yogi and mystic Sadhguru says, “Indian culture does
not think in terms of right and wrong, it just looks at life the way it is. It
looks at life in its eye – we are neither celebrating it nor are we making it
dirty. We are neither making it a virtue nor are we making it a sin. We are
just making a statement.
The temple is an
instrument to a higher possibility – it is a tool to bring out the ultimate in
you. These images are always in the outer periphery of the temple because the
idea is, you spend a certain amount of time with all these images, see that
this is the reality of your life, see the limitation of it, and see if you can
go one step higher. When you step into the sanctum, you are free of these
things. You symbolically leave all these things at the outer periphery of the
temple.”
We know that Khajuraho
was a center for Tantra, the ancient
and esoteric religion that worships the goddess Shakti. The great tantric guru
Gorakhnath is said to have lived and taught here, and the 14th century traveler
Ibn Battuta writes of coming across tantric initiates:
“In the centre of that
pond there are three cupolas of red sandstone each of three stories; and at the
four corners of the pond are cupolas in which live a body of yogis who have
clotted their hair and let it grow so that it becomes as long as their bodies;
and on account of their practicing asceticism their color had become extremely
yellow. Many Muslims follow them in order to take lessons from them.”
The yogis have left
Khajuraho today and moved to other places, but their temples remain as one of
the architectural wonders of the world, created with a loving virtuosity that
may never again be seen on earth.
The Chandellas themselves
are closely connected with the moon and the feminine. The legend goes that the
Moon God became enamored with a young woman named Hemavati when he saw bathing
in a river. Descending to the earth, he engaged in a passionate encounter with
her, and promised that she would bear a son who would erect a great temple to
celebrate their divine love. Thus the mighty founder of the Chandela Rajput
dynasty was born.
Temple Structure
Although each temple at
Khajuraho is dedicated to a different deity, such as Vishnu or Lord Shiva, each
of these deities expresses its own particular nature through the creative
energy of shakti. This expression takes the form of the deity's consort.
Generally speaking, the deity is male and passive, while the consort, as the
embodiment of shakti, is female and active. Thus Vishnu's creative nature is
expressed through his consort Lakshmi, Shiva's through Parvati or Kali, and so
on.
Vishnu also manifests
through his ten incarnations. Each mythological figure represents one facet of
the divine shakti. Often the only way of identifying the deity to which a
temple is dedicated is by looking at the cult image in the sanctum.
Architecturally, the
temples here are very similar, all conforming to a pattern that is the
classical model of the medieval temple in northern India, in what is known as
the nagara or Indo-Aryan style. The lofty yet compact buildings are raised on an
elevated plinth that forms an ambulatory terrace around the temple. They are
all aligned on an east-west axis and so designed to admit the early morning
light into the sanctuary. The basic interior design is also uniform and its
essential elements are present in all the temples. These consist of the ardha
mandapa (entrance porch), the mandapa (hall), the antarcila (vestibule), and
the garbha griha (sanctum).
Though the smaller
temples have just this, the larger ones have additional transepts, terminating
in balconied windows. These transepts were sometimes added as later
enlargements of an existing temple. They extend the basic hall into a “great
hall” or mahamandapa. Larger temples also have an ambulatory passage around the
main shrine, which necessitates another transept with windows for ventilation
and light. A further embellishment in the later temples is the addition of a
subsidiary shrine at each corner of the platform. This creates what is called
the “five-shrine complex” or pancharatha, of which a good example is the
Lakshmana Temple. The four subsidiary shrines were built to house different
forms (or consorts) of the principal deity and to govern the four directions
and the four elements – earth, water, fire, and air.
The temples of Khajuraho
can be conveniently divided into three groups: the western, eastern, and
southern. The most important is the western group which consists of the Varaha
Temple for Vishnu’s Varaha or boar avatar, the Lakshmana Temple, one of the
oldest and best preserved temples, the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, the Jagadambi
Temple, the Chitragupta Temple, the Vishvanatha Temple, the Nandin Pavilion,
and the Matangeshvara Temple.
Vishnu
as the Varaha
Ancient historical
records tell us that the whole area now covered by the western group was
originally a sacred lake, with the temples rising like the islands of the
blessed above its waters. The lake has gone now, and the complex is green and
lush, its buildings set in well-cared-for gardens, dotted here and there with
brilliant bougainvillea. But the temples still stand on high plinths, restored
versions of their original bases, and in the early morning it is not hard to
imagine the time they were surrounded by water. As the sun rises, they loom out
of the mist like fantastic galleons – unearthly godships – laden with divine
beings, their hulls encrusted with a vibrant honey-colored coral of strange
deities and fabulous beasts.
The Carvings
Cult Images: These occupy the sanctum
and are carved in the round, according to iconographical conventions.
Deities: These are to be found in
the niches around the temple walls, and include the dikpalas or “Guardians of
the Eight Directions” (i.e. the four quarters and their midpoints), which are
set at the appropriate corners of the building. These dikpalas are often shown
with animal heads, spectacular headdresses, and carrying their attributes,
usually in two hands. They may be accompanied by their vehicles – for example,
Shiva holds a trident and a drum and is accompanied by his bull, Nandin.
Heavenly Nymphs: These delightful
creatures are among the most numerous of the figures at Khajuraho and can be
found on outer or inner walls, pillars, and ceilings. They are known as alasa
kanyas, “languid maidens,” or apsarases, “heavenly nymphs.” They are shown in a
variety of postures: dancing, at their toilet, bathing, and so on. They
represent all the varieties of traditionally feminine activity and feeling in a
graceful and elegant manner, and are the celestial attendants at the courts of
the gods.
Elephants
at the Lakshmana Temple
Secular figures: These include couples
standing together (mithuna), couples amorously entwined (maithuna), as well as
scenes of dancers, military life, teachers and disciples, musicians, and so on.
The secular figures are found widely distributed.
Vyalas: These are fabulous beasts
of heraldic and symbolic importance. One of the most common is a leogryph
(shardula), bearing an armed warrior and often shown in combat.
Abstract and Geometrical Motifs: These
are found all over the site. Often overlooked, they provide a fine contrast to
the wealth of naturalistic sculpture. Subsidiary figures are often enclosed in
an ornate niche called a mundi.
Vajroli Scene
The sculpture and
architecture at these temples are not merely decorative or for entertainment.
There are subtler elements to them. One particular sculptural piece – the
Vajroli scene – illustrates this point. At first glance, this extraordinary
maithuna sculpture looks like a remarkable piece of sexual gymnastics. The
woman, supported by her attendants, straddles her partner who is standing on
his head. Despite the incredulous nature of his posture, he seems thoroughly
unperturbed by the whole event, and is so at ease that he is casually fondling
the yonis of his lover’s attendants at the same time!
A closer look however,
shows that the panel is intricately composed. Despite the fact that it is
damaged and the attendants’ legs are missing, there is balance and feeling
here. The way the woman carefully arches her back, and the way she is just
lightly resting her arms on her attendants’ shoulders while lowering her full
weight onto her partner’s upturned body is conveyed with extraordinary skill.
But there is another
level of meaning to this. Tantra teaches that within the human body there is a
finer, subtle body, made of an extremely refined type of substance,
imperceptible to the gross senses. This body is the seat of the life energy to
the gross body. Life energy (prana) is conducted along thousands of very subtle
channels (nadis). There are three principal nadis: ida, pingala and
sushumna, of which the most important is the sushumna – the central
one. In the vajroli technique, the male partner controls the movement of his
semen, and instead of ejaculating as in normal orgasm, he draws the subtle
energy, that would normally manifest as semen, up through his subtle body,
along the sushumna nadi, which runs along the inside of the spinal column. When
this energy reaches the top of the head, it connects with the highest subtle
energy center (chakras), the
sahasrar or “thousand-petaled lotus.” All thought, desire, and individuality
are transcended; there is only the bliss of inner union.
In order to convey this
abstract teaching, the sculptors of Khajuraho put it into pictorial form. The
three female figures represent the three nadis; the attendants are the ida and
pingala, while the lady in the middle is the sushumna. In order to show that in
vajroli the normal downward direction of the life energy leaving the body
during orgasm is reversed, the male figure has been inverted. The vajroli scene
is an extraordinary example of the esoteric and artistic sophistication of
ancient Indian culture.
Travel Information
Khajuraho’s airport is 3
kilometers from the town center. Daily flights are available from Delhi and
Mumbai. A taxi from the airport to town would cost Rs. 100 and an auto-rickshaw
Rs. 50. Check out the MP Tourism website for
more tourist details. A new tourist facilitation center will be coming up soon
to the north of the Western group of temples. Khajuraho is a tourist
destination and almost anything – even getting a ride from a “friendly” local
could mean he is receiving a commission for it. At the temples, if you aren’t
interested, don’t give in to pressure to leave some money for the deity. It
only ends up in someone’s pocket.
Things to Do
The Khajuraho Dance
Festival in February/March is an exciting opportunity to experience India’s
wonderful music and dance, with the temples forming a backdrop to the
performances.
Courtesy-www.allaboutbharat.org
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें