Khajuraho and Why no blog yesterday

January 21, 2010

More on the Taj Mahal

Shah Jehan, the fifth Mughal (Moslem) king, was called back from the battlefield to be with his dying wife. After she died, he built the Taj Mahal in her memory and buried her there as you know. The Taj is built on a high platform 22 feet off the ground and you reach the platform by marble, now wood covered, steps in the front. The platform covers an area of 1,000 plus square feet, with four minarets at each corner of the platform. The minarets are constructed in such a manner that if one were to fall, it would not fall toward the Taj. The main structure is square, with each side measuring 185 feet. There is a bulbous central dome surrounded by four smaller domes, the central dome being topped by a brass finial rising over 220 feet above the ground. The structure is designed to be a replica of God’s throne in paradise. The outer walls are decorated with carvings in the translucent marble, and both inside and outside are inlaid paintings and precious stones. In the central hall are the false tombs, supposedly much more beautiful than the originals that lie beneath the false tombs, within the Taj, a large sandstone mosque to the west (toward Mecca), a large Hindu temple to east (toward the sunrise), and another large red sandstone structure being the gate of entry to the Taj. When Shanker was young, he used to take a rickshaw out there with his friends and play soccer, long before the tourists and the Taj having been taken over and the gardens restored to their present beautiful condition by the Indian government.
Even in the mist, it is spectacular and a wonderful love story. May you all find such a love in your life. In fact, if your love is with you when you are close to death, make him/her promise that he/she will build a monument to your love that will surpass the Taj - we could use one in the US.

Agra to Khajuraho - this trip isn’t for sissies

Trip as planned - wake-up call at 6, bags out by 6:15, breakfast at 6:30, depart hotel at 7:30, depart on train to Jhsansi at 8:30, arrive at Jhansi at 11 and transfer to new bus for trip first to Orchha, a “gorgeous medieval city” with the beauty of the Taj Jehangir Mahal and the Raj Mahal. Then continue on by bus to Khajuraho, check into hotel and “enjoy the balance of the day to explore at your leisure.”
This is the longest cold spell in recent Indian history, and as a result, this is our trip as experienced. Same up to 7:30 when we board bus but learn that the train is not running due to the heavy “mist” and that we will be taking a bus to Jhansi, changing buses there and then on to Khajuraho, a 14 hour trip, but first we will have to return to our rooms so that they can get a bus with the correct licensing to go on this route. So back to the room until 10:30, and then on the bus and off we go in the fog. This route is not often taken by tourists, and used to be a route controlled by robbers, but “not now.” Actually, it was pretty once the fog burned off to a cloudless sky, miles and miles of farmland, but the road was sketchy, with many “Diversions” and a lot of construction. It was two lanes and occupied by the usual, bikes, motorcycles (all small), mopeds, cars, trucks, buses, dogs, pigs, and then passing through the usual towns with their bottlenecks. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful palace that is now a hotel, and had a birthday cake for Ginny. Then back on the bus for a beautiful sunset over the farmlands and a 3-hour trip to cover only 60 miles, arriving at Jhansi at 7 PM.
Going through the countryside, you really see the importance of cow dung - patties of cow dung are everywhere, stacked in different geometric configurations on the ground, containing hundreds of patties, and even covering the roofs of some of the leantos and shacks in the farmyards along the way. They use them as fuel, fuel to heat their houses, to cook their food, to make bricks with in kilns - so you can understand why the cow is sacred and it’s not just because of the milk.
Larry bought us snacks at Jhansi as the bags had to be transferred to another bus because the bus we were in was not licensed to continue further. And Shanker went out and bought us more snacks and a fifth of rum and whiskey and some pop. He’s a smart man, that Shanker, as we polished off both and fell asleep for the anticipated 5-6 hour ride to Khajuraho. The road was horrendous but the driver did a good job in the dark of the night, with the quarter moon off our right side and stars showing in the heavens. As we left Jhansi, we encountered all sorts of vehicles without any lights whatsoever. Maybe they’re ready for their next reincarnation and are trying to rush things. I was able to drift off, no doubt with the aid of the whiskey, and woke up at 12:00 as we entered Khajuraho, and in a few minutes we were checking into our hotel and going to bed. So, most of us having gotten up at 5, it was a long day but well-handled by all. This equanimity is spreading, although strained when there are 4 hours or more between pee breaks.

Federalism

One handicap of the Indian system is their system of federalism where each state has its own taxes and own regulations and fees for buses and presumably trucks traveling between states. So it is plain to see the wisdom our commerce clause in the US Constitution which leaves to the central government the handling of interstate commerce. India’s federal system is why we had to change buses twice and even drivers, and it requires that we stop at the border of each state so that they can check the papers of the bus and the driver, and he can pay the tax for entry. I’m sure there are parts of their government that work better than ours, but this is not one of them.

And a belated happy birthday to Peggy Forster - we would have wished you a happy birthday yesterday if we had gotten in as planned.

So now we’re off to see the erotic sculptures in Khajuraho. More later. Love, Nat, Dad, Matt, DB, et al.

Khajuraho

We had a nice visit to the temples of Khajuraho. The weather is perfect, temp in the low 70’s, no clouds and a slight breeze. For the tour of the temples, we were joined by Anu, a local guide with a master’s degree in Asian languages. He told us that the temples were built 1100 years ago and the site was chosen for several reasons: first, because it is surrounded by a mountain range that would be easier to defend; second, because the foundation of the area is uncracked granite, thus not susceptible to earthquakes. 85 temples were built but only 22 remain. Those carvings on the walls that have been beheaded were defaced by the Moslems as there can be no human images. When this was done, the Hindus left because they can’t worship damaged images. It became a lost city until the British arrived in 1838 and rediscovered it in the deep jungle. Now the 22 remaining temples are being restored and the site is a large site with groomed lawns, bougainvillea, and a BODHI TREE. So of course I took the opportunity to go sit beneath it, facing east, in the asana pose, and had Bay memorialize my hoped for enlightenment with photos. Unfortunately, all I attracted were flies and hawkers yelling at me.
Anu took us to one temple and explained the carving from top to bottom (actually the other way around). The erotic images begin at the lowest level with lust and sexual activities (group sex, homosexuality, lesbianism, and bestiality). Sex is a force which transforms itself according to the Hindus and so the next level of carvings on the temple consists of more typical sex but with numerous poses, and for those who lose the lust, they ascend to the third level of enlightenment. This is a very short (and probably inaccurate) description of tantrism, a means to have sex but in a loving way from which the power of love is transformed into a higher level of love and adoration. And yes, I have plenty of pictures.
After two hours we went by bus to the eastern temples and again Anu explained the carvings to us, one with a girl taking a thorn out of her foot, but because her boobs are so large, she must look through her cleavage and hold her foot in alignment with her cleavage. Another was of a tall dancing girl getting dressed for her performance and getting ankle bells, while another figure was of a girl putting on eyeliner. All the girls have huge breasts, like bowling balls, and they are supposed to represent the ideal.
After all this about the erotic figures, only 5% of the figures of erotic but that is why Khajuraho is one of the most visited sites in India. As Anu said, “Sex sells.”

New quiz

According to Anu, there are six languages where the people write from right to left. All the others write left to right. Why the difference?

Plans

Due to the issues caused by the “mist” in Delhi, we may not be able to get our flight to Veranasi tomorrow, If so, we face another 12 plus hour ride in the bus. We won’t know until 10;30 or so in the morning. Right now, at 5:25 PM, I’m in the room having skipped a visit to a local village. I’m really sorry I missed this but I have come down with a bad cold in the past 24 hours. I hope that I don’t give it to Bay and that I feel better tomorrow.

Love (the higher form) to you all, Nat, Dad, Matt, DB