Trippin the Bundelkhand January'12

Delhi- Gwalior- Jhansi- Orchha- Jhansi- Khajuraho- Delhi_ Jan'12

It might sound crazy to some, but very few know that one of the reasons behind me shifting from Mumbai to Delhi was its proximity and amazing connectivity with North India's tourist circuits. Luckily i also got a flexible workplace, coz of which i dont have to restrict myself to touring only once or twice a year!
It was one of those extended weekends with 4 holidays in a row in the end of January and the nomadic part of me was surely not gonna allow me to waste this opportunity. Spent a few days listing the places around Delhi which could be covered in 4 days and (considering it was the month end) would fit into what i could call a 'budget trip'! The total budget for the trip was decided 6 thousand for two people..Oh boy this was gonna be really tough!
So yeah i was upto finalizing my trippin locations. The whole punjab and himachal was goin mad freezing at that time, and since i had just recently been back from a trip to Rajasthan, (and yeah like every other Delhiite i had grown allergic to visiting Tajmahal in every vacation) the only option that stood out loud was the fantastically amazing -Bundelkhand!
As soon as the area was finalized i was busy with India's map getting out a perfect circle from it ex- Delhi. At the start i had only two places in mind one the starting point of Bundelkhand- the mighty city of Gwalior and second- what can be called an endpoint of Bundelkhand- the celebration of love- Khajuraho. I took a pencil and straight away joined them and voila i had Jhansi and Orchha coming in my way! a sheer jackpot :D Orchha was since very long beckoning the architect inside me and i was glad and sure that i was gonna have an awesum time walking through this medieval city!...
Soon the railway tickets were booked. Delhi-Gwalior by evening Malwa express from New Delhi and return Khajuraho-Delhi UP sampark kranti express till Nizamuddin. Both the tickets were in waiting since we had booked only about a week in advance, but the Gwalior ticket was quick to get confirmed and since there were 4 extra days for the return journey, we were sure of the other ticket getting cleared in the meanwhile!

Day1: So here we started. Sat in our confirmed and comfortable sleeper class seats. The train left on time at 7:30 in the evening and Gwalior was expected around 2 in the night. We filled our tummies on the way at Agra cantt. station and decided to take nap for a while ofcourse only after putting alarm clocks in our cellphones.
It was around 1:30-2ish in the night that we reached the Gwalior station. We were a little sceptical about catching a train which reaches our destination at such an odd time obviously for the security reasons but we were surprized to see the station area so hustling bustling at 2 in the midnight. Instantly we knew we were in a safe place. Extremely tired and sleepy that we were, we decided to settle in a hotel near the station, and so did we in Hotel Chandralok on racecourse road for a sum of 600 bucks for decent rooms, tv, hotwater and 24 hr checkout..After checking in, we felt a bit hungry and thought of taking a stoll in the station area for food. After the yummy dhabe ka sasta khana just outside the station, we passed out in the hotel room.

Day2: Today was 26th of January- India's Republic day. Plan for today was for the Gwalior darshan and catching a night train to Jhansi which is just about an hour's distance.
Very surprizingly me and my friend we both managed to get up at 9 considering the disturbed sleeping schedule we had had the earlier night. Got ready and took an autorickshaw who promised to take us around the city and the 4-5 places of interest for 300 bucks and finally drop us to the Gwalior fort. Sounded cool. We hopped into the rickshaw to explore the mighty city of Marathas that has had such a turbulent past, continuously passing from one ruler to the other in its bloodshaded history from moghuls to marathas.
The first place where the auto took us was the newly built Sun temple or the Vivaswan temple as is written on its main gate. The temple on the outskirts of the city is the copy of the Sun temple at Konark in Orissa (minus the erotic sculptures) built by some family members of the Scindias. They also didnt seem to have forgotten to erect their own statues in front of the temple. Well anyway, the temple clearly looked built in modern times due to its finish and the materials used. This temple (which was less of a temple and more of a showpiece) definitely didnt have anything to attract compared to the other ancient and beautiful temples that this rich region has. It looked like just another landmark created by the Scindias to my critic eyes.

side view of the Sun temple in Gwalior

Next was the turn of the great Rani Laxmibai's samadhi. The chhatri (as is locally called) was situated in a cramped up little green space in the heart of the city just next to the nallh where Rani's horse broke his leg and breathed last along with the great queen who burnt herself before being captured by the british. I felt goosebumps all over my body. I was so thrilled to be paying my respect to this personification of valour and courage on the day of country's republic day. The samadhi kalash is kept here on a platform surrounded by a waterbody in front of queens statue done in metal.

Laxmibai's samadhi kalash

Rani's statue in front of her samadhi

After this was another main landmark of Gwalior- the tomb of Ghaus mohammed-the sufi saint built my emporer Akbar. Completeley done in Iranian architecture in sandstone, it has some marvellous stone latticework of different designs on all four facades of the structure. When we went to the tomb, there was a person with harmonium singing qawwali praising the saint (and ofcourse asking for money) This whole thing created such a magical environment in the complex.

Ghaus Mohammad's tomb

Lattice work on the facades of the tomb

Tansen's tomb

Just behind the saint's tomb is the tomb of Tansen- one of the navratnas in Akbar's darbar. This is a comparitively sidelined structure much simpler than the Ghaus Mohammad's. Just a square shaped canopy enclosing the grave of the singer. Next to the grave is the tamarind tree- which is said to be magical in the sence that if anyone chews and eats its leaves, he will have a voice as magical and soulful as Tansen's! Incredible!

description board at Tansen's tomb

Next came a dissapointment with the JaiVilas palace being shut as it was a national holiday and also as its a private property of the Scindias. A little sad about having to miss the amazing palace, pictures of which i had seen on the internet- we moved towards our last destination thats the Gwalior fort.

Entrance of Gwalior fort complex

Gwalior fort can be rightly described as a city inside the city. Spread over a couple of kilometers, the fort itself is a self contained unit with people living there, a few restaurants, a gurudwara, a few huge temples, a lot of palaces, a school, a polo ground, a doordarshan tower and what not! (and ofcourse a dominos delivery service :P) We entered the fort from the Gujri mahal side. After taking a few snaps we started climbing the huge ramparts of the fort. As we rose higher, the better a view of the city was offered from every nook of the fort. After a steep walk of 15 minutes with gwalior city on one side and the 'raju loves pinki' and 'bunty loves priyas' on the other side, we finally reached the entrance of Manmandir palace. What a view it was! The king Mansingh Tomar's intensions of rebuilding a palace of Versailles in Bundelkhand could very well be seen. The blue minakari done on the palace makes it one of the finest building facades in the country.

climing the fort's ramps

A common site in the fort that one can experience is the papadwalahs running all around selling one papad for one rupee. Having the urge to tase one, we bought two and since then couldnt resist them and at the end of the day ended up having atleast 10 of them.

Local kids on the fort excited to get clicked

View of the city from Fort

Beautiful facade of the Manmandir palace in the Gwalior fort

As one enters the main fort from Hathiapor gate, the first thing in front is the archaeological museum of the Gwalior maintained by ASI. The museum was established in 1984 in a british era hospital. The archaeology museum has 4 galleries and a small parks in which the sculptures recovered from Gwalior, Shivpuri, Morena and Bhind districts are neatly arranged. The timeline of the antiquities displayed here varies from CBC 100 to CAD 1700 i.e from shunga, kushana period to Gurjara Pratihara, Gupta and Bhadoria period.

Hathiapor gate of the Manmandir

Archeology museum in the fort

Just a few diagonal steps away from the museum is the complex of different palaces having a common entry ticket. The best amonst them is the Mansingh palace aka Manmandir. We hired a guide for 100 bucks who agreed to show us the whole palace complex including the karan mahal, jehangir mahal, shahjahan mahal etc. Manmandir palace turned out to be much much bigger than what it looks from outside as it was 4 level deeper than the entrance level, our guide showed us the torchlight and carefully took us inside the scarily pitch dark inner rooms of the palace. How important a thing getting a good guide is and we were surely lucky that day. Our guide exactly knew what he wants to show us. He explained us the ventilation systems used in the fort, how the sunlight enters the dark rooms at particular time of the day, how the oil lamps were used, how the kings and the queens used to communicate with eachother easily even if they were 4 levels apart from eachother through the telephonic pipes installed through the walls of the fort. Later he showed us the hall which was used by the queen for the pastime swinging on the jhoolas, which was later turned by the cruel Aurangazeb into a room to execute the prisoners- the same place where he executed his brother Murad. Imagining myself in a room (so pitchdark with just a small torchlight) where so many lives were taken by Aurangazed sent shivers through my body.
Another interesting place he showed us was the johar kund, where in Rajput tradition the queens commited mass sati after their king had been defeated in the battle.
After a while from the dark rooms to exposed sunlight, we reached the main manmandir, the king's own space. Very very richly carved courtyards flanked by pillars with amazing rajput capitals and supporting brackets of different animals like peacock and dragons. At a few places the brackets of a hybrid animal can be seen who is party lion, partly elephant and partly crocodile, as told by our guide.

Beautiful pillar capitals in one of the courts of Manmandir

Peacock brackets supporting the roof overhang

Finishing with manmandir palace, we headed to the other palaces which are almost in ruins today and which fail to impress you after seeing the majestic manmandir. A stroll in the ruins and i was already tired and sadly the ruins had nothing to soothe my eyes with their architectural style. The Jehangir and shahjahan palaces were the most dull and plain buildings of the mughal era i have ever seen. They almost resembled a stable or parking for elephants with no carvings, no latticework or no adorned pillars. After tipping our guide extra 20 bucks for the authentic and trustworthy that he provided us with, we started marching ahead.

Gujri mehel (palace built by Mansingh tomar for his Gujar queen)  as seen from the backside of shahjahan and jehangir palaces

plain interiors of Shahjahan palace

Exiting from the complex of palaces, it was the turn of the other group of monuments on the fort almost a couple of kilometers away WALKING! First monuments approached on the left side are the Saas-Bahu temples. Built in 11th century these temples dedicated to Vishnu suddenly appear to be too exciting to the eyes after the boring places. Saas temple is the bigger and the other smaller is the bahu temple sitting on a platform. Saas temple looks like done in typical Rajput architecture style with decorative embellishments all around the interior and the exterior of the temple. The temple is so richly carved that not even a single square inch has been left untouched. Ofcourse like most other hindu temples in India, even in this temple one can see the marks of the muslim invasions and assaults with a lot of human figures or their faces chipped off from the parent sculpture.

Bahu temple

The saas temple

Another 10 minutes walk from the Saas bahu temples was the historic gurudwara called 'Data Bandi Chhod'. Built in the memory of Guru Hargobind sahib, the 6th guru of Sikhs who was imprisoned here along with many hindu kings by emperor Jehangir. I rejoiced after having the halwa as prashad after so many days. Remembered the halwa of the golden temple and Chandni Chowk's sisganj gurdwara.

Gurudwara Data bandi chhod

It had been about 2 hours we were continuously walking, and had no guts to walk any further and it had started getting lil darker already. Provoked by the darkness, we quickly recharged ourselves with cold drinks and started walking towrds Teli-Ka-Mandir which was gonna be another 10 minutes walk. On the way we crossed the Suraj Kund, the story of which our guide had already told us. This was where king Surajsen was cured off his ugly skin disease by the saint Gwalipa (thats where Gwalior's name comes from) and for giving back to the community, king built a pond here for the thirsty passbyers and the animals.

Surajkund

Teli ka mandir is an imposing 100 feet high 9th century Vishnu temple with a roof of dravidian style and the embellishments of Aryan style. (Teli ka mandir is covered under the same ticket that is bought while entering manmandir palace so make sure not to throw your ticket until you are done roaming in the fort completely.) Interior of the temple were dark n moist and hence automatically dwelled by infinite bats. With the sort of unique blend of Aryan-dravidian architecture, the temple looks extremely stunning from every angle, especially the carvings done on its side faces. After clicking the temple thoroughly, we were on the way to our last destination on the fort- the jaina statues at Gopachal parwat built by the Tomar kings.

description outside the Teli ka Mandir

very picturesque teli Ka Mandir in Gwalior fort

Jaina statues at the Gopachal

A comfortable 10 minutes walk sloping downwards got us to the Jaina statues of Gopachal which has 25 jaina statues carved in a row and one of them - the highest anywhere in the world- carved out of a single rock! I couldnt resist sitting with one of them and clicking myself. Such a guilty pleasure that was!...

Jaina statues at the Gopachal

....and now! there was a big question! are we climbing the whole fort to go all the way to ManMandir for the much heard about- light and sound show?? espcially when we are so shit tired that we could almost collapse anywhere on the way...? After a lot of yes noes yes noes, we finally decided to give it a shot! and so not comfortably with our lungs almost about to explode, we reached the amphitheatre opposite the ManMandir. The show was aout to start in another 15 minutes. Thought of energising ourselves for the train journey waiting at night, so had some quick tea and garmagaram bhajjiyas and papads (yet again!) on the fort.
and then Amitabh Bachchan's voice started explaining the whole history behind the fort, imagine history being unfolded in a starry night like that, in an open amphitheatre, in an extremely cold night in a voice as roayl as that! Felt i achieved the whole world there, i could almost stay there for the night thinking of glorious days this fort saw, the men who this fort turned into brave kings, the fort that had a brief company of Rani Laxmibai..I wondered that night what the fort must be thinking of its past, would it be happy coz of the son like Mansingh Tomar that it had or would it be weeping coz it couldnt offer the Rani Laxmibai a place to hide against the British and in turn becoming the reason of Rani's death?... It took me a while to get over those thoughts..but being very frank the tourism board needs to improve alot on the light and sound shows that it showcases everywhere in MP. The shows are extremely low on the international standards, and they certainly need to understand that it takes more than only light and only sound to make a successful light and sound show!..
After the show was over, we went back from the same way which we had used to climb up in the morning. The path looked much scarier at night and since we were only two of us walking down at that time with no streetlights, i just prayed nothing shitty happens on the way back...and nothing did!

We reached back our hotel room near the railway station by a rickshaw that charged us about 40 bucks which is definitely over prized but then the drivers obviously by now can make out whos a localite and whoz a traveller, hence refuse to settle on a lower amount. On the way back we checked for trains for Jhansi around 9:30 in the night and learnt that all the trains passing through Gwalior do go to Jhansi. Cool! We stood in the que and got ourselves 2 general class tickets and went to hotel for checking out.
A comfortable but sleepy journey in a UP bound empty train got us to Jhansi- city of the great queen! Jhansi station was exactly opposite to what Gwalior station was at night. Pitch dark with only trees and rickshaws waiting for their customers could be seen. No buildings, no hotels nothing! Jhansi blasted our over confidance that every major railway station in India has many hotels just opposite the railway station which had proven to be correct 100% till now!...What next...we hired a rickshaw guy, trusted him blindly and asked him to take us to the closest and cheapest hotel around. Jhansi's closest hotel from railway station turned out to be 2 kilometers away and cheapest turned out to be 800 bucks in Hotel Highway in Sipri bazaar area (phone number 0510- 2441717)..a complete opposite to the budget trip that i had planned...Jhansi certainly costed me a bomb! On the way to the hotel, i had already tried to get idea from the rickwala about approximate cost of a return journey to Orchha which is just 15 km from Jhansi. He quoted for 700 to take us to Orchha and be with us for the whole day, come back and take us to Jhansi museum and Jhansi fort.

(Hotel turned out to be pretty decent, better than the one in Gwalior, with good ventilation, TV, clean toilets and a very good room service with decent food)

Jhansi railway station

Before sleeping we took the same rickshawwala to take us to closest restaurant open at 12 which again turned out to be another 3 kilometers away..sighs..we were certainly done for the day!..

Day3: Morning 10 o clock we were all set to explore Orchha. We started from Jhansi and within half an hour we found ourselves surrounded by ruins here and there- I need not mention we were already in Orchha!
Orchha was founded in the 16th century by the Bundela Rajput chieftain Rudra Pratap who chose this stretch of land along the river Betwa as an ideal site for his capital.
We parked the rickshaw just in front of the Raja mahal and entered inside through its main courtyard and to our surprise we found only two of us in the whole huge courtyard, the possible reason i thought could be that outside MP and Jhansi there are not many people other than architecture and archaeology lovers who are aware of the existance of a place called Orchha. Plus it never got a much deserved publicity that Khajuraho got. With lack of enough fooding and budget lodging facilities, Orchha is still an under developed tourist destination. However it has an amazing bustling market and a host of cafeteria dotted throughout this small town.

Raja mahal

Coming back to Raja mahal, it was built by Madhukar Shah, the deeply religios predecessor of Bir Singh Ju Deo- the most notable ruler of Orchha. The plain exteriors, crowned by chhatris give way to the interiors with exqusite murals, boldly colourful, on a variety of religios themes. We started looking for a guide to tell us the history of the places but we could find none. So we started figuring out things on ourselves. After we were half done roaming in the Rajamahal, we finally saw a guide explaining stuff to a couple. We asked if we would join him against a charge. We finalled on 150 bucks only for the two mahals.(prices for guides seem pretty high throughout the region. I remember going to south and roaming in most of the places with nominal charges for guides as low as 30 to 50 bucks). Since guides are these people who have probably grown up in the same area, grown up under the monuments they know every corner of the structure extremely well. This guide took us to the important places inside the huge mahal, he highlighted the paintings on the roofs, the toilets of the kings, the jacuzzi system of the olden times, the supporting brackets, the underground tunnels etc etc.

plain facades of Raja mahal

Frescos in one of the rooms in Rajamahal

Rear facade of the Jehangir mahal

A click from the courtyard of Jehangir mahal

Orchha's monuments creating a superb skyline. In foreground is the Raja mahal with the background of Chaturbhuj, Rama Raja temple and at extreme right the smallest structure seen in the Laxminarain temple

Another view from the Jehangir mahal

Next he took us to the Jehangir mahal which is just opposite the Raja mahal- opposite also in the sence of the architecture style. Raja mahal was simple and plain whereas Jehangir mahal was extraordinarily rich with its sculptures, murals and embellishments. Built by Raja Bir Singh Ju Deo in 17th century to commemorate the visit of emperor Jehangir to Orchha. Its strong lines are counterbalanced by delicate chhatris and treillies work, the whole conveying an effect of extraordinary richness. There is something so amazing about this building that it doesnt let ur camera sit free. each angle and frame of this building as if tells you 'click me' 'ok click me now im a better frame than the earlier' 'im even better' 'hey look here!' Simply stunning a piece of architecture. Took like almost 20 years to built the structure and Jehangir stayed here only for a night! wonder whoz more unlucky- the mahal or the stupid Jehangir? Well i would say certainly the mahal as since then it has never been used even for a single day by a single authority or departments- just coz it was once used by a muslim- a story i heard from the locals...! A legacy in stone gone down the drain..!

Rama Raja temple

Roaming in the mahals we didnt realise that it was about to be 1 o clock- the time for shutting down the Rama Raja temple- the temple of the preciding deity of Orchha- the king Rama himself!..This palace turned temple has a charming legend attached to it. Following the dream-visitation of Lord Rama, Madhukar Shah's wifebrought a statue of the god from Ayodhya to Orchha. The image was placed in a palace prior to its installation in a temple. When the idol refused to move from its olace, the queen recalled, too late, the deity's edict that the image would remain in the place where it was first installed. Today its the only temple in India where Rama is worshipped as the King Rama.
We reached just on time while the afternoon aarti was going on. We waited for the aarti and left the king alone for some afternoon rest.

Massive Chaturbhuj temple which refuses to come in a single frame

Just next to the Rama Raja temple is the Chaturbhuj temple built on the massive stone platform- the original temple which was constructed to house the image of lord Rama brought from Ayodhya. Temple is an amazing example of the grandeur of Bundela architecture with its sky soaring spires. Today the temple has only a small part dedicated to a vishnu idol worshipped here, rest is open to be roamed without removing the footwear. (Similar to Gwalior fort, all the sites in Orchha have a common entry ticket which can be bought by hitting the Rajamahal first)

Royal cenotaphs on the Kanchan ghat of Betwa

Another view of the cenotaphs

one of the chhatris

The first ever picture of Orchha that i had seen a few years back which made me so inclined towards visiting Orchha was of the 14 royal cenotaphs of the Bundela rulers which are infact the low key monument complex in Orchha as they lie a little away from the centre of the town i.e.the temples and the market. I couldnt get over the fact that me and my friend were the only 2 people in that cenotaph complex in one of those afternooons of supposedly peak tourist season of the region, never mind. The chhatris are arranged in a well laid garden of lawn and pathways. All the chhatris are similar to each other other than the minor variations here and there. Each chhatri looks double storied but even after a thorough search of one cenotaph i couldnt find a single staircase to go up! There is another chhatri of completely different style just outside the boundry wall of the ticketed cenotaphs which creates a much needed variation in the skyline of Kanchan ghat of Orchha if seen from across the river Betwa.

Chhatris clicked from across the Betwa river

The last place we saw in Orchha was the Laxminarayan temple- the most beautiful (according to me) and the best proportioned building- and also the most neglected Bundela building in Orchha. The style of the temple is an interesting synthesis of fort and temple moulds. The interior contains the most exquisite of Orchha's wall paintings. Covering the walls and ceilings of the three halls, these murals are vibrantcompositions and cover a variety of secular and spiritual subjects. The paintings as of today are in excellent state of preservations. A small kid came wandering about asking us where we had come from. Needless to say other than the kid, we were the only 2 living things inside the temple. The local kid took us till the top of the central tower of the temple through its broken spiral staircases with impossibly high risers. While going back we just put a 10 rupee note on the hand of the kid and he was instantly delighted. So love these moments when the littlest things we do causes someone else to smile.

Well preserved frescos of Laxminarain temple

Laxminarain temple

Interior of the Laxminarain temple

After listening to the stories of how Katrina did nautanki while shooting her aamsutra mazaa advertisement here and how Abhishek Bachhan stayed and enjoyed Orchha during the shooting of Raavan, we smiled and bid a tata to this nostalgic beauty that is Orchha.

We reached back Jhansi in another half an hour after the rickshaw broke down once. Jhansi- Orchha being a busy coridor, it wasnt a big problem at all. Quickly we headed to the government museum of Jhansi which was supposed to shut in another 40 minutes.

Jhansi museum

This museum is one of the most neatly arranged museums that i have ever been (been to atleast 100 of them, my friend Samir might tell u better about it with an extremely disgusting look) This museum has several galleries like a separate gallery for arts, a separate for weapons, separate for archaeology sculptures found in Jhansi and neighbouring districts and the whole ground level dedicated to the great queen. Its only here that i came to know that Rani also had a friend called 'Jhalkari bai' who resembled the Queen to a great extent who fought with the British on the fort while the Queen escaped to Gwalior through an underground tunnel to ask Scindias for help just a few days before the valourous queen died.

Gallery in the museum showcasing Rani's life events through sculptural scenes created

The ancient sculptural galley of the museum

After the museum we headed to the Jhansi fort which is just 2 minutes walk from the museum on the same road. Jhansi fort almost seemed to hold the same place for the Jhansiites as Chowpatty is for Mumbaiites. Saw a lot of couples hand in hand, eating panipuriat the many thelas lined up opposite the fort's entrance, parents holding hands of their kids who were running behind the vendors selling buddhi ke baal! Ah such cool childhood memories refreshed!

View of the entrance gate from inside the fort

Tired with full 6-7 hours of roaming in Orchha, we were almost drained out to go see another fort which was gonna be a walk of atleast 2 kilometers covering all the places inside the fort. The only fact that 'This' wasnt "just another' fort, made us throw away our fatigue and experience the world of the Maharashtrian queen- Manikarnika Tambey aka Jhansi ki rani Laxmibai!

Another gate inside the main gate

It seemed we couldn't stop getting lucky with good guides in our trip to Bundelkhand. A decent youth crossed our path and offered to take us around the fort for 100 bucks. With the authentic information he was giving, i was instantly very highly impressed (considering my decent knowledge of history, i have found it pretty difficult for the guides to be able to impress me during most of my trips. Its very very important to get a good guide to take you around the historical places. I must say Bundelkhand has some of the best guides i have ever seen in India and yeah the suckiest guides are easily to be found in Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur sikri, try them yourself)

one of the bastions of the fort

Our guide quickly took us to all the important places on the fort like the Shiva temple, queen's amod garden, the jail, the place where Gangadhar Rao executed the prisoners, 2 canons used during the war against british, the place where British hoisted their flag for the first time, the panchmahal and the place where from where the Queen jumped off this fort with her adopted son. A thrilling experience in 60 minutes!

This is where Rani formed and practised with her 'Durga sena' (all women's army) after marriage

The spot the queen jumped off the fort with her adopted son

view of the fort's many layers of protection from the jumping spot

While exiting, just near the Panchmahal are these three samadhis of Rani's great and most trusted soldiers.

samadhis of queen's great soldiers

After the extensive walk on the fort, with the broken legs, we jumped into the rickshaw and asked to take us to our hotel. (only after eating the Panipuri. I have records of eating Panipuries at the variety of the places in India which i'm extremely proud of! After Mumbai chowpatty's panipuri who i grew up with, Delhi chandni chowk's mouth watering panipuri, Ahmedabad's sweet panipuri outside ISCKON mall, Guwahati's Pan Bazaar's pungent panipuri, Bhuj's main market's shitty panipuri, Patna Boring road's killer spicy panipuri, Pawapuri's Jain panipuri and Gwalior fort's tasteless panipuri, today it was the turn of Jhansi fort's Bundeli Panipuri! Hehe and i must say it was yummy)

Extremely tired that we were, we decided to take a nap till 12 in the night and then head for the railway station to catch the only train that goes from Jhansi to Khajuraho at 2:30 in the night! (Khajuraho station was opened very recently ie 2008, its train connectivity is extremely poor as of now. Only 2 or 3 trains come to Khajuraho as Khajuraho has a separate route made from the Mahoba junction since it didnt fall in the route of any other existing routes. While we were travelling, Khajuraho officially had some 4 trains to and fro out of which 2 were cancelled. Other than the 4 coached UP samaprk kranti express, the only other train that was in working condition was the Udaipur-Khajuraho express. Due to such a bad connectivity of trains, its extremely important to book train tickets atleast 2 months in advance. Buses ply regularly from Jhansi to Khajuraho including private operators but last bus being at 5:30 in the evening. Sadly no overnight buses were available at the time we travelled the Bundelkhand)

Day4: Time 1 AM at midnight. But Jhansi railway station's waiting room was just not stopping flooding with the domestic and international tourists- yess its most awaited train was due in another hour.
We had just booked general class tickets for the train journey and had thought we would request the TTE for an adjustment in the sleeper class for a few extra bucks.
Relying on the same thing, we (over)confidently got into this 4 coached train's sleeper class. To our worst fate, the TTE turned out to be one hell of a stubborn person refusing us to let us even enter the sleeper coach- not even against money. Now what!? We decided to give it another shot and entered the sleepr coach as soon as he went ahead. After 5 minutes he again showed up, and this time even more angry, he almost threw us outside the coach not even letting us sit in front of the passage near the doors. Now we had landed in a real big trouble since the general class was overflooded with even the metal racks for luggage being occupied by people. The general class was the perfect example of an Indian train's (much celebrated in books and novels) overstuffed cattle class! Plus the train was UP bound! Wow!..With no other option, we finally dared to enter the cattle class after pushing people here n there. The train started and we were still struggling to get enough place to stand! With already sleepy at 2a.m. and another 6 hours of journey left in this train to reach Khajuraho, we cursed our overconfidance that costed us so heavily! (Again reiterating for the visitors interested in travelling to Khajuraho, that you MUST book a railway ticket for Khajuraho atleast 2 months in advance atleast in the peak season to avoid the ugly situation that we were stuck in, coz there is only one full fledge train for Khajuraho other than the four coaches of UP sampark kranti that leaves from Delhi and divides at Mahoba junction in MP when the main train goes to its destination in UP and rest four coaches go to Khajuraho out of which one is AC, one is sleeper and 2 general!)

Our hotel room in Khajuraho in Hotel Isabel on Airport road

After a station called Mau ranipur after 3 hours, We got a little space to sit ( i mean 1/9th of the sit meant for four people- which was no less than luxurious at that time). After anothet hour we reached Mahoba junction where almost everyone in the train got off and we got all the seats for ourselves but only for another hour when Khajuraho was expected. Had a merry time sleeping in the train for that one hour felt so divine i cannot express.
Around 7ish in the morning we reached the very clean, spacious and beautiful looking Khajuraho station which almost felt like a place in foreign in that beautiful winter morning. While getting off we saw many foreigners alighting from the sleeper class which were sitting in the coach without reservation. Only  then i came to know why was that A%6$#* TTE so hell bent on not letting 2 of his fellow countrymen in the sleeper coach coz they possibly couldnt pay him as higher as the foreigners paid him! Later we came to know the TTE was a Delhiite! What an irony! Such is the world and Such is (especially) India!

 An autowala took us to one of the hotels he showed in his photo album for 50 bucks from the railway station, the hotel and the Khajuraho village being 6km away from the railway station. On the way we saw Khajuraho airport which was also recently opened exclusively for the visitors coming to see the marvelous temples in this small village. Our rickie got us to this Hotel Isabel on the airport road owned by some European man. This newly opened hotel was located some 15 minutes walk away from the western group of temples of Khajuraho. With the plush looking furniture, facilties, vitrified flooring and the whole appearance, i was sort of sure just by a look at the lobby that this was surely not gonna fit into the budget of this so called budget trip! Furthermore after checking out the room, after seeing the amazingly spacious attached balcony (opening into a small garden) room and the imported bathroom fittings along with an antique dressing and study table, i became ready to hunt for cheaper hotel even before asking the guy for the room rent. To our surprise, the person in the reception was ready to bargain and came straightaway down to 700 rupees in the peak season! Another jackpot! Tonight i was gonna sleep on the comfortable matresses cuddling up in the white silky quilts. God perhaps wanted to say sorry for yestrday's night in his unique style :D

Click from our hotel room balcony

After sleeping for good 3 hours and freshing ourselves up, at 12 in the afternoon, we left to explore the place walking. We had ample of time in our hand to roam around in the temple complexes, so we decided to take a walk through the village and hit the Circuit house first for a better clue on going about this enchanting place.




While walking it down to the western group of temples

Circuit house was housed very close to the western group of temples. It had a very good, supportive staff who gave us all the information and tips about travelling in Khajuraho and also suggested us to buy tickets for the Cultural dance show of Bundelkhand showcased here every evening. We quickly bought the tickets for the first row and started searching for an auto to take us around all the temples in eastern, southern and then western group of temples for 200 bucks. (its extremely important to bargain here, we asked almost 3-4 rickshaws for the same before actually hiring the final one who asked for anything between 400 to 600 bucks.) Finding 200 rupees, a genuine sum, we hopped into the rickshaw to take us around.



Vamana temple in the eastern group of temples

First was the eastern group of temples which included the Vaman, Brahma and Javari hindu temples along with a complex of Jain temples of about 10 big-small temples.

Me on the steps of Vamana temple

Vamana temple being the first temple in Khajuraho we visited, we got a little too excited and spent much more than required time than what rickie expected. The time we spent at every temple started becoming inversly proprtional to the number of temples we visited in southern and eastern temples.

Carvings on one of the temples in eastern group

In this post im going to avoid myself from describing the architecture, the details, the sculptures, the proportions, the geometry and the serenity of the temples. It would probably take 100 or more posts in this blog to rightly describe these wonderful temples and do justice to the masterpieces in stone that these temples are! and i certainly dont consider myself worthy enough to put these masterpieces in words as at no place do i wanna do unjustice to the great architects and artisans who made these celebrations in stone the immortal living expressions of eternal love...




Carvings on one of the temples in eastern group

After Vamana temple, another temple close by is the Javari temple built between AD 1075-1100.



Carvings on one of the temples in eastern group

With the eagerness of visiting the Kandariya Mahadev and after spotting the similar style of temple as the earlier Vamana temples, we quickly moved towards the Jaina temples. On the way on the shore of a small lake in Khajuraho village is the smallest important temple in all the groups- the Brahma temple.



Jawari temple in eastern group of temples

The jain temple complex are at a distance of approx 1 kilometer from the other Hindu temples in the eastren group. Most of the Jain temples seen from outside are white and plain and confuse a visitor if the temples are actually a part of the Chandela group of temples all around the place.



Jaina temple complex in the eastern group of temples

But as one goes inside, hidden are these very finely carved Parshwanath and Adinath temples. Done typically in the Chandel architecture style with carvings of nude jaina saints, these two magnificient temples instantly grip the eyes of every visitor.




Spire of Parshwanath Jaina temple in the eastern group

Parshwanath templs is probably the best and the most beautiful temple in the eastern and southern group. After some quick shopping of (movable) brass Kamasutra keychains, we moved towards the southern group of temples.
First one to approach in the southern group was the Dulhadeo temple dedicated to Shiva famous for the sculptures of the apsaras and their proportions and the other is the Chaturbhuj temple built in AD 1100- the only important temple in Khajuraho (other than the chosath Jogini temple which has no sculptures at all) which doesnt have any kamasutra carvings adorning the temple. Wonder why??

A little far from the Chaturbhuj temple one can see the remains of the newly found (ASI has been calling it newly found since last 10 years **yawns**)temple called 'Beejamandal' which wasnt open to the visitors due to some excavation work. Today broken, this was supposed to be the biggest temple in Khajuraho in its full glory, bigger than the Kandariya Mahadev temple.

On the way to chousath Jogini temple in westren group

First temple we visited in the western group was the chosath Jogini temple since it stand little far away from the rest of the westren temples on a hillock. A place of worship for the Tantrik cult this was the first ever temple built in the whole Khajuraho. The legend says, all 64 idols of Joginis that existed here shifted themselves to a temple of the same name in Jabalpur after some they were angered by some act of the Tantric activities. Today the temple is in complete ruins as one can see in the picture below and visited by very few tourists other than the people who still perform the tantric activities and animal sacrifises here secretly.

Ruins of the oldest temple in Khajuraho- the chousath Jogini temple

Since rest all the temples in westren group are inside the same complex, we paid off the rickshaw guy and entered these ticketed monuments. We thought of renting the self-audio guides than hiring a guide which proved to be a much smarter move as the audio guide is divided in chapters and tells you about each and every famous sculpture or story of each temple from its exterior to interior. The audio guide is available for 120 bucks for two on sharing basis in English, Hindi and Bengali.

Listening to the audio gudies is the best way to roam around the western group of temples on your own

First temple after entering the complex is the beautiful Laxmana temples. As already written above i would like to keep away from describing the temples and their art. I would let the pictures do the talking instead.


A nine feet high statue of the boar incarnation of Vishnu- the Varaha has a temple dedicated just in front of the Laxmana temple dedicated to Vishnu. The statue of Varaha has numerous statues of Hindu pantheon carved all over the body of the boar. A place must visit!

Varaha's idol inside the varaha temple opposite Laxmana temple

Laxmana temple in Western group of temples

The temple to the extreme left seen in the picture of Laxmana temple above is the Matangeshwar temple- dedicated to Shiva which is the only live temple in the whole western group. It has an 8 feet high lingam and is approachable from outside of the precincts of the western temples.

 

Erotic panel on the Laxmana temple

Next is the greatest temple in the whole Khajuraho- probably in the whole India- the imposing Kandariya Mahadev temple. The epitome of beauty and the pinnacle of North Indian temple art and architecture. The main shikahara of the temple soars 31m high. The main shrine is exquisitely carved and features in delicate details the gods, goddesses, celestial nymphs, beats, warriors, musicians and ofcourse the erotic lovemaking couples.

 

Detail on the Laxmana temple

Just while clicking the best temple in Khajuraho did our camera battery pass away. Thankfully with another half day in hand, we decided to come the next morning in full power only with the intension of clicking the temples. Till then we thought of searching for the frames and sculptures which are must clicks, so that we could straight away click the decided frames rather than wasting time on searching them.

Carving on the Laxmana temple

Another beautiful temple just on the same platform that of the Kandariya mahadev is the Devi Jagdambe temple originally dedicated to Vishnu famous for its sculpture of homosexual and animal lovemaking scenes.
Facing eastwards near the Jagdambe temple is the Chitragupta temple, a temple dedicated to the Sun God. The image of the deity in sanctum is imposing, five feet ligh and driving a horse chariot. The scenes on the temple depict royal processions, group dances and hunting scenes.

Cultural program arranged every evening at Khajuraho's circuit house

Way way too impressed and attracted with the magnificient (dont know how many times have i already repeated the word magnificent for these temples as my vocabulary of English doesnt store a superlative degree word bigger than that) western group of temples, and after a bit of rest in hotel room and camera battery charging, we moved towards the circuit house for the cultural show which was a good showcase of local culture with badhai dance, diwari dance, rai dance, baredi dance etc.



Cultural program arranged every evening at Khajuraho's circuit house

After the cultural show we rushed to attend the Hindi sound and light show at the western group of temples which has connected timings adjusted accordingly considering a break of 10 minutes in between to reach from circuit house to western group. A show in English runs after its Hindi counterpart.
Other than the lighting part, my thoughts on the sound and light shows of MP tourism remains same which i had after the Gwalior fort show. The only plus point of the show is the voice of Amitabh Bachchan which makes us aware of the history, the background and the thoughts behind building these masterpieces which otherwise wouldnt sound so intersting.

The sound and light show at the westren group of temples in Khajuraho

Day5: As decided we checked out from the hotel and left for the western group of temples exclusively for clicking pictures.

Posing in front of the Laxmana temple :D

Khajuraho's most beautiful monument- the Kandariya Mahadev temple

Erotic panels on the Kandariya Mahadev temple

Richly carved pyramidal shikhara of Kandariya Mahadev temple

Sculptures on the Devi Jagdambi temple

Kandariya and Devi Jagdambi temples

Detail on one of the temples

Even after clicking every possible picture and sculpture from all possible angles, we were left with quite some decent amount of time in hand and then we remembered we could easily go and come back before our train timings (5 pm) from an excursion to Raneh falls in Panna national park which were only about 25 kilometers away. We quickly called the Rickshaw guy up and asked him to arrange for a quick trip to the falls.

Vishwanath temple

After a rickshaw ride of about half an hour we enterted the Raneh falls side of Pnna national park. The entry fee for the falls was already charged at a location 2 kilometers earlier along with a compulsary guide fee of 40 bucks for local employment.


A bad thing in MP that i observed was that every single person expects money from you as a traveller for the smallest information that he has shared with you be it useful to you or not and I have come across experiences in this trip when at a lot of places, many people assume themselves as your guide and start giving you all the information that they have and you are left stuck in the situation that you cant even run away from the place as they will probably never stop chasing you until you pay them some tip and plus why should you??. Also seen people making faces or talking things on face if money isnt offered to them. But then its money. Its not only MP, its probably everywhere!

Reneh waterfalls near Khajuraho in Panna national park

Reneh waterfalls near Khajuraho in Panna national park

After spending some time clicking the different natural rock formations along the Ken river at Raneh, we readied ourselves for the Khajuraho station for our journey back home- saddi Delhi!!!

Khajuraho railway station

P.S: Needless to say our return journey tickets which i was so much confident about getting confirmed from waiting never did! Spent another night curling up on the sharing seats and a late night lunch at Jhansi station. One hell of an adventure you were Bundelkhand!

Buhbye Khajuraho!

Day6:  Welcome to Hazrat Nizamuddin :D Back to where I belong! (atleast temporarily) ;)