India

This is the story of a Garden in India-“The garden of small moon” or with a little juggling “The small garden of Moon”. LaghuchandraVatika as was its name. A small oasis in the midst of a desert, surrounded by palm trees all around. It was in this heavenly place two people met, fell in love passionately and their love gave birth to the creator of a great dynasty in India, the dynasty that with the passage of time built or rather say created India’s most beautiful temples, The temples of KHAJURAHO, the name originating from the sweet desert fruit Khejur or date Palm.

Some say.. the name was originally KHAJURVAHAKA, the scorpion bearer. SCORPION- symbolizing lust and desire perhaps in some oblivious way paying tribute to those two people who celebrated love passionately under the tree of Khejur.

ChandraDeva (The Moon God) and Rajkanya Hemavati (A beautiful princess of some unknown Land). The fruit that Their Love bore was Chandravarman, the father of India’s Lunar Dynasty. The temples of Khajuraho are said to have been made by him, his son Yashovarman, grandson Dhanga and great grandson Vidyadhar in between 10th to 12th century AD.

Originally 84 temples were there of three principal Hindu sects Shaivaism, Vaishnavism and Jainism. But today only 22 temples are there that has survived the downfall of the dynasty, the Muslim Invasion and above all the forgotten centuries. Only 22 out of 84 and yet they are Celebrating their survival with their heads high over the prowess of time.

But what is it that has made Khajuraho so famous all over the World within such a short span of time for these temples were rediscovered by W.H. Butt in 1835 and restoration began only in 1971? What is it that has made these temples World Heritage Centres, an honour rarely available to a Third World Architecture?
India may be short of money, short of resources, short of luxuries but the thing she is never short of is Beauty, beauty in her nature, in her people, in her architectures, in her stones. Then what has made Khajuraho stand apart from all? To this many people have only one answer, the Erotic sculptures on the walls of Khajuraho temples which attract people from all over the world. But the actual Truth is that the Erotic sculptures glowing with the Warmth and rare sensitiveness of life form only 9-10% or may be less of the total architecture of Khajuraho. Then??

Actually the magic of Khajuraho is in its Sculptures. If TajMahal can be called “A Teardrop in Marbles”, Khajuraho can be safely called “A Mesmerizing Dream etched in Sandstone”. If Stones can talk you can hear them clearly in Khajuraho. .If sculptures speak a thousand words, then the temples of Khajuraho form a magnum opus... an expression of Indian sculptors of yore. Sculptures there are clearly divided into two divisions the lower ones depicting the daily life, the life of common people and the upper and the bigger ones depicts life of Heaven, the life depicting Apsaras, Gandharvas and Gods.

Detailed yet Subtle work forms the underlying theme of Khajuraho. Detailed sculpture describing every fine bent and curves of body yet vibrating with a subtle underlying meaning is Khajuraho. Each and every sculpture be it the Apsara(Angel) applying kohl on her eyes, writing a letter, drying her hair, picking thorn from her feet, putting vermillion on her forehead , seeing herself in the mirror or simply scratching her back has its own meanings. Impressively detailed work can be clearly visible in figures like beautiful nymph drying her hair where the water drops dripping from her hair has been clearly carved in stone beautifully. Or the sculpture where the Apsara(Angel) is bending her back trying to touch it with her palm to feel the marks of scratching on it. Throughout the night she has enjoyed a blissful journey losing herself in tandem. Now in the morning she is feeling the etching on her back and she is wondering by herself about their origin and smiling to herself blushing at the same time. Can you believe a single sculpture in stone can be so vibrant that it tells you the whole story?

I know this is going to be long but How can I prevent myself from telling You about the nymph who is trying to remove a thorn from her foot. She failed in her trying and took advice from a Doctor who helped her to remove it. Don’t we also try to remove thorns of woes from our life to make it happy and when we fail to solve our problems ourselves don’t we seek help from some close ones? How can I forget the pictures of punishment by elephant where in one sculpture the elephant is killing a man and in another picture a man’s laughing even while lying under the Elephant’s feet for he knows he is innocent and the elephant would not kill him . Even the elephant’s laughing perhaps thinking this. Detailed work is shown even in the clothes like the sides of sari, its transparency, its print, all carved out in stone.

Temples of Khajuraho vibrate with feminism or womanhood in all her myriad moods and facets. The forms are full and generous, woman being the obvious symbol of fertility. All the women have perfect figures with ideal vital statistics which makes mind wonder whether beauty contests were in practice in that age too!! The attitudes are graceful yet filled with humility and respect, as is becoming of the Indian woman; the faces impersonal, since the god’s energies are undifferentiated in the absolute. The woman or nubile girl is honored in every imaginable way at Khajuraho, for she is the Shakti (Shakti means Power), the potential mother who will give life to existence through union with her man.... Now here comes the origin of Erotic sculptures in Khajuraho so broadly discussed.

It is true that no sculptures in the world have shown Lovemaking so voluptuously as Khajuraho. Sensuous pleasure is celebrated in its sculptures. And it is also true perhaps no video or book in the world has shown an erotic posture or perversion that is not depicted in Khajuraho. But is this the whole truth? Were the Great architects of Khajuraho so pervert that they did these sculptures on the Temple Walls for their own pleasure? Actually Khajuraho is beyond any Erotica. Union with his Woman here is not Man’s barbaric pleasure but the symbol of soul’s union with god, the Ultimate salvation.

It symbolizes the union of male with female, Adam with Eve- the origin of life, the beginning of creation. It tells neither man nor woman is complete alone. Only union of two can complete both. It celebrates Creation and from creation of life to its Salvation or Moksha, the ultimate goal of life. Besides in those days Temples were the schools, schools of knowledge, so everything is carved on stone to show the students both good and bad. If a picture of perversion is carved out then the punishment is also shown so that the viewer can differentiate between good and bad. The temples of Khajuraho are as if living incarnation of the philosophy of life. It depicts Hindu philosophy of Yoga and Bhoga(Bhoga means Joy&Pleassue). Unless you go through bhog (Bhog means Joy&Pleassue). you can’t practice Tyag(Tyag means Scrifice) or Yog.

84 temples marking Hindu belief of reincarnation where a common man is said to have his life as a human being after 84 lakh rebirths or “janmas”(janmas means after death rebirth). The panchayatan temple of Vishnu (Vishnu,he is the head god in Heaven) with five towers marking the “Panchabhutas” as depicted in Vedas, Sky, Air, Water, Earth and Fire. It also depicts the 5 most important points of human body similar to the idea of pentagram or Vesuvius man as was perhaps given by some older religions like paganism.

Temples are built in four directions marking four negative traits or four main “Ripus”, Kam (Desire or lust), Krodh (Anger). Lobh (Greed) and Moha (Attraction towards sex). Then the ArdhaChandrashila at the entrance of each temple, stone carved in the shape of half moon which tells you you are only half perfect as a mortal. Leave all your desires and lust outside the temple, enter it with a pure mind and there if you attain salvation You will be Complete. You will attain the Moksha.
Here I would like to chip in the two most common sculptures of Khajuraho seen in every nook and corners, the kirtimukha and vyala, both mythological animals. Kirtimukha is the ultimate form of Greed. The animal started eating since its birth and went on eating and eating throughout its life till nothing is left. So it started eating its own body and now only its face is left.

Vyala shows the difference between ignorance and knowledge. It is a Dragon like violent animal with face either of lion, parrot, horse or elephant. The sculpture also shows two figures one large near the feet of the animal in vain trying to control it symbolizing ignorance and the other small near the chest of the animal controlling its violence signifying knowledge. Proper Knowledge is the only power that can control the world however violent/terrorstriken it may be.
Now that I am close to the ending I think my description of the sculptures would remain as incomplete as ever if I don’t tell about two most favorite sculptures of Khajuraho temple, both sensuous yet vibrating with the philosophy and beauty of life symbolizing its vastness.
The Surasundari (Surasundari means very very beautiful women) undressing to remove a scorpion, the symbol of passion , desire, lust and hatred, from the upper portion of her leg is the 1st one that is pregnant with the thought of Khajurvahaka( The scorpion Bearer) thus originating to the name Khajuraho. Or may be this can be seen as the artist’s way of expressing fertility thorough woman or his way of showing the uncontrolled desire of the woman who is ever-changing as the moon or the nature yet as beautiful as the former.

The 2nd most favorite sculpture of Khajuraho is heavily erotic but perhaps culminating the Tantric point (Tantric point means magical point) of view of Hinduism which deals with the transformation of physical lust and energy into cosmic energy. The sculpture showing a man‘s union with three women. One balanced at the centre and the other two balancing at both sides right and left. The two women on both sides represents Enra and Pingla, the incoming and outgoing breath, and the nude beautiful woman on the man in the middle sitting straight in a yogic posture represents Sushumna or the Spinal cord and the man represents the brain ,the main control centre. All the four are needed for the proper functioning of the body. Several other explanations have also been given for these sculptures like they ward off the evil spirits or they test the real Bhakti or devotion of the devotee(In hindi language devotee means goddess). But the thing that amaze mind is that amourous motifs are nothing new in Temples of India then why does the mind conjure up images of Khajuraho when eroticism is mentioned? Why it is only described as the “Celestial Erotica” or “Temple of Love”? Maybe because they show a celebration of coitus with such gay abandon that the audience is left spellbound and speechless.

It’s only in Khajuraho that the sculptures are vibrant with life. Here the body has been considered as temple and the soul inside the body as the God. Union with the God may allegorically be stated as the self search of man to understand the soul. Indeed Khajuraho is the metaphor of millennium.

Hope you all enjoyed the real story from the past ... where Sensual Meets The Sublime... !

Cheers,
Amar