Blush hour
In 1838, British army captain T.S. Burt was travelling through the jungles of central India when he stumbled upon a group of temples.
The story goes, Burt wrote to his superiors that the temples were 'most beautifully and exquisitely carved as to workmanship, but the sculptor had at times allowed his subject to grow rather warmer than there was any absolute necessity for his doing; indeed, some of the sculptures here were extremely indecent and offensive ...'
Burt might have been brought to blushes by the sculptures of full-breasted women and sensually entwined couples that adorn the temples of Khajuraho, but these magnificent medieval temples draw hordes of tourists each year to the remote destination.
Located in Madhya Pradesh state in central India, Khajuraho was the cultural capital of the Chandelas of Bundelkhand, who built the temples between AD950 and AD1150. When the Chandela dynasty began to decline, so did Khajuraho's importance and the temples were eventually swallowed up by the surrounding jungle.
Today, the temples of Khajuraho are a designated Unesco World Heritage site. Of the 80 temples originally built, 25 remain, split into the eastern, southern and western groups of temples.
The western group of temples located in the centre of town is the best preserved and attracts the most tourists. Visitors can rent an audio guide for 50 rupees (HK$8.50) or hire a guide for 600 rupees. But you don't need a guide to point the famous erotic friezes out to you - just look for groups of people staring at the walls in fascination.
One of the panels on the outer wall, for instance, has couples engaged in all possible combinations of sexual poses.
It would seem the dynasty's medieval rulers were more sexually liberated than we are. One of the theories is that the carvings were simply meant to depict everyday life, and sex scenes are just one aspect of it. This could explain why one panel depicts a couple having sex at one end and two women pounding grain at the other. Scenes of war, song and dance and mythology can also be seen.
The temples themselves are architectural marvels. The sculptors have wrought symmetrical temples crowned by spires, all dedicated to Hinduism and Jainism, which were built in a traditional north Indian style while the blocks of sandstone are held together by precision placement and gravity.
The Khajuraho temples are not all about sex - the erotic sculptures make up less than 10 per cent of the thousands of figures depicted. Still, the erotica is Khajuraho's biggest selling point. The iconic poses can be found on posters, playing cards, as figurines and key-chains with movable parts. All of this seems odd in a place that shuts down by 11pm and where most of the women seen on the street are foreign tourists. But this kind of contradiction is inevitable in a village that survives entirely on tourism.
Even though the town is so small that it has only one main market street, it is filled with budget hotels and restaurants, at least five of which serve Italian cuisine. There's even a cafe that was started by two Swiss women who settled in Khajuraho 40 years ago.
Not to be missed is the hour-long sound-and-light show in Hindi and English that takes place every night at the western group of temples. Tickets cost 200 rupees for foreigners.
It's best to visit during the winter months, when it is cooler. When you are done visiting the temples you could visit Raneh falls (about 20 kilometres away), which has a canyon of black and pink granite.
Getting there: Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways, Emirates and Cathay Pacific fly daily to New Delhi. An overnight journey on the UP Sampark Kranti train takes you from New Delhi to Khajuraho's railway station on Tue, Fri and Sun.
The return journey on the Khajuraho Nizamuddin Express is on Mon, Wed and Sat. Air-conditioned ticket fares start at 1,400 rupees for a round trip. Alternatively, the drive south from New Delhi takes about 12 hours.
