We rocked into Kujaraho for a really interesting 3 days amongst the exceedingly impressive set of circa thousand year old Hindu and Jain temples made famous by their often raunchy sculptures.
And yes, some of the more sexual sculptures are fun and illuminated a certain level of frustration in my German colleague and myself. To just concentrate on these multiple images of beautiful women and associated scenes would not though do anything close to justice to these quite magnificent temples.
There are some marked similarities to the Angkor temples and indeed impressed me to a level that exceeds nearly all that I have seen outside of those Cambodian legends in terms of architectural beauty and design. Achieving perhaps the height of Indian design for their era, they especially impress for the exquisite detail in sculpture from the pinnacle of the towers to the most dark inner recesses of the sanctum - quite astonishing.
Alongside the temple viewing came a few beers and fascinating conversation with various people. Long debates late into the darkness with an interesting American called Robert particularly stick out - ummm, who are the most influential figures of the second millennium A.D. - one to ponder over and over (oh and I actually managed to hold conversations with the Spaniards in their native tongue which surprised me).
Perhaps the highlight for me was cycling through tiny picturesque villages to far out temples as our final day drew to a close. Waves from little kids, water-buffalo and my first ever sighting of a mongoose where all special, but sitting on the temple steps aghast at the stark beauty of the sun disappearing behind the hills in an array of colours surely will stay with me longest. A place recommended to all!
No comments:
Post a Comment