Khajuraho: A Tour of Erotic Carvings and Statues

The Khajuraho temples do not contain sexual or erotic art inside the temple or near the deities; however, some external carvings bear erotic art. Also, some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. There are many interpretations of the erotic carvings. They portray that, for seeing the deity, one must leave his or her sexual desires outside the temple. They also show that divinity, such as the deities of the temples, is pure like the atman, which is not affected by sexual desires and other characteristics of the physical body. It has been suggested that these suggest tantric sexual practices. Meanwhile, the external curvature and carvings of the temples depict humans, human bodies, and the changes that occur in human bodies, as well as facts of life. Some 10% of the carvings contain sexual themes; those reportedly do not show deities, they show sexual activities between people. The rest depict the everyday life of the common Indian of the time when the carvings were made, and of various activities of other beings. For example, those depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians, potters, farmers, and other folks. Those mundane scenes are all at some distance from the temple deities. A common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities. (source: Wikipedia. Most photos by D and that’s not me.)

Jain Temple

Old Jain temple in Khajuraho

Man at work: near Jain temple

A sculptor at a souvenior shop near jain temple

This stunning statue of the bathing lady was standing in a park near the Khajuraho bus stand.

The Swiss-owned Raja Cafe at Zero Point in Khajuraho not only offers excellent food (we tried Thali and that was excellent) but also nice rooftop view of the main temple complex (Western group)

At the rooftop of Raja Cafe, Khajuraho

World famous erotic carvings that are scattered all over the walls of the temples make Khajuraho seem larger than what it actually is. The town is deceptively small and can be accessed by an easy bicycle ride

Bicycling is an easy way to hop from one temple group to another and explore surrounding villages in Khajuraho

Carrying a bottle of water and guide book always helps when you are traveling

Everyone wants to caputre the carvings, sculptures and statues in Khajuraho

It’s quite a task, as evident in this pic, to photograph erotic carvings and sculptures of Khajuraho’s Western temple group. Inside the Laxman temple

Bus on way to Satna stopped at Panna. We got time to have some chai and snacks