The Jain temples of Khajuraho, India

India is full of wonders and contradictions: between unbridled sex and puritanism, the Temples of Khajurâho invite us to a happy and uncomplicated sexuality

 

Khajurâho ? Less known than the Taj Mahal, this village might not be of any interest to curious travellers if it did not contain a marvel of architecture and history: 25 Jain and Hindu temples.

And why are the temples of Khajuraho more interesting than any other temple in India?

 
They tell us about sex! Pure and hard sex where homosexuality, zoophilia, sexual intercourse in twos, threes, fives and all this in a joyful and good mood.
And how do they tell us about it? These majestic temples, which look like spaceships, are literally covered with statues depicting the elegant orgy, silent debauchery lust sculpted in golden stone.
Yes, and they are even listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
 

Before getting to the heart of the matter, a bit of history and geography

 
We are in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Khajurâho is a small town of 25,000 inhabitants. The Jain and Hindu temples date from 950 to 1050 AD. They are the work of the Chandela dynasty. All the temples of Khajurâho would be dedicated to the son of the moon god who fell in love at the sight of a virgin bathing in a river. This story is relayed massively on the web because this is what tourist guides and Indian guides on site tell visitors. True or not, mystery.
A very long time ago, the village had 85 temples, today there are 25 left.
It should be known that if the erotic representations of the temples of Khajurâho are famous, they represent only a tiny part of the sculptures of the temples. If you count in your travelling companions some prudes they will have enough to be ecstatic without being shocked. The temples are divided into groups: west, east and south which offer travellers in search of culture the most beautiful works of art. The statues of Khajurâho are unequalled, the aesthetics are extraordinary.
 

But why such a profusion of sex in full view of everyone in a religious site?

 

There are many theories about Khadjuraho temples. Let’s start with the spiritual side

 
Spiritually, Buddha teaches that human must learn to free himself from the material things that lead him to chaos. Remaining focused on his inner world is the key to peace and harmony. To do this, man must fight against his primitive senses, especially desire, including, of course, sexual desire. This famous sexual appetite must be transcended in order to reach a threshold of spiritual awakening: from the flesh to the spirit in a way.
This is perhaps (not everyone agrees) what Khajurâho’s bas-reliefs teach: to see, understand and represent sex in order to better dominate it.
 

Understanding tantrism to understand the marvel of Khadjuraho

 
Historically, Tantrism would have been born between the 3ᵉ century and the 6ᵉ century. There are two major currents: Buddhist tantrism and Hindu tantrism. It is a system, a philosophy which places man and woman, the male-female core at the base of the universe. Tantrism is the path to the integral transformation of the human being and this transformation passes through the body, the flesh and its five senses.
In this system two principles symbolised by the masculine and feminine couple are considered as the basis of the universe. 
The aim is to harmonise body and mind without going through bestiality. By practising tantrism, the human being uses desire, the energy of the universe to be part of it, to free himself from material desires without giving up this wonderful thing that is sexuality to make it a divine act.
By the way, an interesting detail: this divinity contains two distinct parts. The masculine, conscious but passive, and the feminine, active and creative.
Tantrism is a very serious part of this strange mix between Buddhist and Hindu religion and philosophy. Dedicating a temple or even a thousand to it seems quite logical.
 

Khadjuraho last theory : temples to learn about sexuality?

 

Well yes, why wouldn’t these temples have been used for educational purposes? It wouldn’t be a first in human history!

The temples of Khajurâho talk about sex, of course, but they are above all an architectural and aesthetic marvel without equal

 
What seems to me to dominate in these masterpieces of sensuality and eroticism is gentleness, voluptuousness. Of course you can see fellatio and sodomy and even what looks like rape on a bas-relief, but on the almost 900 statues in the temples there is almost no violence.
The women are bewitchingly beautiful and literally explode with femininity: smiling faces, sometimes lascivious, huge breasts, slender hips, delicate gestures…
The sculptural work is so perfect that you can see the lightness of a sari letting you guess the shape of the pubis.
The body is free, happy, in full light.
The relations between men and women are not only sexual. We see an infinite love, complicity and complementarity. 
 

But then, given the enormous sexual taboo that weighs on India, how is it that these temples have survived until today?

 
After having built all these marvellous temples, the power in place, the Chandelas, decided to move the capital. Khajuarâho, even if it remained a popular place of worship until the 14th century, will lose its splendour and fall into disuse. 
Afterwards, the city will be abandoned, victim of new religious currents and for our greatest happiness, the jungle will regain its rights. Like Angkor in Cambodia, the temples will be partly preserved by the thick layer of vegetation that covers them. There will be no more written trace of Kajurâho after 1500. It will be necessary to wait for the rediscovery of this architectural and historical wonder in 1840. Since 1986, they have been protected and we hope they will remain so for a long time to come.
 

The temples of Khajurâho have for more than a thousand years housed hundreds of statues of men and women in love 

 
Each sculpted woman is a queen of seduction, with a round buttock, an overly arched hip, lips stretched out towards a kiss, eyes half closed, a swollen chest, carrying enormous breasts pressed by a man’s hand. A light, delicate hand, without vice. Couples get lost in a saraband of naked bodies, delirious with sensuality.
Our western eyes only see unbridled sex on the walls of an ancient religious building. And yet I find that they are talking about love. They speak of these men and women gathered together, side by side, embraced, at the same height, they speak of equality, tenderness and mutual attention. It seems to me that they really look at each other, that their eyes of stone tell each other many things about the desire to be together. Graceful, friendly hands, no brutality is apparent in the gestures or in the sexual act. The sculptor has taken great care to draw a smile on the petrified faces.
 

I imagine them coming out of the cold stone in the dark night, in the silence of the sleeping parks, returned to the gods with cow and elephant heads 

 
Jewellery glittering under the moon, the bracelets of bells that women so delicately put on their ankles, tinkling to the rhythm of the rhythmic dance steps. Drums, cymbals, high and low-pitched songs, whispers and shouts.
What have we lost, what have we gained today?
The taboo sex, the hidden body, the body revealed on billboards, marketed, fake.
Men and women separated, power struggle, affirmed loneliness.
In Khajurâho, men and women look at each other, recognise and love each other for millennia.
 
Discover the treasure of the Jain and Hindu temples of Khajurâho, they are full of anecdotes, details, history and beauty. It is useless or even impossible to make a list of the must-sees, you will just have to lose yourself in it by taking the time to visit: 4 days will be enough, but not less!

Let's travel, take the time to know and understand the cultures of the world

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