March 17, 2010
I spent three days in Varanasi. I found an abundance of flash and color and the richest environment for “street life” photography I have ever seen. I did not experience the shock and awe that Varanasi is famous for. For all its exuberance, there is little that happens in Varanasi that doesn't happen all over India in a less concentrated form. Hampi has ghats and river bathing. Maduri has vibrant temple life. Any number of places come alive with crowds of devotees during festival times. Varanasi is a little more convenient. Every day is a festival.
There were moments. I was delighted to see a boat laying out a “string of pearls” in the Ganges in form of regularly placed lotus flower candles. I never did learn how or who did this. When I went out in the boats, the candles were set without pattern or plan.
Still, with all the hype, I expected more. I guess that is the price for leaving Varanasi until near the end. I can see how all the chaos could be overwhelming for new arrivals.
Khajuraho is more my style. Gliding over light hearted relics of the past is a better time than the mass voyeurism in Varanasi. It is not a very deep experience in this tourist town gone wrong, but it is fun.
Human form stone carvings are not unusual in Hindu temples. Most have them and some, especially in the South are covered in mini-statues. Eroticism isn't unique either. I've seen them here and there from Elora to Orissa. However, those pieces are nearly all face on with a few side views. Facial expressions are limited and reveal little. Khajuraho is something else. Detail is greater. Body positions are diverse and facial expressions are full of life.
Seeing them, however, meant the braving the heat. It became hot on my last day in Varanasi and it has become worse.
When I arrived on Monday morning, it was fatigued from the journey and was reluctant to hop straight into the temples, especially with the fees involved with the main temples. It soon became clear that nothing would happen until it started cooling off in late afternoon. It barely did but I managed to visit the Eastern group of Hindu temples. I saved the pricey Western group for morning.
I got there rather early but not early enough. One tour group was already there. It seemed that the herd leaders knew to start early too. Fortunately, there were no touts were not allowed into the enclosure. That is really good since Khajuraho's touts are possibly the most persistent and annoying of any I have encountered in India.
Despite the tour groups, Khajuraho is not really overrun. Part of this may be because the hot season has arrived but I think the bigger factor is rather few Indian tourists. Maybe it is just not an appropriate place for school groups and families. Or maybe modern India's sexually repressed culture doesn't accept this kind of place at all.
I caught the Jain temples and one more Hindu temple yesterday morning. Mid day has been nearly useless. I visited another, unfinished and newly excavated, temple this morning. At least in its current state, it is not too impressive. The rubble and dirt did allow an opportunity. I could small sculptures at eye level that would, in a finished intact temple, be a neck straining ten to twenty feet up. This afternoon I head for Bandhavgarh.
I'm getting bolder with my transport. Getting from Varanasi to Khajuraho required changing trains in the wee hours of the morning at a station that didn't have a working sign board announcing which trains were in the station. The tiger transfer my trickier still.
I'm taking a 3.5 hour bus to Satna to catch a train for 3 hour journey to a town with no place to sleep. I arrive past 10:00pm and hope the one hour taxi ride is available and doesn't cost too much. Finally, I hope the hotel manager is able to make good on his promise to find me a reasonable place to stay. He claims that his place is full.