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Indira nodded. "It seems to me you are beginning to understand India," she said with a smile in one of the great ornate halls. "While Khajuraho is most famous for its erotic sculptures that are actually relatively few, most other temples of India are likewise adorned with erotic sculptures and erotic art in one form or another, although there are fewer of them. In ancient times erotic dance and the related practice of lovemaking was a highly respected art form and a normal part of temple ceremonies, representing a form of devotion to God. Some of it was later reduced to prostitution. But it appears that some of the lost art was revived and is now preserved in the Khajuraho temples. If we look at the temples from this perspective, we'll begin to see them in a totally differed light. We find yourself standing in the middle of a profound history that is unfolding all around you. Then we'll notice the real beauty of the sculptures. If we do that I predict that we can't get enough of what we see while the boundaries disappear between sex and art. This perception has a fascinating potential."
In this manner Indira and I became two rather extraordinary tourists. I am certain that nobody had the kind of conversations that we had.
"The guidebook told us that the Khajuraho temples were constructed during the reign of Chandela Empire," said Indira, "and the place were the temple were built, named Khajuraho, derives its name from the Khajur tree, a date palm. We can still them in abundance in the area. The temples are now considered the "high point" of India's architectural genius, but for some strange reasons after the collapse of the Chandela kingdom these magnificent temples became neglected. Why were they not maintained and protected? Was it all the Islamic takeover of India? We see the relics of a lost culture, or an intentionally destroyed culture. The relics stand as testaments of great craftsmen and of an extraordinary breadth in 'vision' of the Chandela Rajputs that reigned when the temples were constructed. We really don't know the full extend of what has been lost, such as the extent of the economy that created these marvels."
"The style of architecture that we see here is typical in Hindu temple construction," said Indira. "It is reasonable to assume that the economic machine that enabled their construction might have been powered by typical Hindu economics. While the stones remain, the economic force that shaped them has become totally lost. Just look at the temples. There is nothing cheap about them. Each structure stands on a high masonry platform with distinct upward oriented features that are further enhanced with vertical projections. These temples weren't built by a feeble mind or an impoverished society. And this hugely grand design itself, which is typical in Hindu temples, featuring a grand entrance, a large assembly hall, and an inner sanctum, might also reflect the essential features of Hindu economics. The creators of Khajuraho claimed for themselves divine status. I see a rich measure of divinity reflected in what they achieved. The legend has it that they descended from the moon. Their ancestor had been the beautiful young daughter of a Brahmin priest who was seduced by the moon god one evening while she was bathing. Her child that was born out of this union combining heaven and earth in the form of combining a mortal and a god, was a son who started the kingdom. The legend named the son Chandravarman, after whom the Chandel kingdom was named. He grew up with the woman, the mortal who was his mother, who being harassed by her own people as an unwed mother had sought refuge in the dense forests of Central India. There, according to the legend, she cared for her young son and guided him to become a guru. Once grown up her son founded the great Chandela dynasty. The legend has it that he received a dream-visitation from his mother who implored him to build temples that would reveal the emptiness of human passions and human desires without the divine. On that note Chandravarman began the construction of the first of the temples. Succeeding rulers added to the complex. That's how the story goes."
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