Khajuraho, Orchha & Jhansi- land of heritage & warriors

I always wanted to visit Khajuraho & see the temples which are called the Land of Kamasutra. All of a sudden me & my friend planned a visit in the month of May. There are many good hotel options near the Western Ghats temples & it's completely safe for all girls trip. This is my first hand experience. We took the train at night from Delhi & reached the next morning in Khajuraho. 1 whole day is sufficient to see all the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats & Southern Ghats temples. The Western Ghats temples are the most important & built by the Chandela dynasty & basically into Hindu gods & godesses. They were the descendants of the Moon (Chand), so got the name Chandelas. When I saw the temples, I was spellbound. The sculptors, the intricate designs, the temple jewellery designs are so prominent. The slabs are attached to each other with the screwing & interlocking system & not by any glue or nails & those temples were built between 959 to 1050 CE. But I found only 20%-30% of the temple engraving sculptors which are related to Kamasutra, but mostly are the detailing of Man-Woman relationship, the way of everyday life they used to live in those days & also they have some inner depth. Like a young female with a voluptuous figure is looking at the mirror & smiling, & another female who is bit old & with shagging structures is sad. This implies how the external beauty is an illusion. The only beauty is the inner beauty which will never fade. Also, another sculptor is showing that a female is taking out thorn from her feet. This shows life is full of struggles & we have to ignore them & proceed in life. The Eastern Ghats temples have a mixture of Hinduism & Jainism & the sculptors & engravings are slightly bigger than the Western Ghats. The Southern Ghats have very few temples & is related to Lord Vishnu.Another day is required to see the Pandav waterfalls which is 35 km from Khajuraho & Raneh waterfalls which is 12 km from the town. Since I visited Khajuraho in summer, I gave them a miss as the falls were mostly dry. But one should try them if you visit in monsoon.One should not miss the Light & Sound show in the evening which tells the entire history of the temples. Per person cost is 200 INR.

Orchha- basically the meaning is Hidden. In true sense its Hidden. Orchha was ruled by the Bundela dynasty. This dynasty produced some great warriors who gave a tough fight to the Mughals which are somewhere hidden. The forts, the paintings done by flower petals, edible spices are something to look for. The beautiful Jahangir Palace built by Vir Singh Deo in honour of & to continue his long term relation with the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Its built according to Timurid customs. It has such big lawns which could accommodate war elephants even. Then the Raja Mahal- one can see the Diwane-aam darbar where the king used to sit & listen to the common people. Then there is a stage where the singers & dancers used to perform. Legend has that there was a famous poetess & singer name Rai Praveen who was called the nightangle. There is a palace made for her called Rai Praveen palace where paintings were depicted according to her various moods.Then there is Ram Raja Temple. Its the only temple where lord Ram is worshipped as Raja. The temple opens at 6am & closes by 12.30 pm. And again opens at 5pm & closes at 10.30 pm. So one should plan accordingly.A walk along the Betwa river, which is being considered as the auspicious river by the locals is very soothing. It has rafting options also, but I didn't try because I went in the dry season, so not much rapids. Other attractions are Laxminarayan temple,Orchha Chatrries, Chaturbhuj temple.I spent 30 hours in Orchha, since it was summer, I couldn't take the nature walk, but if anyone goes in winter or in rainy season, it's a very good experience to see the plush greenery along side Betwa river.This place is also very safe for all girls trip. They also have the Sound & Light show & it costs 200INR per person. One should not miss this to know about the rich Bundela dynasty & Orchha which are hidden.

Jhansi fort is 3Km from the Jhansi train station, & it took us complete 1hour to explore it. While returning back to Delhi from Orchha we had good 2 hours time for the train. We kept our luggage in the cloak room , & we wasted some good 30 minutes to arrange for locks for each & every luggage which we had to keep there. We paid 20INR per person in autorickshaw (tuk-tuk in local language) to reach the fort from station. Its very big & one can see the entire Jhansi city from the top of the fort. One can see the place where Rani Laxmi Bai used to train the Durga-wahini (all female soldiers). One can also see the top portion of the fort from where Rani Laxmi Bai jumped on the horse back tying her son behind her. One can really feel the poem which we read in our school days 'Khub Ladi Mardani Wo To Jhansi Wali Rani Thi'. Most of the fort were rebuilt & renovated by the Britishers. Here also they have the Sound & Light Show which we had to miss because we didn't have time.But yes, well utilisation of time.