Khajuraho, travel to the heart of India!

[BHARAT]

nice pics. the rahen fall, the gorge and that bird's pics are superb.

[Rockin Roxxi]

Yogesh...geeze the light on the Ken river and gorge is just insane and the falls...wah...I'm falling off my bed looking at these pics

[drkalpin]

excellent coverage YS..Khajuraho at home

[vishwa]

ken river is beautiful.... nice shots YS

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Originally Posted by pawsingh

WoW!
Stunning Pics Yogesh.

Thanks Pavan

Originally Posted by devashishdhingra

I must say Yogesh, days might be less for your yet there is never a shortfall of pics from your end.

Cheers

Thanks Devashish, this travelogue has surprised me as well. I never initially thought that it would turn out to be this long!

Originally Posted by pushpinder

Raneh falls looks lovely,despite the light.
The indian robin has been captured superbly.

Again, lovely, easy paced narration and some lovely camera work to go with it.

Thanks sir and second thanks for telling me the name of the bird

Originally Posted by anupmathur

YS, the pics are stunning in their clarity & composition!

No pics of the snacks at the museum cafeteria?

Thanks sir, there wasn't much available there. Just cold drinks, tea and chips etc. so I only bought cold drink.

Originally Posted by bhuwan singh

How about some GHARIAL's ? Is it supposed to be an alligator home or it is just the name ?

Sir jee it is a sanctuary, so one has to take a boat ride and try and find those Gharials in Ken River.

Originally Posted by BHARAT

nice pics. the rahen fall, the gorge and that bird's pics are superb.

Thanks Bharat

Originally Posted by Rockin Roxxi

Yogesh...geeze the light on the Ken river and gorge is just insane and the falls...wah...I'm falling off my bed looking at these pics

Thanks Roxxi

Originally Posted by drkalpin

excellent coverage YS..Khajuraho at home

Thanks Drkalpin

Originally Posted by vishwa

ken river is beautiful.... nice shots YS

Thanks Vishwa

[hiambuj]

Fantastic.. Didn;t expect such pics from Khajuraho (something other than beautiful temples.) !!

[kdacharya]

good going, YS

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Originally Posted by hiambuj

Fantastic.. Didn;t expect such pics from Khajuraho (something other than beautiful temples.) !!

There is quite a few beautiful places in and around Khajuraho, sadly I missed Panna National Park, hopefully will visit it next time around

Originally Posted by kdacharya

good going, YS

Thanks sir

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Day 4: Khajuraho, Folk Dance Performance

After resting for a few hours, thought about going out for lunch and in particular some Italian food. So headed out to Bella Italia and ordered lasagne; big mistake as it turned out to be the worst lasagne I had ever eaten in my life! Rode back to the hotel feeling disgusted and ordered a cold drink to get rid of the bad taste.

After getting over that rather forgettable lunch, I began thinking about visiting Matangesvara Temple, the only one of the old temples of Khajuraho, which was still being used for prayers. It was right next to the Western Group of Temples and yet, I hadn’t visited it till now and even now was contemplating, whether or not to go there.

Finally made up my mind and headed out there and it was a nice temple with a huge Siva Linga in its sanctum sanctorum (2.5 meter high and a meter in diameter).





After Darshan I was wearing my shoes and getting ready to leave, right then the evening prayers started and I got a chance to view them from the outside. I guess even laziness is sometimes rewarded by the gods.

After Darshan, I headed back to the hotel and told them to prepare the bill, as I would be leaving early in the morning and had planned to dine at another place.

Asked the hotel staff about the folk dance shows which the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department conducts every evening and was told that the one happening at MPTDC hotel is much better than the one which is conducted at the tourism village, add to that, the hotel is only a couple of hundred meters away.

So at around 6:30pm, I headed to the folk dance show. (Keep going straight on the main road, 100 meter or so past the entrance for the sound and light show, there is MPTDC property on the right hand side, folk dance performance happens there.) Bought a ticket for Rs. 120 and went inside. Sat right next to the bon fire and waited for the performance to begin.

After a while the performances began and after the first one was over, I realized that I had committed a cardinal sin for photographers. I had forgotten to bring a backup memory card and burst mode shooting had consumed most of the free space. So I had to not only review and delete bad shots then and there, but I also had to click photographs at a much less resolution to ensure I could capture all the performances (6 in all). Here are just few of the photographs I managed to capture during the folk dance performance.

Badhaiya Dance







Diwari Dance











Photographs of various other Bundelkhand Folk Dances, of which I have forgotten the name.



















An hour later, the show was over and it was time to have dinner. Decided to head to the Madras Café, which is directly opposite the ASI museum, thinking that I will get some decent food there. Ordered a veg thali and although it was quite fulfilling, I could only eat one subzi as I found rest of them tasteless. Sadly food wise Khajuraho had been somewhat disappointing, though when it came to everything else, it was superb.

After a short walk back to the hotel, it was time to get busy in posting updates on BCMTouring and on my blog. I wasn’t yet sure, whether tomorrow I was going to be heading straight to home or will stop somewhere en route. Decided to leave all that to fate and went to bed, around midnight.

<Previous Next>

Day 1: Delhi - Agra - Gwalior - Jhansi

Day 2: Jhansi - Chhatarpur - Bambitha - Khajuraho

Day 3: Khajuraho, Visvanatha Temple and Nandi Shrine

Day 3: Khajuraho, Parvati Temple

Day 3: Khajuraho, Lakshmana Temple

Day 3: Khajuraho, Lakshmana Temple, Part-2

Day 3: Khajuraho, Kandariya Mahadeva Temple

Day 3: Khajuraho, Jagadambi and Chitragupta Temples

Day 3: Khajuraho, Adivart Tribal and Folk Art Museum and ASI Museum

Day 3: Khajuraho, Jain Temples and Museum

Day 3: Khajuraho, Southern Group of Temples

Day 3: Khajuraho, Eastern Group of Temples

Day 3: Khajuraho, Sound and light show

Day 4: Khajuraho, Raneh Falls and Ken Gharial Sanctuary

Day 5: Khajuraho - Jhansi - Gwalior - Agra - Delhi

[Yogesh Sarkar]

bumping the next part to the next page