Khajuraho- the city of love......

If you are in love with 'love' then this is your destination. Khajuraho. World heritage centre, situated in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh state. Once a capital to the Chandela clan of Rajputs, now a splendor of art Khajuraho has always attracted students of love. After the decline of the Chandela dynasty in 13th century, the temples were left under dense date palm trees cover for many years, which gave the city of Khajuraho its name, Khajur in Hindi means a Date. In the ancient times it was known as Vatsa. In 1838, a British army engineer, Captain T.S. Burt rediscovered them. The whole village consists of three groups of temples separated by a few kms.

1.The western group

2.The eastern group

3.The southern group.

Khajuraho is widely famous for it’s sculptures depicting all walks of life : war, art, sex, mythology. Sexual erotic figures comprise only about 10% of the sculptures. Hindu deities and various episodes in epics are carved along the walls. In Hinduism its believed that there are two paths to ‘moksha’ or ’self realization’. Bhog and yog. The path of materialism and the path of renunciation. And the sculptures of Khajuraho provide an insight to the path of materialism. The sculptures have a characteristic feature which remains one of its kind and draws the world’s attention - the sculptor has not only explicitly carved the poses but has added life to them by giving each one of the stone sculpture a emotion. There is a famous sculpture which depicts a maiden bending down, her face shows a frown, eyes bent and fingers trying to remove a thorn pricked to her feet. And another stone image, where a damsel is writing a letter to a loved one, face looks apprehensive and eyes dreamy. Never have I seen such emotions caught and carved so beautifully.

When I spoke to a few foreign tourists about Khajuraho, they did confirm to me that this place has a strange aura around it and has attracted them time and again. They have visited Khajuraho repeatedly to rediscover the celebration of love.

Five things why you should visit Khajuraho:
1. It is well connected.
2. Hotels meeting your budget
3. A feast to your eyes and also lens of the camera
4. Brass, iron and stone sculptures are famous.
5. good food and nice weather
How to get there:
Khajuraho Airport (HJR) Tel:”+91 7686” 740-415 is located 5kms from the city, and is served by Air India (fomerly Indian Airlines) [http://www.indian-airlines.nic.in/index.asp] offering flights from [[Delhi]], [[Varanasi]] and [[Mumbai]], Jet Airways http://www.jetairways.comoffering/ flights from [[Delhi]] and [[Varanasi]] and Kingfisher offering flights from [[Varanasi]]. If one is not prepared for a 5 hr bumpy ride from Jhansi to Khajuraho, then plane is the best mode.
From the end of 2008 Khajuraho Airport will also be an International Airport with connections to the Middle-East, Singapore, Bangkok.
===By taxi/bus===

[[Satna]] and [[Jhansi]] both are connected to Khajuraho by regular bus service. It takes around 3 hours to reach [[Khajuraho]] from [[Satna]] or [[Jhansi]] by taxi, and 5-6 hours by bus. There are daily bus services with [[Satna]], [[Jhansi]], [[Harpalpur]], [[Chhatarpur]], [[Mahoba]], [[Sagar]],[[Jabalpur]], [[Bhopal]], [[Indore]], [[Gwalior]], [[Panna]], [[Agra]], [[Allahabad]] and [[Varanasi]].
Khajuraho To Satna (117km, 4hrs), Harpalpur (94km), Jhansi (172km )and Mahoba (61km). Khajuraho is located 600km (11hrs journey) south West of Delhi. There are bus services from Agra (12 hrs), Gwalior (9hrs) and Jhansi.
Taxis are recommended because the condition of buses is not good, and the is ride gruelling.
By train
Indian Railways[4], state owned railways, has connectivity from all over India. Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) (225km) and Satna (Madhya Pradesh) (117km) are the convenient railheads to Khajuraho. Satna is on Allahabad-Mumbai main line while Jhansi is on the Delhi-Bangalore mainline.
It takes around 6 hours to reach Jhansi from Delhi by train. The nearest rail junction is Harpalpur (94 km) and Mahoba (63 km).
The best way to reach Khajuraho is to get Dakshin Express from Delhi (22:50 hrs) and reach Jhansi by 05:00 hrs. Take an auto and reach the street where the travel agent offices are located (one can reach by paying 20/-rs. Get a good deal with a taxi person. It is possible to get one for Rs.2500/- (tell him that you wont give him accomodation at khajuraho) and you can reach Khajuraho in 3 hrs. Get into your hotel, fresh up and visit Western Group of temples. Watch the Light and sound show in the evening. Next day visit the eastern and other group of temples and reach hotel by 1500 hrs. Travel back to Jhansi and rech by 1900 hrs and get Goa express (21:20) and reach Kopargaon at 10:00 hrs next day to visit The Great Shirdi Sai Baba Temple and evening proceed to Aurangabad to visit Ajanta and Ellora
Where to stay
Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board Hotels

For more information regarding accomodations, please visit the below site:

http://www.wutravel.com/hotels/india/khajuraho/a_aid=4e1aed33