The words INCREDIBLE INDIA and variations of it, came to our minds and lips more often than we thought it would.
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a bit of disappointment, but most of it, was an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry!
Madhya Pradesh seems to have everything.
Sitting bang in the middle of India, surrounded by some of the countries poorest states, and being a BIMARU state itself, I wasn't expecting such abundance!
There was history, wildlife, overflowing rivers, lush green fields, expanse of forests, amazing architecture and a very helpful and kind people.
The hot yummy omelette on the shatabdi set the tone for the rest of the trip.
First Stop: KHAJURAHO
The drive from Jhansi to Khajuraho was stunning! There was every conceivable shade of green around us, and the weather was cool from previous rains. There was a nagging feeling of familiarity about the place, but the realisation and the association, came only a few days later.
After an exhausting first day, we decided to start a 'little late' the next morning.
We asked out driver to take us to the other places we had seen, and he was very hesitant, and probably just lazy. He was also probably cursing himself for having mentioned it to us, little realising that we would actually want to explore these places.
Sunset from the Cenotaphs & Vultures on the turrets
Lovers in the arches 
Looking down at the temple entrance
Cards session at the temple
The central tower of the temple
Us in a tiny window
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a bit of disappointment, but most of it, was an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry!
Madhya Pradesh seems to have everything.
Sitting bang in the middle of India, surrounded by some of the countries poorest states, and being a BIMARU state itself, I wasn't expecting such abundance!
There was history, wildlife, overflowing rivers, lush green fields, expanse of forests, amazing architecture and a very helpful and kind people.
From the word go, the trip was perfect!
First Stop: KHAJURAHO
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We arrived at our hotel, checked in, and immediately figured out bikes (bicycles) for ourselves, since everything is pretty close to each other we thought biking would be fun.
We headed off to the Eastern Group of Temples, which are Jain temples, and fewer in number. Also smaller than the Hindu temples in Khajuraho.
The first sighting of these temples had me in whoops! The architecture is nothing short of spectacular and wow inducing!
These temples were all built in the 10th and 11th century AD by the Chandela kings.
They are so much more than just temples of love, or the inspiration for the kamasutra.
The architecture, the design, the intricate craftsmanship, the aesthetics - absolutely beautiful!
After wandering around the temples and marvelling at everything about it, we still had some sunlight left, and decided to see a few more smaller temples, and wander around the town.
As the sun was setting, we got to the Duladeo temple in the Southern Group of temples. It's a temple dedicated to Shiva, and stands on it own, looking regal and majestic, perched on a small incline. We quickly circumambulated the temple, more for a look around, than any religious reasons, and managed to catch a stunning sunset from the grounds.
We had a pair of village boys trailing us on their bicycles for sometime now. And they said we could take a quieter, 'short cut' back to our hotel. Up for a different route home, we asked them for directions, and as we set off, realised, that they were going to keep following or leading us around.
It turned out to be a longer route - but a lot more picturesque from the road we had come on. We passed little villages, where electricity was scarce. People were sitting outside their homes, gossiping, working, winding down for the evening. It was such a beautiful sight! The villages were so clean and well kept! We could all take a few pointers from them.
Ravi at some point said to me, that he thought these boys were tagging among with us for the experience, and what a nice thing it was. A mutual exchange of information and experiences and a good way to learn about new things from each other.
His illusion was shattered a little, when we stopped for dinner, and realised the boys were not going to leave us, till we gave them some money. And the grins on the boys faces when Ravi gave them the money, must have broken his heart a little.
After an exhausting first day, we decided to start a 'little late' the next morning.
Ravi had figured out a bike (Motorbike) for us to hire, since we wanted to go further out and check out the nearby waterfalls and maybe other places as well.
We decided to head out to the Raneh Falls first, and then head back into town, when the light was right, to see the main set of Temples in Khajuraho.
We rode through some amazingly beautiful landscapes! Being the middle of the monsoons, it was all lush, green and fresh!
Everywhere you looked was teeming with new and clean and fresh life!
Everywhere you looked was teeming with new and clean and fresh life!
The falls are quite beautiful! And because of the recent rains, the water was gushing down! Nothing like the Iguazu Falls! But you can;t compare. These had their own charm and beauty.
The falls are made of 3 types of rocks - dolomite and the other 2 I can't remember, but because of the nature of their components, the edges were very jagged and rough, not what you would expect from the constant erosion of water.
We stopped a little further from the main falls, where the water was calmer, and there was a bit of a beach shore, and tried to have a little swim. But before we could say SWIM, we had a guard come to us from nowhere and told us we couldn't get into the water! Party pooper! So after a bit of a dialogue, we decided we should listen to him, and be on our way.
We had heard of a legendary tree house that was built by a Swedish guy, about 30 - 40 years avon, on the banks of the Ken River. So our aim, was to look for the tree house. Someone had mentioned the previous evening, that it had been washed away in the floods about 10 years ago, but we thought there might be some remnants of it somewhere.
We headed off on a fairly normal road, in the direction of this place we were told the tree house would be.
As we rode further down the road, the road started to disappear, and became more of a dirt track, with no one in sight for a long long time
I got my first bee sting! Small lil fellow dug his sting into my hand. Not too much damage was done, just a bit of swelling, itching and pain! But it was all good in the name of adventure and experience!
We rode for what seems like forever through, again, some of the most beautiful countryside! Fields with all sorts of things growing, the jungle a little further back, and the hills on the horizon, with blue skies dotted with fully cloud above - was truly spectacular!
Country Roads
Khatiya & Bicycle Underatree Scarecrows in green fields
We eventually got onto the highway and headed for the Ken River Lodge, where we were supposed to see a similar tree house.
As we got closer to the property, we had a long black snake slither across the road. More than scared, we felt lucky to be seeing such sights.
The property is beautiful! It is built like a tree house, but it's not a real actual tree house.
It sits on the river bank and has some lovely views of river life.
After a cold drink and some much needed food (yummy chicken and cheese sandwiches), and a quick nap, we decided to head back to Khajuraho and see our last set of temples.
Once we got to a quieter stretch of road that was decent and with not a lot of traffic, Ravi decided to teach me how to ride the bike! I've never ridden a motorbike in my life, let alone an Enfield Bullet. After a bit of apprehension, I decided to give it a shot.
With a little help and many instructions from R, I managed to keep the bike steady and balanced. He's quite a strict and thorough teacher. So we went through the motions of stopping and starting it, till I had got comfortable with the running of the bike. I rode it for about 3/4 kms, and i must admit, it was quite an exhilarating experience. I can see the thrill if riding now - just a bit!
We got to the Western group of temples at the right time, with the perfect light!
I have to admit, I had a very different image of them in my head, and maybe I was just a tiny bit disappointed with them.
But as we started walking around and listening to our audio guide, I was quite taken up by the sheer effort that was put into the construction these amazing temples.
There are only about 20 temples left in the complex. The largest group still existing.
The grounds around the temple are well manicured and looked after, almost too dean and sterile! But i'm glad! I guess, being a UNESCO world heritage site, they need to maintain a certain standard!
As sunset drew closer, the light that streamed through the complex was absolutely magical! No matter where you pointed your camera and took a picture, it was perfect!
The science and aesthetics that went into building these temples is fascinating. The geometric patterns, the symmetry, the straight lines and perfect corners - and all still standing! Mind boggling!
But after seeing 4/5 temples, they all start to look the same, except for the deity inside the sanctum.
It's a depiction of daily life. With mythical creatures, scenes of day to day living, which includes scenes of sex, but it's not all about that. Some carvings are super explicit, and you wonder - how does one do that! Impossible!
We were there till last light, when we got thrown out.
We wandered around Khajuraho's main street for a bit, nothing spectacular and headed back to the hotel.
The symmetry is mind boggling
Lines, shadows & light
Try this position!!!!
Next stop: ORCHHA
We set out from Khajuraho knowing we wanted to stop at some ruins we had seen from a distance, when we had first arrived. We had the same taxi driver who had mentioned them to us, so we asked to him to stop off on the way back to Orchha.
We arrived at a little village off the highway called Mahusahaniya, and on our approach to the village, we saw a lake, beyond which rose an amazing looking structure and in the deep background, we could see a another fort like structure and some walls. We were both very excited, and the excitement grew as we came into into the village and saw more ruins.
But for reasons not known to me - Ravi insisted we should go see the 'museum', even though we both knew there was nothing in there that was worth it. Like all Indian museums, this one was terribly curated and the display was even worse! It's appalling how badly we maintain all these priceless artefacts and treasure we own! No value, no respect! Disappointing!
After the quickest museum visit ever, we headed up to the first ruin, which was Hridayshah's Palace. It reminded me of a secret hidden garden, and was absolutely enchanting! We spent much time exploring and taking pictures. The whole place has been taken over by the wilderness and nature around it, and has a magical quality to it - we totally fell in love with it, and only our greed to see the other ruins drove us from it.
(Pictures of Hridayshah's palace below)
We asked out driver to take us to the other places we had seen, and he was very hesitant, and probably just lazy. He was also probably cursing himself for having mentioned it to us, little realising that we would actually want to explore these places.
At this point I decided and said to Ravi, that on our next 'off the beaten track' trip, we're either self driving or biking (now that I know how to ride one!), coz we're not going to be at mercy of someone else's vehicle or fancy.
Pact has been made and we shook on it!
We misjudged the roads, and had to back track a bit, but we soon found what we were looking for. And WOW! Standing tall, right in front of us, was the cenotaph of Rani Kamlapti.
All these monuments in this area were built by the Chhatrasal rulers.
The cenotaph is hexagonal, and has 8 towers standing tall! We walked inside and discovered we could go right up into the towers, which we promptly did!
Looking at the views, I was speechless.
Through this whole trip, I kept saying to Ravi, that this seems so familiar, i've seen this somewhere, but I couldn't place the association! And standing a top the cenotaph, looking across to the other fort and gates, it suddenly came to me - it's like a scene from the animated Jungle Book we all grew up watching. And then it also struck me, that Kipling's inspiration for the book was MP, and Mowgli is supposed to have been in Pench.
Kipling must have based the book after visiting these places, and i'd like to think, these were those very monuments he came to and saw and drew inspiration from.
The tribe of monkeys i'm sure used to live in the run down parts of the fort wall & doors, on the book!!!
Rani Kalmapatis Cenotaph
The fantastical views from the fort.
From the cenotaph we headed off to the fort, which was another beauty!
Ravi and I were the only 2 'tourists' wandering around these places, a part from the care takers and some local Johnny's hanging around. The peace and serenity of these places is like music to the ears!
The fort also had high vantage points we could look out from and look right across the lands!
I can't remember the last time I was so taken up by the sheer natural beauty of a place. And I think the ruined state heightened the romanticism of these places for both of us!
The last place we could go too and see in area was the Maheba Dwar.
The Goats and herders has taken over this place and were using it as shelter and a resting place. It was quite a sight to come up to and see.
The walls and gate were another gem!
The place was so overgrown with plant life and shrubs and trees, that parts of it were hard to access. But we got to most places and explored the place as much as we could!
We couldn't stop oohing and aching at the views, at the structure, at the state of the ruins - everything! It was exhilarating to be the only people there, diving into explore the nooks and crannies and have no one say - you cannot be here, or it's not allowed!
Time to leave, and this time, really - we were on our way to Orchha!
Maheba Dwar welcoming us
The ruins of Maheba
The views from the walls
We turned off the highway towards Orchha, and we couldn't see much, apart from the green. Our hotel was 'outside' the main town (meaning 1 km away), so we went there first and checked in.
Its a beautiful property built my the erstwhile Maharaja of Orchha and sits on the banks of the beta river.
We decided a motorbike was the best mode of transport for us, so we asked the hotel where we could hire a bike. Wrong thing to do, coz one of the staff members had to give us his bike!!!!
We didn't want to do much. We were pretty tired from the mornings exploring!
We thought we'd just 'check out' the town.
We started riding towards the centre and very soon many large, grand and beautiful buildings showed up! But we wanted to keep riding and see what's further.
We came to a river crossing, and crossed over the tiny bridge, which led to the Nature Reserve, we did a u turn and came back and went further down the road and came to the chattris. We definitely wanted to see these.
We went to the one that was staring on it's own, more ruined than the others and no one else seemed to be there. We clambered up the banks, and over rocks and ha to walk around, before we could find the way in. Once in - of course we explored every corner, and Ravi went to the highest point of the tower. The bats and steep steps kept me away!
We walked up the river bank and took a back route back to the cenotaphs.
A buffalo herder with his buffaloes walked with us and told us some the history of the place as well, and shared his bidi with Ravi.
As we entered the main complex with the cenotaphs, my first thoughts were - wow!!!
They have such a unique look. All 14 of the cenotaphs are built exactly alike, with a few variations, and seeing them together, all at once, is quite an amazing sight. They are imposing, yet magical!
They were many, very large vultures that were perched on the turrets of the cenotaphs, and every once in a while, they would take flight and glide in the air, and come back and perch on their spot. We spent a lot of time watching them as well!
All the cenotaphs were pretty much the same, but each one had a different view which we had to see, of course!
Again, we were here just as the light was about to fade. It was truly magic hour, and everything glowed and had enchanting quality about it, in the pink sunset.
Just being there, there was a wave of calm that washed over both of us.
As i've been writing this, i've also been googling facts, to make sure i'm putting down the right information, and i stumbled upon the meaning of Orchha. It means 'hidden'. And it is such a appropriate name for the town. It's all green and lush and every one in a while, the chatters and forts pop out from behind the tree and foliage, and always remain just slightly mysterious!
We got the care taker to open up the little gate opposite with very run down cenotaphs, and explored that till the light was gone.
We rode into town to fill up the bike with some fuel. We got some fuel, and parked in front of a very large wall. Both of us wanted to know what was behind it, and since it was still light, we decided to walk around to see if we could go in.
We went though a market sort of place, which was shutting down, with lots of religious and spiritual ornaments and paraphernalia and we heard a sort of chanting and music coming from within the gate. As we approached the gate, it seemed like there was temple inside. I quickly realised this was the Phool Bagh i had read about, so was curious to walk in.
It was quite a sight! And it took us a few seconds to figure out what was taking place in this little garden
There was a group of men sitting under a tree and chanting and playing a rhythmic sort of music, and by the main temple in the centre, there were 2 men, being held by other people. We realised, they were in a trance. Once man was brought back to the chanting group, still in a hypnotic state.
I must admit, I was a little freaked out. While I have seen many videos of this sort of reverie, i'd never experienced it in person. Ravi went right up to them to film them, as I hung back and watched from a distance.
We left soon, and wandered around the complex for bit, and headed back to the hotel!
After dinner, we came out to our balcony, and saw the most brilliant half moon, with the river glistening in its light! Gave us the goosebumps!
Nature in all it's glory, is truly mesmerising!
Above & Below - Cenotaphs of Orchha
Day 2 in Orchha dawned on us.
It was a cool and cloudy morning, and we decided to go swim in the river before we set out to see other sites.
The Betwa and Ken rivers, both flow from South to North, an anomaly as river flow goes, like the Nile, and they eventually join the yamuna.
The manager of the hotel had told us that it was one of the cleanest rivers, as there was no chemical waste or pollution in it. Turns out he was right.
The monsoons had made the river very muddy, but apart form that, it was pretty clean water.
We didn't manage to swim, as the undercurrent was pretty strong, but we 'frolicked' like 2 kids in the water and were thrilled with our little 'dip' in the river.
It was the hottest and most humid day of the trip so far.
Also, we were both exhausted from all our hectic days before this, but we still managed to pack in a lot.
Starting off from the Raja Mahal and the Jehangir Palace, which were beautiful but not as awe inspiring as the cenotaphs, we raced through the 2 places. The crowds and tourists put us off a bit. After having no one around, and being spoilt by the silence, this was an assault on all our senses.
From the palaces, we scoped out the other places we wanted to see, and headed off in that direction.
Our first stop, was a walk away to the Chatrabhuj temple. It's a massive temple, built on a huge rock platform, towering above everything else. It's a very imposing structure, and can be seen from everywhere in the town. I felt like it was at the centre of it all.
We got the baba to open up a side door for us, that led us up into the towers and platforms of the temple. It was a strange sight to be looking down at - watching all these devotees flock the deity, while we watch from above. Was a bit surreal and voyeuristic. Even though it was a temple, it was also a place men came to play cards, lovers came to have a quiet moment, and families came to picnic. It was quite fascinating to see a usually rigid and sanctified space, suddenly being so casual and accessible. Was quite refreshing and brought a smile to my face!
Looking down at the temple entranceCards session at the temple
From the temple, we had seen a very tall tower, further on the horizon somewhere, and we decided to try and find that.
As we drove in the general direction, we went through the town of Orchha, which is quite lovely!
Because it's so small, and there aren't that many roads, we found what we were looking for quite easily, and discovered it was the Laxmi Temple that was on our 'list'.
Again, this was not a traditional temple. It doesn't even have an idol of the Goddess in it, it just has a sort of prayer room. It was more of an architectural wonder than a temple.
The shape of the temple is rectangular, with a triangular structure in the middle of it. It's a cross between a temple and fort. Quite fascinating!
Of course we climbed up to the highest possible level, and again, the views around were spectacular!
The way the temple was designed, there was a constant breeze blowing through, keeping the place cool!
Both of us kept saying, why can;t we still build like this? Why have we lost all sense of design and aesthetic in our architecture?
We sat in one of the windows and watched the world go by (the birds and animals really). The time for us to leave Orchha was drawing closer, and both of us wanted to spend more time here and were not ready to leave. We decided to pack in a few more things before we left.
Us in a tiny window
From the temple we walked walked across to a tomb sort of structure, that turned out to be nothing really. Apart from a few new tombs of some baba or the other, it wasn't of much interest.
We jumped back on our bike, and headed off to the walls of the city. When we came to walls, they were not that interesting, so we decided to keep riding, and saw a sign for a temple. We thought it might lead us to the river, and headed that way. It was a mud path, going through some gorgeous countryside, but when we eventually got to the temple, it was not near the river, and was really nothing great. So we did a u turn and headed back up the road.
Ravi decided it was time for me to try and ride this bike, which was not a bullet.
I was quite willing. But I must admit, I wasn't as comfortable or proficient on this bike. I've decided I'm an Enfield girl!
I rode right up to the wall. And we decided to do a quick walk along it since we were here.
The wall runs around the town and is 12 kms long. It's non existent in most parts, but you can still see it for quite a while.
We were really running out of time now. So we headed back to the hotel, showered, had lunch and headed off to Jhansi to catch our train back to Delhi.
MP is a state I would visit again, in a heartbeat! Im now dying to go to one of the Tiger Reserves. Being the Monsoons, the parks are all shut. But this is the state of the Tiger. Never having seen one in the wild, i'd love to!
The weather held up beautifully. Not one day of rain, or the holiday would not have been so good for me. I'm not a lover of the monsoon season, or any rain at any point really. So I was ecstatic that it was dry for the time we were there. But it was great to see the effect of the rains on the landscape - so so so green and lush! Was truly enchanting!
Was a beautiful place and people. What amazing history and culture! What an abundance of nature and natural resources!
Lost of things to see when we go back next! The new list is already being compiled!
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