There are many beautiful temples in the world, built during those glorious times when humanity still believed in the power of Gods and tried to please them for the sake of their own prosperity and spiritual guidance. India is known as the country with the largest number of temples in the world, but there is one temple complex that always stands out in its uniqueness: Khajuraho. With statues of couples engaged in intimacy in its most open form—shockingly for the 9th to 11th centuries CE, when most of the local temples were built—Khajuraho stands out as the most mysterious and controversial expression of human spirituality and the mysteries of Tantra.
Khajuraho Temples are not among the most visited in India. The reason is that Indian perception of sexuality has undergone a massive transformation over the past millennia, possibly due to Mughal influence, or more likely due to its own changing relationship with once-dominant cosmological concepts of the Vedas—towards a primitivization of what was once a complex relationship between a mortal man with his desires and virtues, and the divine, for the sake of wider society. From a sacred act of Tantra and transcendence from animal to divine, as Tantric practitioners saw it, sexuality in India has become a sort of taboo, hidden beneath religion and censored by a largely repressed society that is mostly incapable of comprehending the legacy of Tantra today. Khajuraho complex is a grey swan among white swans—belonging to the same tribe but often seen alone due to its uniqueness. Welcome to the most mysterious and controversial temple complex on Earth: Khajuraho.
We travelled to Khajuraho, located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, from Kanpur, UP—the home of my beloved Spiritual Master for 10 years, from 2006 to 2016, before he passed away. He is still my spiritual guide, and will remain forever.
It was a cold and foggy January morning in 2009, when winters in North India turn really harsh and humid, often unpleasant, with temperatures dropping to +5°C at night—a massive contrast with the scorching hot summers, when waves of oven-hot air travel from the deserts of Rajasthan and Punjab, hitting Uttar Pradesh with heat up to +45°C.
When we told our Guru about our intentions to travel to Madhya Pradesh for a sightseeing visit to the Khajuraho complex, he immediately but gently disapproved of the idea, though he did not insist on abandoning it altogether. So we got a “ticket to ride,” but our trip was not blessed by our spiritual guide.
We left early in the morning with the idea of reaching Khajuraho before sunset, staying one night at a hotel, and then leaving the next day after spending enough time at the site. We hired a good-quality Honda car, almost brand new and in great condition—a comfortable and “lush” choice for those days in India. The trip was long and exhausting at times, not peaceful, with many stopovers for snacks or a cup of tea—recklessly bought at random roadside restaurants and cafés of questionable hygiene. We bought a few hot samosas at one of the road stops, which proved to be a costly mistake. A few hours later, after many bumps and jolts due to the poor condition of the roads in Uttar Pradesh, our stomachs exploded with pain, and we had to stop midway for a short recovery break—yet another one on our path to Khajuraho.
After a certain purification and restoration of calm, we recommenced our journey with the intention of reaching Khajuraho before sunset.
Finally, we arrived at our destination around 5 p.m., when the local temples were preparing for evening puja (worship). We decided not to wait and, before checking into our hotel, rushed to attend a puja in one of the Shiva temples. The temple was small, with a black Shiva Lingam (phallic symbol) in the center and plenty of candles and oil lamps everywhere, so there was no need for electricity at all. The puja was led by a priest, a rather small man in his 60s, with round black eyes and a little beard. He was atypical for a temple priest, as he did not have many of the distinctive signs—such as a long toga around his torso or a bell with a handle to ring at intervals, as we often saw in temples across India, especially in the South. At the same time, he did not look like an ordinary man; he was definitely a special character with a mysterious aura around him. Perhaps he was not a priest at all, but the local people stood in a queue seeking his blessings. So we joined the queue too and were blessed with a short mantra whispered over our heads and a piece of vibhuti (holy ash) applied to our foreheads.
The energy of the temple was unlike that of other Hindu temples in the North we had visited, and totally different from the energy of churches in the West—especially the Orthodox churches we grew up with. The energy of the temple was a reflection of the cosmos at night: deep, dark, and mysterious, full of stars. It did not have one single note or frequency, as we know from Orthodox churches known for their high vibration of love and divine grace. There was immense power—Shakti—grossly concentrated and locked between the temple walls, trying to escape, unable to live within its confines. Perhaps the energy was a bit primal and basic, but in a very conscious way, as one would expect a rock or mountain to carry a higher consciousness. There was nothing sexual about the energy of the temple, but sheer power and greatness—Shiva’s presence. The energy represented the Universe as a whole: undivided, complete, yet full of force and dynamism. It was like a womb—protective and secure, but at the same time too powerful to be contained.
The fragrance of the temple was a mix of a fragrant Flora with added notes of coconut and even chocolate — possibly because a raw coconut had been used during worship before our arrival—with mossy and mineral notes emanating from the thousand-year-old walls of the temple that had seen everything: from the glorious days of the Chandella dynasty to the dark days of the Mughals, when many temples were destroyed. The walls were made of porous black stone, typical for Shiva temples found in South India. Those walls always emanated warmth—regardless of the weather—another mystery to be solved. I was always impressed by the choices of ancient temple architects who selected materials for temples so wisely, using only the most suitable stone for energy and grace preservation, capable of perfectly absorbing the fragrances of agarbatties burned in the temple and the fruits and offerings used in puja—milk, coconut, and various oils.
I still see us standing inside that temple today—somehow time froze, and we remained in the past, locked inside, as if within a black hole that transcends space and time.
If you wish to experience our fragrant interpretation of Khajuraho, try our Khajuraho Temple Incense sticks — created to capture the atmosphere and sacred scents of the temple we once visited.
To be continued.
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