Orchha, Madya Pradesh

View from Chaturbhuj Temple

An easy train ride from Delhi, Orchha is a great 3-day get-away for lovers of old temples, forts and culture. There are palaces, a fort, temples and chhatris (memorials) to the great rulers all within walking distance.

The key holder to the hidden stairs to the roof

The Chaturbhuj Temple dates back to the 9th century. It is built on a solid piece of stone. This young sadhu greeted us with a smile and huge eyes. Another tourist, who had visited this temple two years ago, explained that this man would take us up to the roof if we dared. Of course! The climb up pitch black stone steps, through open passages with no handholds, was frightful. But the view from the top was magnificent.

Our "guide"

Outside Ram Raja Temple

The Ram Raja Temple is in the center of town where hundreds of worshipers flock each day. It is dedicated to Lord Ram.

Sweet shop

Sweets

Jahangar Palace/Fort

Mysterious stone creatures

All throughout the town of Orchha there are ruins of arches with turtle-like creatures.

Grinding wheel

Every time I discover an artifact like this old grinding wheel, I have to pinch myself. In reality, it probably was still being used not that long ago.

Woman using a balance scale to sell eggplants

Sadhu all decked out for Diwali and tourist photo shots!

Village home

The village of Orchha is simple, but full of brightly painted cottages. All of the doors were incredibly short, requiring those entering to duck.

Bathing in the Betwa River

Orchha is located along the banks of the sacred Betwa River, a beautiful rocky-shored river. 

Wall painting inside Lakshmi Temple

Our second day, we walked 2km just outside town to the ruins of the Lakshmi Temple, built in 1622 and dedicated to the goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth). Many of the wall paintings are still intact and quite clear.This temple is not visited much and you can enjoy some tranquility while wandering through the halls and on the rooftop. Great views!

Staircase up through one of the octagonal towers

Stone lattice windows and carved archways everywhere

View of Lakshmi Temple from another set of ruins

A short walk from Lakshmi Temple was another set of smaller ruins. We walked through pastures of grazing cattle and found some old buildings, one of which was being used as a mosque. No one was there, but incense sticks and candles were still burning. Oh, and a resting cow. Always so intriguing.

It was the Diwali Festival, a 5-day Hindu celebration of the "festival of lights". We did not know what to expect in terms of festivities when we decided to spend the long weekend in Orchha. What a surprise!

Truck loads of young men filled the streets

20 people!! got out of this tuk-tuk

As long as I have lived in Delhi, my friends and I have had an on-going contest of "how many people can fit in a tuk-tuk". This is the record so far!

Five on a motorcycle!

And how many can fit on a motorcycle? We saw six. It is not unusual to see Mom sitting sideways holding a baby. Never with helmets. In Delhi, only the adult men driving the motorcycle are required to wear helmets.

In the bus, on top of the bus, hanging off the bus...

Stick dancing

I hopped out of bed early when I heard drumming and jingling of bells near our hotel. Found groups of men dancing and chanting. As I looked around I realized that there were no women in sight. Was I supposed to be there? With camera in hand I started taking shots, and no one seemed to shoo me off. But when I saw what were sareed women dancing, I discovered they were actually men dressed up as women.

A young boy from the village took my hand and began explaining in excellent English that the women were not allowed to dance. So, many of the men dressed up as women to do the dancing. Some of the outfits were quite interesting.  Must be a regional custom, as none of my Delhi Indian friends know anything about it...

Men walking into town with bunches of peacock feathers

So where were the women and what were they doing?

Women carrying wood for cooking

The women were working, of course...

Leading goats through town

Selling bangles

Town was getting pretty crowded with the Diwali celebration so we decided to head across the river into a wildlife sanctuary for a hike.

The trail ended at another river, a tributary of the Janshi River. There was little to no wildlife, except for some pretty aggressive monkeys on the way to the trail. As we were hiking, a truck came along with two park "rangers". They offered to take us about 10km further into the park to some lookouts.

Hunting blind

one of the rangers explained that in the days of the rajas, they would come to these huts, wait for the animals to come to the water and shoot. No tigers left in these parts.

Joy

 It was time to leave Orchha, but every where I turned was another great photo.

Beauty

Intrigue