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2003-12-16 - Khujaraho (Day 243)

Now that I have had a quick look around the temples, I decide to get serious about the pictures and pack up all the camera gear and my tripod to try to get some good shots of the carvings. I make it only to the gate when the guards tell me that the tripod is not allowed. To my surprise and irritation, the duty officer, the short mindless little bureaucrat, who seems to populate posts like this, explained that the Archeological Survey of India did not want me to take a tripod into the temples as then I would have "high-quality photos" which they specifically did not want. Tripods could only be brought in with special permission - of course, this was only obtainable in Delhi. This I found to be rubbing salt in the open sore that charging foreigners 25 times what an Indian has to pay for entrance. I am again reminded of my repugnance and ire on visiting the Taj Mahal for similar reasons.

I ended up visiting the Eastern group of temples, which had a wonderfully polite superintendent who brought my smile back.

The evening found me in my reserved treetop table where I watched the sound and light show put on by Madhya Pradesh Tourism. It was a lovely show and watching the temples lit up at night while having soup was more then enough to justify the ride over those horrible roads.

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