We are delighted to be in Orchha, a small village with fifty-two monuments in varying states – some restored and many decaying. We spent much of the day exploring some of them and have a million photos, but we decided to show you some of the magnificent artwork and other sights in some of those monuments to give you a break from buildings which, although wonderful, might be a bit tiring for our loyal readers.
This group of artworks are from an unused Laxmi temple at the top of a hill. These seventeenth century paintings were made by scratching into the plaster we were told.
This is apparently the queen looking into the mirror held up by her servant:
And this is the king smoking a hookah:
We loved these drunk British soldiers (surely later!) – the two little dogs in the picture are said to represent the local Maharajas who were hand in hand with the British:
From the same temple, another series, using a different technique, portrayed a wonderful fight between the king and the demons: first is the overall picture and then come some of the demons so that you can see the incredible detail – do click on them:
Some of the demons:
A another series came from Jhansi Fort which we visited yesterday (we didn’t include yet more fort pictures) and involved a heroic queen who fought against the British and then escaped on a horse to fight them elsewhere. This is the fort:
A final series from the temple involved a Jalli (a mythical creature) flying with elephants that it had grabbed:
Much, much more to come!
Are we sure the preson puffing on the hookah is the king and not actually the queen again – the body countours suggest a woman although she, or should I say ‘they’, does/do have a moustache. I think I’d better stop before the pronouns get too confusing.
Oh yes, I’d stop if I were you before we all get embroiled in pronoun issues. For my money, I think the moustache is the clincher – the guide simply shrugged in the direction of the picture and said ‘ that’s the king smoking marjuana’. We may never know the truth.
Such gorgeous paintings. Think we need to go back
They were indeed gorgeous – and, as elsewhere in Orcha, very few visitors…
It was New Year’s Day when we went. Absolutely freezing and foggy so eerily beautiful. V few visitors except some drunk youths (NYD) who proceeded to hassle 14 year old Rosanna and were chased off by guards with lathis.
Ah yes, those old traditions of drunken men abusing young women – suspect this is still in full flow everywhere. V pleased to hear about the use of proper sticks to beat them away!
What magnificent paintings. And I wonder what type of painting was used. The look brilliantly preserved. Really great
The guide said there had been some minor restoration but only when the restorers were confident they knew what was there originally. It was a very special place – and pretty much deserted.