Friday night I went to see some drummers and dancers at Kulcha, in Freo. The event, “Rhythms of Sri-Lanka” reminded me of the folk/classical dance show that I went to see while in Khajuraho. Khajuraho is a must for any itinerary to north India, to see the Jain temples there (Wikipedia currently says they are Hindu, but I don’t think that’s right). They are well known for the carvings that depict daily life a thousand years ago. Being in remarkably good condition is a consequence of the dry climate of the region, and the fact that they were forgotten about for the better part of a thousand years. They were rediscovered by Victorian archeologists at the end of the 19th century. Elsewhere in India, carvings such as those at Khajuraho would have been destroyed by the relatively prudish Muslims that entered the area a few hundred years before. What draws the crowds of course are the erotic carvings, though they are only a fraction of what is to be seen.
Vandalism was something that disappointed me at many historical sites in India. And not just in the past – I watched it take place right in front of me. In Jaipur, a bunch of Indian teenagers thought it would be fun to carve their names into a building hundreds of years old. A lack of money means that many sites aren’t looked after properly. But Khajuraho seemed graffiti free – perhaps the locals feel more ownership of the temples, for whatever reason?
Anyway, while at Khajuraho there are other things to see and do, and I suggest the dance show that is put on regularly in the evenings. The audience were almost all tourists, many on package tours, and the show is tailored to be tourist-friendly. But I didn’t think that was a big minus. The performers look like they have lots of fun. While the dancers got all the attention, I was just as impressed by the small group of musicans and vocalists supporting the performance and took a photo of them afterwards (above) – everybody else seemed to be ignoring them. The woman was generating sounds with her voice that, if I didn’t know better, I would have assumed were being generated with electronic special effects.
btw – if you’re in Perth, there’s another “Rhythms of Sri-Lanka” show on in a couple of weeks – tickets are $20 at the door.
Here are a couple of temple photos (more will follow!):
Wheels World 