Khajuraho & Panna National Park

The trip to Khajuraho was an attempt to satiate me and my wife's urge to register our first travel together after marriage as we didn't go on a honeymoon. Those who have read my others articles in the travel log series would know that me and my wife do a lot of research before travel, some times for months on end. Much to the discomfort of left brainers like us, this was the trip in which most of the planning went awry despite our best efforts.

It was April 2015 and we had been searching for good destinations in India as my passport was still not ready. My wife always wanted to go to Khajuraho but I was skeptic. But I still did my research and found that connectivity to Khajuraho from Allahabad (That's where I have been living since 2011) was good and we can plan a 2-3 day trip easily by combining Ambedkar Jayanti Holiday with a weekend. So here are the details:

Getting there:

Khajuraho is located in  Chhatarpur District of Madhya Pradesh and the nearest big city is Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh about 175km away. Nearest rail-head is Khajuraho itself.  It is well connected to cities like Jhansi, Kanpur, Bhopal, Indore & even Udaipur via the Delhi-Howrah & Delhi-Chennai main rail lines.

For us in Allahabad, it was a direct overnight train ride on the Bundelkand-Link Express to Khajuraho which takes about 12 hours each way. On the return journey we had our fill of bad experiences which shall follow.

If  you wish to go by air then again Khajuraho has its own state of the art airport which just a mile or two outside the main city. When I had been there in April 2015, the airport was under construction. It was inaugurated  in June 2016 as is functional now with direct flights from Delhi, Varanasi & Mumbai by Air India & Vistara.

If you are one who loves the good old road trip then you better take National Highway 75 which was in good condition at the time of writing this article.

Best Time to Visit:
As Khajuraho can get pretty hot & humid during summers the monsoon, I recommend going there in between October & February while weather remains coo, & pleasant.

Places to See:

Once you do get there, there 3 main places to visit.The Hindu temple complex, the Jain temple complex & Panna National Park for a wildlife safari.
Before reaching Khajuraho, I recommend that you find a good taxi operator via google or via your contacts and book tours to both temple complexes. For Panna you can book an open Gypsy car via a taxi operator or the best way is to ask the tour desk at your hotel which worked fine for me.

The Hindu Temple Complex:

  The eastern group of temples near the banks of the lake Khajur Sagar are predominantly Hindu temples which were built by the Chandela Dynasty. The still surviving temples were built around 10 Century AD by the Hindu kings Yashovarmana & Dhanga.
The largest & best preserved temple is the Kandariya Mahadev Temple which is pictured above. The eastern group consisted of about 85 temples which were destroyed by the Delhi Sultanate ruler Qutub-ud-din Aibak and now only about 17-18 Hindu temples remain.

When I visited, many of the temples were under restorations and it was difficult to get good shots from any angle.
I Personally went to Khajuraho in the month of April when it was as hot as 40Deg celcius during day time and there were hail storms & nonseasonal rain going on. Even during such weather, it was nice to find many shady places to sit around and click photos and selfies after you get tired roaming around the temples like these made by laying broken of pieces of old destroyed temples.

 

There are many shops selling water, souvenirs and what not right within the temple complex. This was the place where I got my first fridge magnet and started my trend of filling my fridge with a magnet or two from every place I visited henceforth. 

The Jain Temple Complex:

New Outer Compound of the Jain temple Complex

The western group of temples, (best visited at the end of your day) are 4 surviving Jain temples including Adinath, Parshwanath, Shantinath & Ghantai temples which were built during the reign of Jain kings of the Chandela dynasty. These are now encloses in a modern compound.
There is not much to wander around as the temples are small, in ruins & only 4 of them left. There are no stall selling anything inside the compound but outside you can buy a variety of souvenirs.

There is a museum right next to temples and I recommend it as a must see. It has all the relics of the destroyed temples on display (as pictured above).
Let me warn you that after visiting the Western group of temples, if you hope to be amazed again by the Jain temples then it shall be quite anti-climatic. The Jain temples are much more austere, small and mostly in neglect & ruins.
The visit should about half to an hour and then I recommend you head on to one of the many eateries in the city and have rest foe your next day trip to Panna National park.

Places to Eat: 

When it comes to dining, it seems Khajuraho was was designed just for foreign travelers and especially for Italians. The street are littered with Italian restaurants in every corner possible. I would recommend La Bella Italia for some good Italian cuisine. When I visited in April-2015, it was stormy and my authentic Italian wood fired oven pizza dinner was spoiled by etremely strong winds, hail and torrential rain.

A a personal recommendation, I would suggest at least one visit to Guptaji's restaurant if you want home like food with Ghee on your daal and all that.
And there is Raja cafe just opposite the entrance of the Western group of temples if you want a brunch with the temples in view.

Meanwhile on the way to Panna in the Trademark open Maruti Gypsy car used in all Jungle safaris in India, we found this dhaba serving chai made on a coal fired stove at 5AM in the morning.

Panna National Park & Pandav Falls

Panna national park is about and hour by road from Khajuraho town. It is a part of Panna & Chhatarpur districts of Madhya Pradesh. It is was the 5th tiger reserve in India being officiated in 1993. At its peak Panna had up to 43 Tigers in its area of few hundred square kilometers. By 2009 every single tiger was eliminated by poaching and the reserve was declared free of tigers except 3 tigresses brought from other parks like Bandhavgarh & Kanha for breeding.

As I said earlier, for Panna you can book an open Gypsy car via a taxi operator or the best way is to ask the tour desk at your hotel. It would cost your about 2500Rs. Do keep in mind that for any safari, to actually be able to have a sighting (Tiger or any other animal), you must get up early in the morning and book the 6AM to 11Am slot in the Jungle at the proper entrance point. It may be noted that some National parks have many entrances and the chances of a sighting depend upon which one you choose.

Even after all the above checks, the weather gods were not on our side and as it had rained the whole night before our visit. When we reached the entrance gate of the tiger reserve (pictured above), the forest rangers declined us entry

Ticketing Area of Panna

We wandered in the ticketing area (pictured above) for some time trying to convince the Range Forest Officer to let us in just for an hour at least but he wouldn't budge. Their point was that road inside the jungle are unpaved dirt roads and they get quite muddy & slippery due to rains and if we drive on such roads and managed not to get hurt ourselves, we will still damage the roads a lot more. Repairing these dirt roads without much equipment in the jungle is a tedious task.

Ken River Visible from Panna Ticketing Area

When we found no way out, we diverted our anger to our taxi operator as they should have had an idea that such a fiasco could happen and they should have cancelled the safari before hand. The taxi operator wouldn't agree for a refund, but rather suggested a trip to Pandav falls which is a small waterfall nearby the Jungle entrance.

It was just another half hour before we agreed with our taxi operator and reached Pandav falls. We were in for a surprise. Pandav falls is small 100 feet waterfall on a tributary of the ken river in picturesque setting. The area has been developed by MP tourism department and now we have Gazebos, sittings areas, a parking lot. This surely does add value to the area a day trip destination from Khajuraho. As in amny countries and tours these days, the taxi driver doubles up as a guide to inform us about the history of Pandav Falls which is mostly mythological. The place is surreal though right from the entrance.

This place was so calm that we could hear tourists talking few hundred yards away. Mind you all the tourists at Pandav falls that day were those turned back from Panna national park.

We visited at the start of summer, so the river was running low on water and all that was left of the water fall was just a small stream of clear water slowly hurtling down the mountain.

 The waterfall was a bit anti-climatic but the views were serene and there were many walking trails and small streams of water that you can enjoy and I must say that the place is heaven for photographers.

You can walk up one trail that leads to a balcony that overlooks the top of the water fall (view in alongside pic). One trails leads to a stream that flows over the trail and you canwalk through the dripping water.

Walking Trails near the Waterfall

It is said that the Pandavs durig their Agyat waas, had stayed here for soem time in the caves below the waterfalls. These thus came to be known as Pandav caves.

The caves were mostly in ruin and neglect, but they have been recently restored to encourage tourism.

The overgrown moss on the cave walls and the stream that literally flows down the outer walls of the caves makes for a picturesque spot ideal for photographers. 

Since rain had played spoil sport on the rest of our trip, we boarded the first passenger train out of Khajuraho that we could catch to Jhansi. After loitering around for hours on Jhansi station, we finally managed to book current tickets back to Allahabad marking the end of this trip which was my first after marriage and ot countless more to come.