Hampi (A curious Juxtaposition of Historical Importance and Rustic Beauty)

Packed in three cars we started our road trip to Hampi on 1^st January,2016.Our basic objective was to unwind with family and friends in a new environment. What environment? We were yet to explore.

All that we learnt about Hampi from Wikipedia------ it is a U.N.E.S.C.O. world heritage site in the northern part of Karnataka popularly known as “ group of monuments in Hampi”. The monuments were mostly temples carved out of rocks which form an integral part of the topography of the place. The rest was ambiguous to us.

Brimming with anticipations we started from Hyderabad at 7 in the morning.  After a breakfast break, lunch break, chai break and bumpy ride we reached Hampi around 7pm. We had booked our hotel at Hospet which was another half an hour from there.

After reaching the hotel we realised that there was a huge influx of boarders. On one hand we were glad to have chosen a popular hotel, but on the other hand we were slightly disappointed with their crowd management skills. And we felt the brunt of it at the restaurant. The fatigued waiters were not able to make sitting arrangements-----behave courteously-------supply food on time. But the last nail on the coffin was serving Screwdriver in guava juice. Nevertheless, a good company compensated for all these negatives. Therefore, we had joy, we had fun and anxiously awaited for the next day to bring us a lot of seasons in the sun.

Day 2, was a bright sunny day which I started by buying hand painted t-shirts with a Hampi architecture imprinted on it.

 Our day’s agenda was sight-seeing.  We decided to drive our vehicles from our hotel to the main auto stand by following Google Maps. But we got lost. Then we resorted to the good old method of asking people. It worked. As planned, we hired autos and explored the various monuments that were built around 16 century AD. The word Hampi means “ Champion”. And the

architecture does not udermine its name. It was the capital of Vijaynagar Empire. In 1500 AD it was said to be the world’s second largest and richest city.  With the passage of time, like all other ancient kingdoms, Hampi also lost its glory. Now all that is left , are these monolithic monuments jutting out in rural
background. That too has a rustic charm.

Our trip had yet another charm. The charm of travelling in a group. From this trip I learnt, how unique each person is could be best understood only when they are clustered together. For example:While one person preferred nature over architecture, the other liked otherwise. One of our group members had to take an online test. In spite of his love for travelling, he had to excuse himself in the middle. There were also some parents in our group who had to frantically chase their toddlers, whereas some enthusiastic senior citizen went haywire. Our group also had a passionate photographer who was engrossed in capturing the moments and a curious connoisseur who never missed a chance to admire the beautiful artefacts intricately etched out of marble rock displayed for sale . Thankfully, we as well had a couple of sane people in our group who believed in sticking together and making the most out of it. Anyway, even the rainbow has seven distinct colours. Still, all the colours stay together.  So much like us. Because of difference in personalities and obligations we might have got scattered here and there, but each time we got back, we got together, again and again like a rainbow, bringing joy not only to our hearts but in each other’s life as well.

Our day ended in one of our hotel rooms----- merry making, chit chatting, playing antakshari----- in another word, celebrating the new year, the way we wanted to.

Day3 was a Sunday. We had planned to start by afternoon in order to cope with the following Monday. But still we had some more spirit left in ourselves. Therefore, instead of considering it as a half day less, we decided to utilize it as a half day full. On the previous day we did not find time to visit VirupakshaTemple, one of the most important temples of  Vijaynagar Dynasty. So we decided to see it before we left Hampi.

It was indeed a sprawling campus with a wonderful exposition of the then architecture. After feeding bananas to monkeys and Lakshmi (the temple elephant) and taking blessings from the later in exchange of Rs.10, we headed towards the interior of the temple which was occupied by a man-made lake enclosed on all four sides by tiers of steps. Just beside it we noticed few giant size cane baskets.

After inquiry we came to know that they were coracles….local boats. The man who gave this information also added that few miles from the temple, flowed River Tungabhadra where there was a facility to ride coracle.  This idea triggered the desire for adventure in some of us, where as others decided to go back to the hotel and take rest.

The spot was 10 minutes by auto that was available in front of Virupaksha temple. This was followed by a mini trek of another 10 minutes.  The trek through the rocky terrain and dark caves made a great prelims to the experience we were about to have. On our way to the ghat, we also met a local sculptor, diligently carving forms out of granite and marble.

After reaching the ghat we boarded a coracle. There were eight of us. The water was deep and calm. The sky was clear and the weather was pleasant. There was some divine peace in the atmosphere. The  sailor took us past the cave temples that over looked us  on both sides of the river. The only way to enter these temples was by climbing stairs from the river face. Suddenly I saw a copper statue in one of the temples. I requested our sailor to sail us to that spot. After a little reluctance he directed the coracle to the temple stairs. We climbed up and found instead of copper, it was a stone statue

of the Sun god.  The sun rays that radiating on it gave it the copper hue. He also steered us to the center of the river and to our utter surprise started spinning the coracle. What a wonderful experience it was! It  will always remain in my heart  as one of the most memorable moments of my life. 

                                                                                                   

Our coracle ride was the cherry on the cake. Our trip would not have been as memorable if we had not gone out of our plan to take this coracle ride. We got late. But the disruption was worth it.

During our drive back home, we were ruminating on our trip. Suddenly a thought came in one of our minds: “ What if we took a coracle ride at night?”

What if you and I went on a Coracle ride:

On a temperate moon lit night?

Like those aimless gloomy clouds

Meandering across the stony Temples

Etched on the rocky cliffs:

Mystic in the glimmering aura,

Of Twinkling fireflies;

Watching us like ancient guardians

Awaiting the sunshine.

While Our coracle floating

like a lotus leaf

on the sleepy Tungabhadra.

We, as drops of silent observers

In the divine aqua tune 

With dreamy eyes ,rolling on it,

Musing in trance of the sight:

Of silver silhouettes

Making dance poses 

And playing hide and seek 

With their images on the rippling streaks.

In quietness we would row our coracle

For quietness is all we want

And who would like to ping or speak?

When silence is so eloquent,

In Singing lullaby of eternal bliss.

Till we dose off 

To the land of lotus eaters....

Intoxicated by the sweet smell 

Of mud drenched water....

What if.....What if.....

Would it be as enigmatic......

Or even better?

                           Afterall: 

 " Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

                         Are sweeter;”*

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* Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats

Picture courtesy Boudhaayan Paul