A recent visit to Hampi amazed me for several reasons. My search for all things old had taken me across the seas on many an occasion. However, as I discovered, sometimes there is more to be learnt in one’s own backyard (so to speak).

From Bangalore, Hampi is a five and half-hour drive by road. I arrived at the ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire in the late afternoon and headed straight for the Virupaksha Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, which dominates the skyline. The temple is a place of pilgrimage for Shaivites, as according to mythology, the nearby Hemakuta Hill was the place where Lord Shiva, who was performing penance before marrying the River Goddess Pampa, opened his third eye and razed Kama, the God of Love.

The gopura of the temple is stunning with its beautiful carvings. From atop the nearby Hemakuta hill, where most tourists head before sunset, the temple in the foreground with the Tungabhadra River separating the stark rocky hills on the opposite bank is a spectacular sight. 

The next morning, we saw more of the ancient Kingdom, this time accompanied by a guide for gaining a better understanding of the region’s culture and history. The first stop was the Vijaya Vittala Temple (a Krishna temple that is no longer active), famous for its stone chariot, which was used to carry the deities on procession during festivals.     

A unique aspect of the main temple is its musical pillars (though one can no longer test the sound as it is a protected national monument), which were incorporated into the design by King Krishnadevaraya, for his first queen, Chinna Devi – a dancer and musician. Outside the temple, stone pillars stretch to the horizon, hinting at the spectacle that might have existed in this international horse trading market in the empire’s heydays. 

The next stop was the royal enclosure, where the zenana and the nearby elephant stables take the centre stage. The Lotus Mahal, with its unique roof design that resembles the lotus, is the only surviving structure among the summer palaces of the three queens, as it was made from brick and mortar instead of wood.

The rest of our morning tour took us to the important sights, Ugra Narasimha, the monolith of the half-man half-lion avatar of Lord Vishnu, and back to the Hemakuta hill to visit the two Ganesha temples – one for the Royals and the other for the commoners. 

There were many more sights to be seen, but like Rome, Vijayanagara wasn’t built in a day. The Kingdom and its temples and palaces had grown over two centuries (1336-1565) under the patronage of four dynasties. Tragically, it took a mere six months for Muslim Kings to plunder and destroy it.  

In Hampi, lies the story of art, craftsmanship, romance and prosperity, but along with it comes the reminder of human destruction. The stone edifices around Hampi stand testimony to both the good and bad that humankind is capable of.

They watched over as one king gave way, or was made to give way, for another…..
They watched as greed and envy ruled over everything else, and all the good work came to naught.
They watched as a bustling city was laid waste…… as it was abandoned…..

They were the sole witnesses as nature re-claimed the land……. As trees grew over whatever was left …….and poor farmers replaced the rich merchants who once walked along the same path……
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And then came those in search of the ancient ruins, and dug up the fields, exposing the stone floors below…. Bringing to light chambers which lay hidden under the earth….

People come from all over to world just to see them, and as I stand amidst them, I can’t help wondering if these huge boulders have a message for us….. Standing tall among all the ruins, are they telling us not to make the same mistakes as those before us? To live a peaceful life without greed or enmity, forgetting petty differences such as religion and languages, to live in peace and harmony, for as humans, our life is short. We will soon pass on, but these huge boulders shall remain witness to our lives too, and what we choose to make of it!

With its rocky terrain, huge rocks and broken sculptures, Hampi could well be termed as a heaven for archeologists. The excavations are still on and it seems there are lots more to be unearthed. The sculptures and carvings are so beautifully and carefully carved that it must have taken many chiselling years in the making. Staring at the lovely boulders who have been silent witnesses to the fall of the majestic Vijayanagara empire, I visualised a 16th century empire at its prime.

Sitting in a coracle and enjoying the ride around the Tungabhadra I heard a guide narrate the story of Vijaynagar to a group of tourists .”When the Delhi Sultans had invaded Warangal, two brothers called Hakka or Harihara and Bukka escaped and landed here in Anegundi,” he says , pointing to the town on the other side of the river.

The brothers who were under the Kakatiyas then started serving the local chief here . Meanwhile the chief gave refuge to Bahauddin, a rebel nephew of the Delhi Sultan , Muhammad Bin Tughlaq.

“The Sultan plundered Anegundi and the brothers escaped again, and this is when they met Vidyaranya , a seer from the Sringeri Shankaracharya Mutt who asked them to build a city on the other bank of the river .He called it Vijaynagar or the city of victory though we also call it Vidyanagar after the seer, “ the guide said. The story however does not end here. The brothers raised a small army and revolted against the Sultan, who returned the kingdom to them. The seeds of the Vijayanagar empire which went on to rule all of South India for over 350 years had just been sown.

And yet everything about Hampi is not about Vijaynagar. Gazing at the waters of the Tungabhadra, I was looking forward to going towards the Pampa Sarovar on the other side. After all, Pampa is older than Hampi or Hampe as it was called and this was the Kishkinta of Ramayana where Rama gets the support of Sugriva and Hanuman and even kills Vaali. It is no wonder that Jambhavan , the lone sloth bear in Sugriva’s army comes alive in Daroji, the sloth bear sanctuary located close to Hampi.

As dusk dawned in Vittala temple , I was lost in the silence , when a familiar voice greeted me. It was the guide and his lot of tourists. As I walked away , I could hear him say, “ This is the greatest empire of all times, people compare it with Rome , but let me tell you that Vijaynagar is even more majestic than Rome .” I thought this is probably where civilizations and empires meet – on battlefields. And yet there is a similarity in the stories – one river and two brothers…

This was featured in my column , Inside Story in the Metro Plus. For more stories of Hampi, visit my blog

Pic : Charukesi

Or when you climb up Hemakuta hill, dotted with fifty odd small temples, the perfect place to spend a peaceful evening. Alternatively, stay in any of the small guest-houses in the bazaar area and find yourself staring at the gopura during breakfast from the mandatory roof-top restaurant of the place, or stare at the glorious silhouette of the temple tower in the evening as the sky turns colors before the sun finally sets for the day. Everywhere you turn in Hampi, you catch a glimpse of the Virupaksha temple.

Pics : Charukesi

In a town where all temples and places built by the Vijayanagar dynasty are now in ruins, the Virupaksha temple stands in amazingly good condition. Our guide Lokesh “full name Lokabhirama but too long to confusing” tells us that the Muslim invaders who destroyed most of Hampi, spared this temple on seeing the symbol of a boar (along with a sword and something else that I cannot remember now) etched on the wall near the entrance of the temple. Think of it – the invaders couldn’t have been all that clever if all it needed to keep them at bay was a boar in stone – nor for that matter, were the architects and builders very clever – why aren’t there more stone boars in temples, I say?

Pic : Charukesi

Now guides will be guides and invaders will be invaders and all that, so I have no idea how true this story is, but whatever the reason, the Virupaksha temple has survived through the centuries. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, or Pampapati (the husband of Pampa, or the goddess Bhuvaneshwari), this temple was built sometime in the early 15th century, and further renovated in the sixteenth century by Krishnadevaraya.

Pics : Charukesi

While the temple is aesthetically a marvellous example of the architecture of those times, the highlight is a small dark room at the Western end, way behind the main tower. Here, in the mornings, you get to see an inverted image of the main gopura (tower) on a wall, as light falls through a small window. The pinhole camera concept, explains our guide, as he moves his hand in front of the small window, thus altering the size of the inverted shadow on the wall.

Pics : Charukesi

And just outside, on your way back to the main gate are monkeys drinking milk straight out of plastic milk covers and the temple elephant, who gobbles up the bananas you offer and imparts his blessings only when money changes hands. There is also the pied-piper of Virupaksha, the old man who blows this long horn and poses for your camera, all for a small fee. You exit the temple straight into Hampi bazaar, with its “recommended in Lonely Planet” restaurants and little hand carts and stalls selling everything from cheap plastic-ware to the ubiquitous “ethnic” Rajasthani handbags. Alternatively, you can turn left just outside the temple and reach the banks of the Tungabhadra, it a lovely walk by the riverside.

Pics : Charukesi

And finally, straight from the heart, why I love Hampi so much and dream of returning…

Pics : Charukesi

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]]> http://www.clubmahindrablog.com/why-i-love-hampi/feed 6 http://www.clubmahindrablog.com/daroji-bear-santuary-bears-in-a-heritage-land http://www.clubmahindrablog.com/daroji-bear-santuary-bears-in-a-heritage-land#comments Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:15:02 +0000 Gowreesh Kapani http://www.clubmahindrablog.com/2008/11/14/daroji-bear-santuary-bears-in-a-heritage-land/ Think Hampi and the images that come to our mind are the ruins of the Vijaynagar empire with beautiful monuments strewn around the erstwhile capital town. On a hot sunny day, we travelled to Hampi and beyond. Our quest was not to celebrate the Hampi Utsav, but to look for the Indian Sloth Bear in “Daroji Bear Santuary”. Located in Bellary district and just 15 kms away Hampi, this wildlife sanctuary gives the town another identity besides mining and heritage.

Pic : Gowreesh K

Karnataka state government declared 5,587 acres of Bilikallu Reserve Forest as Daroji Bear Sanctuary in 1994 to protect the bear. The sloth bear population is today estimated about 120. They live in the naturally formed caves in the rocky mountains which are surrounded by dense forest.

Pic : Gowreesh K

We climbed up to the watch tower of the sanctuary from where the entire view of the sanctuary greeted us . As we looked into the vast expanse, we saw small black dots like pepper moving on rocks.The bears were walking around , blissfully unaware of us gazing at them in awe. Identifying them is like playing a game of hide and seek as they dart behind the rocks and emerge out of a thorny bush.

Pic : Gowreesh K

We learn a bit more about the bears from our guide Pampayya Swamy . These bears which live only in India and Srilanka are one of the 8 species of bears. “Look carefully at their chest and you can see a V or U shaped white strip ,” says Swamy adding that they can smell accurately even though their eyes may not be very powerful. “But be careful, they are very dangerous.. they can smell you or even hear you, they will usually run away , but will charge if they feel threatened” he murmurs.

Sloth bears love fruits and jackfruit is their favourite, says Swamy. I am reminded of Jungle Book as Swamy continues “These guys are always noisy while eating, can hear the sound up to 100 meters.”

Pic : Gowreesh K

The mating season is just over and slowly by winter, the sanctuary will be filled with cute hairless cubs who are born blind and will remain so for at least 3 weeks. The cubs need their mother for at least a couple of years before they are on their own and interestingly we are told that the bears have a life span of 40-50 years .

Pic : Gowreesh K

The silence is punctuated by the calls of the other animals & birds. Besides sloth bear the peacocks are well populated here – you can hear a song of peacock and the other birds all the time . Daroji is also home to leopards, hyenas, jackals, star tortoise, monitor lizards, mongoose, porcupines and birds like pea fowls, partridges, painted Spur hens and quails . Swamy who helped to identify the birds told us that close to 90 species of birds and 30 varieties of butterflies flit around here.

Pic : Gowreesh K

We trek into the forest and see some bears at close quarters..they gaze at us for a while before disappearing into the caves . It is amazing and terrifying .to see the wild animals in their natural habitat , while we are on outside our turf. For a moment , I thought the world of Jungle Book had come alive and I was Mowgli coming back home..to the wild

How to reach

By Road: Bangalore to Chitradurga (199 kms) on NH-4, then to Hospet (135 Kms) on NH-13. And then to Kamalapura (12 Kms)-which is 10 Kms from the Sanctuary. It is 15 kms from Hampi.

By Rail: Nearest railway station is Hospet where trains from Bangalore and Hubli are accessible.

The famous wildlife photographer & ex MLA Y.M. Gorpade is played a major role in declaring this place as a sanctuary . Jungle Lodges is planning to develop the sanctuary into a tourist destination. There is only a guest house available which has tented accomodation . You could do it as a day trip as well from Hampi . Pampayya Swamy who is a guide and naturalist will also organise the trip and can be contacted at 09449136252. The best season is between August to April .Summer can be very hot though.

Pic : Gowreesh K