Ha mpi a brief visit to the lost kingdom
Prologue Usually any trip for us means detailed planning, well in advance, and most importantly ‘confirmed bookings’. We hardly set out on a journey especially out of station, without these pre-requisites and so far it has worked out well for us. This time too, it was no exception until things started going unlike the way we had thought they should. I was in China for few weeks working on a project which consumed almost all my energy. I planned a week long leave after the work was over and thought it would be good if Shilpa and Urja join me there to see Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The ‘planning’ started but somehow it did not work out and we finally dropped the plan. The only thing intact was one week long leave which both of us had managed to time together! Having such a rare asset with us proved to be encouraging enough to make a new travel plan possible even at last minute. One week was not enough to travel to north east India, the jungle lodges in south were already full, and monsoon was pouring in Konkan and Goa, so all these destinations were written off. By the time I returned, nothing was decided and suddenly Shilpa came up with a new place... Hampi! Being an archaeological site, it is needless to say that she had already done some homework, because she is always ready to visit such places any number of times...I had never visited Hampi, (yes... even though I am an Architect!) and seeing the possibility of a long drive, I agreed immediately. And so, there we were, on our way to south without any ‘planning and booking confirmation’ except for the route map and few hotel contacts. It was a risk we took based on the information that it was an ‘off season’ time for this place. The plan was to visit Hampi and Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary just a few kilometres from there and enjoy the longest drive so far in our own car! Photo credits : Shilpa Marathe | Alok Marathe
Nikon D50 | Nikkor 28-80 | Nikkor 70-300 | Sigma 150-500
Heading south... On the 11th August 2012, we were out on the highway by noon. NH4 being a fully divided road makes the driving easy and comfortable which also helps gain speed and momentum and eventually saves a lot of time. We moved steadily without any hurry, watching the grassy meadows with scattered cattle, Black shouldered kites either perched on the power lines or hovering above the grassland. Getting a pleasant car wash with occasional light rains, we crossed Kolhapur at around 5PM. The highway is in exceptionally good condition after Kolhapur , admiring which we reached Belgaum just before sunset and spent the evening with Shilpa’s cousin. We retired soon, as we planned to start the real journey as early as possible the next morning. It was 7AM by the time we got ready and started. Area surrounding Belgaum is really beautiful and the cool cloudy morning made the drive even more pleasant. Watching the sun rise and occasional birds crossing above us, we gained speed and reached Hubli around 9.30 AM. Passing through the town we left NH4 and turned to east. Though using the Google maps navigation, we still missed a couple of turns and finally touched NH63. Not finding any good place to stop for breakfast, we decided to continue on the highway. NH63 is wide enough but is a old world (not divided) highway. As we moved ahead, the surroundings changed drastically. The lush green colour scheme was now very dry and muddy. Arid landscape with sparse scrub dominated everywhere. I felt every now and then as if a camel or a Chinkara
will cross the road...it was like driving through Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan...but this lasted only till I saw the local folks wearing ‘lungi’ bringing me back in Karnataka. After crossing Gadag, we stopped for a short break near a windmill farm. There were huge wind mills, at least 30 and a couple of them were very close to the road. They appeared really gigantic from close quarters. I had seen the individual blades transported in long trucks occasionally, but it was a different revelation of scale and proportion watching them rotating with steady wind without making any sound. During this break Shilpa had called the Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR) at Daroji sanctuary to know that only one cottage was available only for that day. It was a good deal to stay at the resort on the first day, since they had half day Hampi tour as a part of their package which meant that we could get an overview of the place and chose to visit the selective buildings again on following days. We decided to go non-stop till JLR so that we could reach by lunch time. Food at JLR is worth skipping a breakfast for...! Urja had her own food stock in the car and she is very much used to long car journeys since she was one year old, so there was no problem at all on that front. It was past noon by the time we crossed Hospet from where Hampi is around 13 kms. We entered a village named Kamalapur just before Hampi, where most of the hotels are located. A good friend of mine had shared a lot of information about the place including places to stay, visit, good time for photography, etc. The JLR guy came till Kamalapur to pick us up in a mini bus! By the time we reached the resort, we were really hungry.
JLR at Daroji It is very difficult to believe that JLR is an initiative by the government of Karnataka. They have finest of properties in most amazing locations, maintained in excellent condition and the hospitality matching any luxury resort, sometimes even better... It was our third time to visit a JLR property and once again it created an amazing first impression. The resort at Daroji is spread over a cluster of small hillocks with cottages spaced well apart connected with winding pathways. As we reached the reception, a welcome drink was offered to us. The manager with a smile on his face explained the package to us and we were checked in immediately. By the time our luggage was transferred to the cottage, I took the car to the parking lot which was a tall shelter of bamboo stilts covered with thatch. Our car was also going to enjoy the JLR experience! We had cottage No. 19, on the tallest hillock with a panoramic view not only of the entire resort, but also some part of Hampi at a distance! We rushed to the Gol ghar. Apparently, the dining and multipurpose hall in any JLR resort is called Gol ghar irrespective of its real shape. The food was amazing as usual which made us eat far too much than usual. The next program after an hour’s rest was to visit Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary. I used this precious time for equally precious activity of hibernating! zzzzzzz
The group! We gathered at the Gol ghar by 3.30PM for tea. We all (a group of 15+) were to go for the safari in a AC minibus. It was a strange group of people indeed considering that we were going for a jungle safari... There were three more families apart from us. First was Bengali family - a man with Canon 100-400, college going daughter, four year old son and his wife, all three with a gadget each, either a camera or a binocular. Second was a Kannadiga family – a couple with 5 /6 yr old daughter and Canon S3IS. Third was a Tamil family – a couple with two boys around high school age with a camera and binoculars. Apart from these, there was a guide and the driver. Daroji sanctuary is more like a large shelter for the sloth bears, who are largely dependent on the forest department for food. So it was ok to go in such a group with so many kids.
The bird watching stretch We turned right and moved on a dirt track along a canal filled edge to edge with fast flowing water. Our guide told us that it was a 107 kms long canal which enters Andhra Pradesh moving further. Soon, the guide engaged us in bird watching activity. Every now and then he stopped the bus and pointed at some bird perched alongside the road or canal. We sighted lapwings, cormorants, ducks, larks, hoopoe, parakeets, etc, which are very commonly seen, so I clicked whenever I saw nice frame. After a while it became very irritating and the Tamil guy on last seat, said it a loud, “we are here to see the Bear sanctuary and not the Bird sanctuary!” We spent almost more than an hour alongside the canal and eventually the guide avoided any more stops sensing the delay. We left the canal at a point and soon joined a tar road. We had travelled for few more minutes when our guide stopped the bus once again. Already irritated, I was reluctant to see what he was pointing at, but as if reading my mind, he called me aloud to take a look at the birds on the dry landscape. And what a sight; there were half a dozen Painted Sand grouse feeding. It is almost impossible to find these birds on the ground because of their excellent camouflage. It took us a while to locate the birds even through binoculars. A flock with 2 males with a visible black
and white marking above eye and a few females was sitting tight in the dust. It was a refreshing sighting after a long and boring ride so far.
Inside the Bear land A few more minutes of drive and we finally arrived at the sanctuary gate which was painted in bright blue, popping up against the dull brown shrubs inside. We entered the dirt track passing through dry thorny shrubs with occasional green bush not more than ten feet tall. We must have taken only a couple of turns and there he was, a full grown giant male sloth bear sitting right in the middle of the road with his head down searching for something on the ground. I had seen the sloth bears earlier a couple of times, but only briefly from a distance and that too in a completely different habitat. Watching this guy was a treat in itself. He was completely oblivious to our presence and remained busy with his head down. All of a sudden there was action inside the bus, as everyone got ready with gadgets to capture the moment. He raised his head in a while and looked at us with a stupid expression while everyone could take a good look at him. Then suddenly with a shocking jerk, he got up, raised his head in opposite direction, turned around and quickly ran away. And in a moment, the reason for this behaviour was clear. A white car was coming
in full speed from opposite direction with windows open! The driver had no clue about what he had missed because of careless speedy driving and even honked looking at our bus! This is what happens when private vehicles are allowed inside a wildlife area... how can the drivers who are already so insensitive about the city traffic adapt to the pace of nature? Anyways, we had missed a chance of spending more time watching the large male bear, but the brief sighting itself was refreshing enough. We tried searching for him again but failed. There were no further sightings and soon we came at the foot of a hill and stopped. It was already past 5 PM and the light was very low. The guide showed us the way up hill where a paved pathway with steps passed through huge egg shaped rocks lying on one another, a typical landscape feature in this part of India. Apparently, there was a watch tower on the hill top from where tourists could watch the bears almost every evening gathering for feeding or retiring near the caves in rocks on the opposite hill. The forest department fed them every day, but in their natural habitat, which made this sanctuary something between zoo and real jungle. As we climbed up the hill, many people had already gathered near the watch tower. The top of the hill was a single
large curved head of a giant egg shaped rock and on the east side was another hill with lots of similar rock formations and few caves within. There was tall metal fencing around the watch tower area to ensure people don’t trespass into bears’ habitat. A bunch of people were looking towards the opposite hill and were pointing at something. I searched for our guide who was already busy setting up his telescope on tripod. Soon he showed us a small black dot on the hill. Through the binoculars, we revealed that ‘black dot’ to be a sloth bear busy feeding. We watched the bear for few minutes and soon another one climbed up the hill and joined the first one but keeping a distance. A couple of Rhesus Macaques (monkeys with red face and base) were loitering around waiting for an opportunity to steal food from the bears. Loud “Miaooon Miaooon’’ calls of peacocks had filled up the atmosphere. A couple of them with long tail feathers were feeding on the ground at the foothill. They seemed to be completely aware of our presence, as they raised their heads to us whenever the sound in our group grew louder. Now it was sunset time and we had to return. It soon became dark as we slowly moved out of the sanctuary and reached the resort.
Night at the resort We spent some time at the reception refreshing ourselves by sipping hot tea and feeling the cool breeze and then walked back to our cottage watching the orange – purple shades of the sky. The moon, almost full, showed up above the east horizon occasionally hiding behind the thin bands of clouds. We went back to the Gol ghar to watch a wild life film, which never got screened due to the bad projector! We spent some time browsing some books from the rack and watching the Signature spider web behind the glass door. After a sumptuous dinner, we walked out and sat around the camp fire. Powerful wind was blowing, making the flimsy plastic chairs almost fly! It also made the glowing fire sparks take to the air making beautiful dynamic formations against the backdrop of darkness. The two elements together put up a powerful choreographed performance and Shilpa made most of the opportunity setting up the camera and tripod capturing the event. As the fire died and so died our energy levels, we retired to our cottage calling it a day. Next morning we were to visit the lost empire of Vijayanagaram... Hampi!
Hampi Darshan I was up before the sunrise sitting in the veranda overlooking the vast open resort campus. It was a fine morning as the sun rose from behind the hill and the atmosphere was filled with chirping birds. Bulbuls, spotted doves and silver bills were abundant flying from one perch to the other in the sparse thorny vegetation. Breakfast was ready by the time we reached Gol ghar. We packed our bags and loaded in the car as we had to look for another place to stay thereafter. Soon everyone gathered near the bus and smiles were exchanged since it was the same group as previous evening, except for the guide. As soon as the bus came outside the resort gate, he automatically switched on himself, giving information about Hampi – The place which was known as Vijayanagaram, one of the most glorious empires in ancient India ruled by King Krishnadevraya. Apparently, Hampi has two broad clusters of buildings. First – the royal centre which comprises of all the palaces and royal villas and second – the scared centre comprising of all temple complexes. We first visited the Vitthal mandir complex which was nearest from the direction of our resort. As we approached near Hampi, the architectural remains started appearing, most of them partially ruined to varying degree, but their eternal glory and class of quality was still alive in every part standing. By the time we reached the temple area, these remains and the running commentary of our guide had started priming our mind, making us visualize the life around them and the era in which these monuments once stood. Every piece of stone reflected the richness and finesse of lifestyle at the time it was laid; the only effort we had to make was to give some attention and apply some imagination...and the more we did it, more we got mesmerized...!
Vittahl Mandir Our bus stopped at the parking lot from where we were taken in small groups, each sitting in a battery operated vehicle driven by local women. The path from the parking area to the temple complex was a dirt track with hills on both sides studded with traces of monuments. As we approached near the temple, a long row of stone framework appeared along the road, which was the market place in ancient times. As we entered the gate, there was a huge open plaza with the replica of Konark’s famous Chariot of Sun made in stone standing in the middle with the backdrop of Vitthal mandir. There were additional temples and halls on either side of the chariot. The king got this chariot specially made after conquering Odisha. The main temple belongs to Lord Vitthal, and the idol is kept in Pandharpur temple in Maharshtra. As per our guide, this was done to save it from the sultan’s attacks, which was quite evident by the damaged scuptures in the entire temple complex. We spent next hour or so looking at the wonderful creations and amazing features in the architecture and off course capturing them in camera. Urja entertained herself mainly running all over the open plaza with occasional attempts of pushing the chariot wheels and riding on interesting animal figurines! The entire campus was full of mesmerising works of art and architecture, constructed in one of the hardest stones (Granite) like, pillars making sounds of various musical instruments, niches and scoops
for hanging curtains and oil lamps, natural spot lighting achieved by specific placements of stone slabs and multiple creatures made in a single figurine which could be revealed by covering its various parts, to name a few. Krishnadevaraya was a liberal king who promoted open trade policy, inviting people from various parts of the world to visit Hampi market to sell various things in exchange of precious stones and pearls. This is captured in one of the stone carvings, where one can clearly see a Chinese man with a stick, a Portuguese with a horse, etc.
From the farther end of the temple campus, we could see the distant hill with a small white temple on top which our guide said was the birth place of Lord Hanuman, named Anegundi. The word Anegundi means, group (gundi) of elephants (ane) and this place is referred as the Kishkindha town in Ramayana belonging to Vali and Sugreev, the monkey kings. Before walking out of the temple, our guide gave us a live demonstration of the musical
stone pillars. We also tried our hand on a set of pillars which played Tabla like sounds. The most amazing part is that these pillars are not hollow from within and still are able to play such ringing sounds by the combination of their thickness, length, weight and the load transferred on them from the stone slab above!!! It was time to move to the next building.
The royal centre We moved towards the centre of Hampi visiting the Queen’s spa first. This building had mogul style of architecture with its domes and arched windows. A royal spa it was, but much less impressive than the previous building we had seen. From there we walked to a vast open space which was the royal centre. Crossing a tall fortress wall of stone, we reached at the foot of a 3 storied tall plinth with peripheral steps. The steps had beautiful carvings on the risers. Reaching the top, we could see the entire surroundings without any obstructions. To the north of this, we came across one of the recently discovered structures. It was a square shaped stepped well called Pushkarani.
Moving ahead we came across the place where the king held his daily darbaar. Raised platform for the King’s throne and stone flooring with holes for anchoring sandal wood pillars were the only remains of it. In the distant corner of the campus were the royal palaces which were not open for tourist as excavation work was in progress. By this time, the sun shone right above our heads and it was very hot, although the wind made it bearable. We were tired by now and seeing the stone structures was becoming a bit monotonous for me (definitely not for Shilpa). We went back to the bus and moved to the next stop.
Queen’s summer villa This was a villa specially built for the queen/s to spend holidays (when the King went on a mission). It had a strong fortress with tall watch towers in the corners from where a team of eunuchs kept guard. There was a small museum in one of the halls inside showing photographs of all the buildings in Hampi before and after restoration taken from the same angles. A little further from the villa, was the elephant shelter. A long row of chambers with domes on top made this structure more impressive than the villa. The central chamber was for the King’s elephant with the tallest dome. It was very hot by now and I was physically as well as mentally tired of seeing ancient architecture since morning. So, I decided to take a break with Urja and we relaxed under a huge tree treating ourselves with tender coconuts while Shilpa was roaming around in the elephant shelter taking snaps. Soon our group gathered in the bus and the guide asked aloud whether to go for another monument or to have lunch first? He got two
responses immediately voting for lunch, one of them being mine off course! And so we were back in JLR once again enjoying the buffet lunch. This turned out to be a very wise decision, as we were to soon face a troubled time ahead‌.
In search of a shelter… We had to leave now to look for another place to stay in Hampi which according to our guide was easy to get near the Virupaksha temple, being an ‘off season’. First we checked few hotels in Kamalapura including the KTDC, but everything was full. The next cluster of hotels was at the Hampi bazaar near the Virupaksha temple. As we reached near the place, we saw a huge open ground full of parked vehicles and people all over the area, as if there was a mela! At that moment it occurred to us like a flash that it was a long weekend and so people from nearby towns had gathered in such large numbers. We had neglected this possibility totally relying on the ‘off season’ factor, a bit too much… we parked the car in a narrow lane which had all the small guest houses our guide had mentioned. Apparently, all of them were full, so we had to return. Now suddenly my mind had started
preparing for plan B (to return homewards and may be halt in Mahabaleshwar...) but I had not shared my thoughts aloud yet. The next place to look for accommodation was Hospet and so we moved on stopping at a Rajasthani cultural resort on the way. It was a huge resort, but only the presidential villa was available for INR 6000 per night! We checked it out anyways and obviously decided not to stay. This was one of the worst villas I have ever seen in my life. The entire resort was done up in the most distasteful manner and had no connection whatsoever with the world Heritage site next to which it was located. We soon reached Hospet looking for Hotel Malligi which was supposed to be a good place to stay. The manager, taking a good look at us announced that there was no room available which will suit us. However there was a ‘very basic’ room available, but his expressions conveyed very clearly that it will not suit us. Desperate to get a decent place, we took a look at the room, but only to find that the man-
ager was correct. By this time it was past 3PM and we had finally started discussing calling it off and heading back. It was important to either find a place or take a quick decision to return because driving in dark on NH63 would have been extremely risky, which meant we had to start the return journey almost immediately in order to reach Hubli before dark. Suddenly our carefree trip so far was about to get over spoiling mood. Urja was asleep unaware of the trouble, which helped us discuss things with cool head. We decided to look for options in Hospet for another 30 minutes failing which we had to return. Unfortunately we had to start the return journey, as we did not find any accommodation in Hospet too! With sad faces, we hit the highway and crossed the river Tungabhadra and came across a sign saying ‘Anegundi – 20 kms to right’. Both of us must have thought of the same thing at that time and I stopped the car just to think for a while…
Anegundi – the surprise chapter Originally when Shilpa did search for hotels in Hampi, she had found some resorts in Anegundi which was right opposite to the Virupaksha temple, but across Tungabhadra River. But when she had called these hotels, she was informed that these hotels were closed, since the water level in the river was too high and so the boat services were shut down. So we had never considered the hotels on this side of the river .But now, the situation was different. It did not rain for the last 2 days, so we hoped that the water levels might have resided. We had seen half of the Hampi already and crossed half of the distance too. So we decided to take a chance and took the right turn to Anegundi saying Jay Hanuman! It was a purely instinctive decision... The road snaked through small settlements and the area in between was dominated by hills with huge round rocks in a formation as if someone has kept them one above the other. Rice fields occupied most of the flat landscape below the hills and they were filled with muddy water and sometimes with fresh green tender
paddy. As we reached near Anegundi, the road started running parallel to what seemed like a small riverbed across which we could see small cottages with thatch roof looking more like a resort than local settlement. After enquiring, we found that it was the same Shanti guest house where Shilpa had called initially. Soon came the crossing across the riverbed on the right which was marked by remains of a huge Aqueduct. There was a small pool of ankle deep water remaining in the riverbed while rest of it was dry with rock and grass patches which was a good sign. While crossing it, we realized the setting of this place and why we had received a negative response from all the hotels on this side of the Tungabhadra River. We were approaching an island where all the hotels were located with the river flowing on both sides. The island was accessible only when the water kept below a safe level, as there was no bridge! We soon reached the resort and to our surprise, there was ‘only one’ cottage available...! It was such a great relief to finally get a place to stay, and our trip was saved from a sudden end.
Shanti guest house The guest house was a cluster of circular cottages on a private home property and the owner had his own house in one corner of the campus. All the 20 odd cottages were of exact same size and shape but were separated in two categories as river facing and non river facing and ours was the later one. Each cottage had an extended covered canopy in front with a nice swing with mattress. This canopy was supported on raw granite pillars and was covered with thatch roof. The circular cottage had a cone roof covered in thatch giving it a very unique look and was connected
to the other cottages with a raised pathway of stone paving. The non river facing cottages were arranged in circular cluster around an open grass patch. Each cottage also had teak trees in front of it. It was a very simple, pleasant and refreshing setting indeed. We got ready and went to the resort kitchen hoping to get some tea, but the owner told us that all his cooking staff had gone on vacation due to ‘off season’ and plainly refused to offer any kind of food and suggested that we go to some other restaurant ahead on the road for that! So we went ahead on the road to explore the area looking for some refreshments. The first restaurant we came across was
Mowgli Resort (God only knows why that name), where a large group of firangs had already occupied most of the space. There was only one waiter and he looked already very confused with a long order list in his hand of 15 pizzas and many more items, and frankly suggested us not to wait there! Crossing a few more food joints which were closed, we arrived at a place called Nargila which looked like a small resort in itself with cottages on either sides and a large open restaurant in the middle. This place was almost empty, but open, so we rushed in.
Nargila – our new ‘food station’ The restaurant was a large hall connecting the two rows of cottages with a roof on top but no walls. The seating was Indian style with low tables made in granite slabs with mattresses on either sides, both covered in printed bed sheets and some cushions thrown around. We made ourselves comfortable in one of the seating and were surprised to see the multi-cuisine menu. It had majority of western delicacies, especially Italian and Israeli and that too for very affordable rates! We ordered for Indian tea to begin with and started looking at the place. The usual customers for this place were mainly firangs, which was evident from the menu, the Trans music playing on the system, a guitar and drum lying in the corner and overflowing ash trays on each table. And soon a few firang boys and girls arrived as if to confirm it! They were typical ‘hippie’ kinds shabbily dressed and hardly groomed with iPods plugged in. Actually, we were the odd kinds in that entire setting, although Urja was looking one of them with her messy hair and clothes! The tea arrived in large glasses and it was really very refreshing along with the cool wind blowing across the open hall. We spent a very relaxed time, as there was no activity planned ahead and knowing that our resort had no food to offer, we decided to spend more time in Nargila till dinner. We had a truly amazing dinner after a long hectic day so far. Back at our resort, we spent some time talking to the owner and learnt that Anjaneya temple on the hill could be visited very early in the morning. This was the same temple on hilltop, we had seen from the Vitthal temple complex described as the birth place of Lord Hanuman. We retired immediately; as there was no TV in the room and the next day was going to be very challenging... we had to climb 600 odd steps to reach the temple!
The Anjaneya Temple We got ready early in the morning and were on our way to Anjaneya temple by 6.30 AM. It was a cool cloudy morning and as we approached the entrance archway, there was already a bus full of people busy loading luggage. At the beginning of the steps, there was a cluster of small rooms which was occupied by this large group of pilgrims and they were about to wind up the luggage spread all over. We moved through the noisy crowd soon finding ourselves climbing the 600 steps ahead of us. Urja was still asleep on my shoulder and it was hard to convince her to climb on her own, but once she began, it was even harder for us to keep pace with her! The ascent was quiet steep with segments of steps and flat landings passing through God’s own Lego (we had named the rock formations as that) and sometimes even from below them. We
reached halfway and paused for a while to look at the serene beauty of the entire area surrounding Hampi. Recharged with the view, we started our final segment of ascent which was the steepest. Soon the temple was visible and we could hear loud Ram bhajans. As we reached the top, we were very disappointed looking at the temple structure which was merely a shabbily constructed large room with red conical roof on top. It had absolutely no connection with the great creators of Hampi. We decided to take a walk around on the hill top instead of listening to the loud bhajans sung in horrendous voices. The hill top also had the God’s Lego almost everywhere and the gaps between the curved rocks were bridged by putting flat stone slabs by pilgrims. We went away from the temple and soon came to the other edge from where the entire expanse of Hampi was visible. It was a truly magnificent panorama marked with the long stretch of Tungabhadra taking elegant turns passing through
the empire once called Vijayanagaram. The glorious pieces of architecture sprinkled along the bank of the river appeared so tiny from this position. The gopurams of the Virupaksha temple peeped out from behind a hill at a distance while the entire temple complex of Vitthal mandir stretched right in front of us. The fast moving cloud blanket appeared so close from the hilltop and it made the entire atmosphere very cool and pleasant. As we sat on one of the large curved rocks watching Hampi from a different perspective, Urja was having her morning snacks which soon attracted monkeys around us. As is the case with most of the pilgrim places in India, these monkeys had also grown very bold and did not hesitate to approach us for the food. Soon, we started to descend and it was much more pleasant as we were facing the view of lush green planes around the turning river. It was time to touch base at Nargila again for international breakfast!
Visit to Anegundi village Gorging on the Spanish and English food, we decided to visit Anegundi village and a few more places nearby in the first half of the day and go across the river in Coracle to see Virupaksha temple in the second half. It was very hot by the time we were on the road to Anegundi and we soon turned right to see Pampa Sarovar (lake of goddess Parvati ). Unfortunately, the place was nothing but a large rectangular water reservoir full of weeds and pilgrims taking ‘holy bath’ almost everywhere. So we turned back and proceeded to Anegundi. As we reached the boundary wall of the village, we were welcomed by a standing statue of King Krishnadevaraya, painted golden with a warm smile on his face. Entering through the archway, we passed through the village which reminded me of Malgudi Days scenes which had a small post office, tiny shops, compact lanes and simple people. At next cross roads, a large wooden chariot similar to the Surya rath, stood in a corner while people continued their daily routine around it. We visited a local craft shop briefly and then returned on our way back. As we came a little away from the village, we saw a large group of langurs jumping on a rock formation. It was the largest group we had seen so far and the whole setting was so picturesque that we had to stop and watch. The young langurs jumped from rock to rock while elders ones were comparatively
quiet and preferred to rest in shade. It was so amazing to see tiny langur kids take such long leaps which appeared suicidal to human eye, but were executed with such ease...! No wonder this place is referred to as Kishkindha Nagari from Ramayan...the langurs looked very much ‘at home’! The next place we visited was Durga mandir on top of a hill with a small winding road. Again to our disappointment, this was a modern temple, so we avoided the long walk from the open parking to the temple, as the sun was burning right on top of our heads. While descending the ghat, a large round boulder, almost as big as an elephant, caught my eye. An orange male rock agama was basking in the blazing sun. I was out of the car within no time approaching the boulder for closer shots...and the mid day sun was no more an issue for me! As I reached closer, I noticed that there were at least 20 smaller agamas resting in the shade of the huge rock. These were much smaller than the male sentry and were pale off-white with darker spots on body. The agamas had made this ride uphill rather interesting. We were once again on our way back, driving slowly watching tractors and people working in the knee-deep mud, egrets feasting on exposed insects and worms, firangs riding on bicycles in groups... We soon reached the Aqua duct and this time took a good look at it. Deciding to visit Hampi in the second half by crossing the river in a Coracle, we found ourselves in Nargila once again!
Hampi across the river We took a quick power nap waiting for the sun to tilt a little to the west, before heading to the boating point and took a quick stop for tea at Nargila! It was a long walk till the other end of the road and we reached a narrow lane sloping down towards the river. There was no signage, but it was very simple to locate, as everyone was moving in the same direction. As we reached halfway down the narrow path, we realized that the boat was not a Coracle but an ugly looking motorboat jam packed with people making it half sunk. We decided to wait and watch the whole river crossing event. The foot path turned left and touched the edge of the river where steps and a long platform was built for people to board the boats. However, at that time this boarding point was completely deserted except for a Coracle lying in the sandy river bed! The boarding point in operation was on the other side where people walked across the edge of the river, first in
ankle deep mud and then knee-deep water to reach the boat. The reason for this was beyond our understanding, but what was clear to us that we were not going to cross the river in this fashion. There was no limit to which the boat was getting filled with not only people, but also bicycles and it soon crossed the river in almost half sunken condition. It was very surprising that the world heritage site has no bridge or well organised boat transportation, while there were so many hotels on the island. Disappointed, we returned back to our hotel contemplating whether to visit the Durga temple hill once again to see the sunset. As we rested in our cottage, I casually took a walk towards the river facing cottages and soon discovered that there was an amazing area beyond them. Lush green paddy fields swayed with the flowing wind making waves. A huge flock of Munias, Baya weavers and Green bee-eaters perched on the electric cables waiting to feast on insects popping out of the fields. I went back to call Shilpa and Urja and soon, we were all standing on the edge of a field watching the green waves.
Virupaksha temple from a different perspective It was clear by now that we had to make another visit just for photography and to see remaining part of Hampi. Standing there watching the shades of green, we could see some glimpse of the river beyond tall grass island clusters. A person from our resort informed that we could walk right up to the river bed after crossing the fields, so we decided to spend that evening along the river and were on our way almost immediately. As we approached nearer, we could hear the water flow and soon the entire stretch was visible in front of us. To our surprise, the gopurams of the Virupaksha temple rose above the green band of palms across the river and were glowing in the golden light of the tilted sun. I had never imagined viewing the temple from this angle, in this light and in such a frame with the river in foreground...! We made ourselves comfortable on a dry sandy mound and without wasting time, I was in the crystal clear water with Urja. We kept admiring the beautiful surroundings while Urja was busy collecting pebbles and putting them in a bag to carry home! The river bed was wide with clusters of rocks and tall grass deforming its smooth edge. The setting sun painted the grass and sand dunes in golden and bronze colour. The white temple stood tall against a deep blue sky backdrop and created dynamic reflections in the flowing water. The scene kept changing its colours as the sun rushed towards the horizon.
Two pairs of raptors arrived above us, one smaller than the other. The larger ones were unmistakably eagles, but I could not identify them. They were chasing each other away, most likely for a territory and it was simply amazing to watch the master hunters doing an acrobatic performance. My big lens was not with me at that moment, but to my surprise it did not bother me at all and on the contrary I felt like just watching the birds. Sometimes, it is much more fascinating to just being in the moment watching things than struggling to ‘capture’ it...! The magical setting had a soothing effect on me and I kept watching the pairs dive on to each other and then rise up again. The smaller pair soon drove the larger ones away and a pair of crows chased the smaller ones away later. Urja kept saying ‘Mumma take this one...’ again and again like a broken record and she had already gathered about 4 kgs in the bag! With the thought of starting very early the next morning, we retired soon.
The return journey By the time we were ready, it was already 8 AM, so we decided to take breakfast at Nargila and then go non- stop till Satara. In the final few minutes, we reviewed our trip while having amazing breakfast...it was a short but action packed trip so far. With highs and lows, it was a multifaceted trip...nature, architecture, trekking, religion, water sports, long drive (and yes....adventure of travelling without bookings!). The only part missed out was photography and we were convinced about returning soon, better equipped to fulfil that! The return drive was easier and faster and we reached Satara just around 6 PM, thanks to our very well behaved Wagon R. So we concluded our longest car drive so far... Hampi, we will be back!