Shephard of Hampi

I woke up late and to make my day worse the breakfast offered at KSTDC Mayura Bhuveneshwai also didn’t go well with my mind. I hate late mornings when I am on a trip!

With a bit of anger, I ditched my friends and went out solo with my backpack & water bottle on a very sunny day at around 11 am.

After a km walk, I reached abandoned Gangatti Jain temple, neither there was a deity not the people… I took a walk around… sat… took a round in my online world- gmail. FB, insta, twitter & whatsapp- world had not changed!

I had started to sweat out because of the scorching sun. I gathered my energy and started walking to Bhima’s gate, 500 m to another no man’s land. I loved the silence & my own company.

Here I saw beautiful carving of Bhima with Sowgandhika flower and the fort. Visual stories of 13th century was running on my mind as I walked around a bit till I bumped onto a dark man wearing pure white shirt with his red earphones on & sitting on a ruin mantap. I said hi & initiated a conversation… you know stories are something which I am always curious to listen.

He started sharing his journey with story of his grandpa who come to build Tungabadra dam from Tamil Nadu. And moved on to his adventures of dismantling and mantling old structures for archeological department… which he said is never ending work!

He was not that curious about me and he only checked where I came from, what did I do in Hampi & where I am headed to- most asked existential question indeed…

I said I wanted to go to Pattabirama temple where Rama crowned Sugriva or that sort and on road it showed 3 km on the google maps. I asked him if there is a shortcut to reach avoiding high fare seeking auto rickshaw cynosures and he said there is…

the one which the shepherds use…

Throughout this trip I was fascinated by management techniques shepherds deploy to take care of their herd in a 1:100- on keeping their flock together and keeping all of them happy- for entire full day- quite a feat!

And now I am hoping a shepherd comes to Bhima’s gate & takes me to Pattabirama temple through a short cut- dedicated for shepherds and his sheeps!

Clock ticked 12:!5… close to 20 min of staring at the pathway… then came the brown dog first… followed a faded blue lungi clad shepherd carrying a small faded yellow bag on his faded grey shirt. My constructor friend made a request to shepherd to help me cover 90% of the path. he obliged…

Next 45 min was divine…

Shepherd always walked 10 steps ahead of me… always… maybe this is what he does to his seeps as well, maybe… he also walked at a constant acceleration leaving me no option to catch up with his pace… he never wanted to converse- maybe. We only exchanged welcome hello and final good-bye when we finished- only verbal conversation that we had… And in between it was just silence!

We walked through big big stones to heavy bushes to thorns to ups and downs to some ruins of 15th century history till we reached Tungabadra river reservoir. My shirt was dripping sweat… Dog guide went straight to river to take a dip…

So did the shepherd… he washed himself clean & filled up his bootle. Like his constant smile, his pace probably had built lot of endurance for these trails to him… this entire journey we never spoke… but I guess I had received a lot learning & invitation to self reflect…. my reflection in crystal clear water was inviting…

Shepherd wasted no time as he had to get back to herd which was may be 100m far. He made few sounds, just to intimate the group that he’s gonna be back soon, maybe… He tied his lungi to thigh length & smiled at me… that’s all… he probably said goodbye & wished me luck to where I am headed to, maybe… that’s all… and went off.. & the brown dog followed…

I dropped my bag, took off my hat & bowed at him with gratitude. I stood for a while, looked at the blue clear horizon and went to kiss the river. Quite a few things were running in my mind & I was experiencing certain shepherd wisdom in silence- he had taught me about trails, about ups and downs, about pace, about people, about management, about Hampi and about myself- all in silence. I took a dip too… trying to catch my breath in the river flow and also to tune to the flow itself!

I sat down riverside, took my book & while I heard river flow, I tried letting my words flow like the river…

All stories need not be told…
Some stories could be told…
In silence…
Some stories could be shown…
In presence…
Life is all about these stories…
some told, some shown, some lived…
some unknown…
While walking with constant pace and smile,
All stories need not be told…

This is what I could reflect on Shepherd wisdom… We just walk… we are neither anyone to get curious about other stories, nor we are judges to make our decisions of who’s right or wrong. we just walk… sometimes alone… sometimes with the brown dog… sometimes with the flowing river… just like shepherd of Hampi!

Trip to Hampi: Magically sail to those Times of Glory

I am sure that many have written their travelogues on Hampi from time immemorial, err, I mean from times of Lord Ram and Hanuman till today, from times of Kishkinda of Dandakaranya with most sacred Pampa sarovara to Vijayanagara to modern day Hampi. I see this as never ending fable in praise of limitless and His love for this place. They say, you would return dejected as you would seep in the sorrow of seeing Hampi ruins, but I, have made up my mind to revisit since I am caught speechless by the imagination and infinite stories, by that of irrigation systems and structural engineering, by that of the glory and intelligence of our forefathers. Hampi- for sure is a place for those who love history, architecture and stories. It is limitless and of limitless!

I spent first 3 hours at Virupaksha temple. It is believed that this temple has been functioning uninterruptedly ever since its inception in the 7th century AD. Most of the temples here in Hampi have been damaged some way or other and not fit for Puja. If I am not wrong, there are only two functional temples in Hampi- Virupaksha and Malyavanta Raghunatha Temple, only place where Lord Ram is in sitting posture. Post Virupaksha temple, we walked the bazaar lane to reach monolithic Nandi. Another 15 min walk we were at Cave temples of Ram {kondandarama temple} and Yantroddaraka Anjaneya temple, Chakratheertha, established by Vysasatheerta in 15th century. Vyasatheerta used to often sight Anjaneya and wanted to capture him in “yantra” so that he could worship him. This is a very holy and sacred place of worship for saints {Udupi Pejavara Swamiji was initiated to Sanyasa here}. We took a coracle boat ride to Purandara Dasa mantapa, where renowned saint and poet, who gave up his wealth worth 9 crores and turned philosopher, Purandara Dasa meditated. This place is really magical. From there we walked to what is popular known as Hampi group of monuments, which consists of the Vitthala Temple with the Stone Chariot, and the musical Mandapas, and the King’s balance.

That evening I got lucky- it was last day of auspicious Karthika month of Hindu calendar and at Virupaksha temple, villagers had come over to spend their night. They lit up entire premises beautifully with diyas and there was a pallakki utsava of Shiv and Parvathi, led by elephant, Lakshmi. I was transported back in time! A Russian lady walked up to me, understood more on what was happening and left me with a sentence- “I have never experienced anything beautiful before!”

Next day, we started series of temple visits with Mustard & Groundnut Ganesha, followed by Sri Krishna Temple, Ugra Narasimha Vigraha and the Badavalinga, Veerabadra temple, Lotus Mahal, Elephant’ stable, underground Shiva temple, Queen’s bath, Hazara Rama Temple, Fort area, remains of official chambers, Mahanavami Dibba {modern day parliament}, Kamalapura museum, Pattabirama temple and Malyavanta Ragunatha temple, where Ram spent 4 months, chaturmasya. I would probably end up writing books if I start writing on each one of them. Every place is for sure treat to be and I suggest you don’t pack this in a day like I did!

Last day at Hampi, we crossed over Tungabhadra River on a 10rs ticket boat to reach the other side, Virupapur Gadde. Here we started off with visiting Pampa Sarovara {purana’s say this is one among 4 sacred sarovara’s of India- includes Manasa Sarovara as well} and Sabari Caves, where Sabari waited for Lord Ram. From there, we visited some cave sites to check out 14th century unexplored paintings. Next stop was at Anegundhi Gagan Mahal palace and Ranganthaswamy temple, on the way to Vaali Parvata which has Durga temple. Post this we visited Chintamani, from where Ram shot his arrow towards Vaali who was fighting Sugreeva in neighboring hill. You’ll be reassured of Ram’s archery skills here! We climbed up Anjanadri hill, the birthplace of the Monkey god, Hanuman and ended the day with visiting mesmerizing Sanapur lake reservoir. Magical end to my journey in the Times backtracked, unexpected and unexplored!

We took the overnight Hampi Express from Bangalore and reached Hospet. Hampi is 14kms aways from Hospet- accessible by bus and auto{don’t forget to bargain!}. I came back to catch overnight bus to Bangalore at the same place. Eating at Hampi is a delight. Every restaurant has similar menu. Must tries- oats, pastas, pizza, all sort of lassies, parota’s, paddu at Brahmin’s vatara and sunset at Hemakoota hills! I spent 3 days there. Got out from the shack by 8.30am and returned at sunset. Enjoyed every meal with those trance music and drank gallons of water. Hired guides {very senior Mallikarjuna and very junior Maruthi} and did innumerous attempts to capture the mesmerizing sights in my camera. I would revisit. This is my Hampi. You, discover your Hampi- your own ruined sandalwood castle, inverted gopura on your palms and meditating Hanuman in your hearts!

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Dec 12, 2015 at 7:17am PST

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Dec 13, 2015 at 5:50am PST 

[Special thanks to Vikas, Archi and Adyasha for making this trip memorable]