Chugging out of Hampi.....

My blogger friend Deepak Amembal  recently went on a trip to photograph the ancient ruins of Hampi in Karnataka.   This is a view of the Rama temple, where the entire Ramayana epic is depicted in visuals , on the walls of the temple, in three tiers.

This is also the only temple situated in the core of the royal zone, between the residential and ceremonial enclosures.  That the Ramayana should be depicted for the guidance of the rulers, is significant.  

I also see something else on top of the temple. A message to us. Again possibly meant for "royals" between "current"  ceremonial and residential royal enclosures...

They knew it
back in the fifteenth century.

The Rama temple in Hampi,
sculpted friezes
running
in three tiers
along the walls.
showing Ramayana life,
its good moments
and its bad,
and the victory
of the good
over the machinations
of the evil.

With sanctums,
vestibules,
halls and porches,
much like our railway stations.

Way up,
looks like a
railway engine,
with deities carved out front,
blessed
and chugging out
of the steeple concourse,
loaded with knowledge,
travelling to the 21st century.

Bringing Knowledge
on living,
behaviour, respect
and peace.

Kya Karein.

Thanks to our
Kalyugi rulers
the destination platform
is in shambles.....
 

Stones, Hearts, and Living....

My friend Deepak Amembal, when he visited Hampi in Karnataka State of India, must have been spoilt for choice when he looked through his camera viewfinder.  He could have kept the camera button pressed, and continuously clicked, and he still wouldn't have run out of these evocative rocks that represent an entire civilization in stone, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River.

So many rock structures, some amazingly balanced despite the ravages of erosive time, vestiges of a splendorous living city  teeming with art,commerce power and life. 

It just occurred to me that there must have been old people then too, and I wondered how the society then treated them.  I saw a very evocative image in these rocks clicked by Deepak, and I have a question.

Read on...

(photo by Deepak, white line imagination by me )

The old man,
ramrod straight,
bag in his right hand,
and his frail wife,
resting a while,
her head on his shoulder,
legs crossed;
a pause
under
the intense mid day sun,
thinking of
of their days alone,
and no one coming to see them,
The children
tunneling in
success and progress
to fill coffers
that
on any day,
win against the Joneses
and these two
waiting for a deliverance
and requiem in stone.

And then these too,
solid as they come,
together
a she sits looking up
head on his shoulder,
wordless against the sky
aeons under a burning son,
washed by the winds and rains;
they've seen the cities of gold
the celebrations
the plunder,
the artists and the city,
the stone hearted art.

Strangely,
they are not alone.
As folks
of all colors and persuasions,
come wandering by
to peer and look up at them,
click pictures,
paint and write stories.

What a pity,
in this day and age,
the old parents
have to turn to stone,
for someone to notice them....

Living Ruins

Blogger and FB friend, Aarti Krishnakumar of Chennai, posted this photograph from Hampi, Karnataka, on her blog, Wandering Soul.   A place declared as a Unesco Heritage Site, Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagram Kingdom in the medeival ages. Ruins of an entire vibrant city , spread over 25 square kilometres (10 square miles), indicate all the facets of city living then.

On the periphery of the Vithalla Temple ruins, there is what appears to be, Tula Bhara ,  a decorative pillar set-up, used for installing giant balances that hung from its 12 ft wide pillar, at a height of 15 feet. The decorations included the likenesses of the king and consorts.

Back in the old days, "giving" , by the exalted to the ordinary was part of the lifestyle, and on special occasions the king was weighed here against gold, precious metals, gems and grains, and the contents donated to the general public.

Centuries later,  one looks at these ruins and customs, and wonders  how things have changed....

(photograph by Aarti Krishnakumar)

There are Ruins,
and then
there are
more ruins...

A Tula Bhara
or King's Balance,
in Lord Vitthala's presence
in ancient Hampi.
Grains
and Precious metal
weighed against the King,
and
distributed to the
ordinary folks
of the kingdom.

Today,
a different Tula Bhara
in
so called
developed cities.
Away from a heavenly presence,
Bribes ,
matched by
the equivalent
of an ordinary man's
several years' earnings,
are collected
and directed
to the
rulers pockets.

And I wonder
which are living ruins
and
which are dead....

Commonwealth Bird Games

Lakshmi Sharath with another set of Kingfisher photographs, birding in Hampi. See this wonderful post for more such photos.

I combined two of the photos after I realized that the birds showed a lot of attitude and character and were trying to say something.

As below :

(photos by Lakshmi Sharath)
Alert,
watching,
aware,
the
PiedKingfisher pair
always on duty,
looking around,
proudly
manages
the security
at the Commonwealth Bird Games
Hampi,
2010....

On duty
at the
Commonwealth Bird Tree Walls
watching
the
Common Kingfisher
athlete birds
participate
in the "Insect throws",
"Wing flaps",
and
"Escape Lakshmi"
events.

This lone athlete
in orange and blue
seems to have lost its way....

The Games Organizing Commiittee
it seems,
had no money
for tree signs
to Matangi Hills....

The final with the
yellow throated bulbul
is on....

Speechless at the top...

Lakshmi Sharath does a renowned and wonderful travel blog, which sometimes includes birding. Her efforts (with a guide) , at capturing these wonderful pictures of the yellow throated bulbul, in the loud silence of trees on top of the Matangi Hills near Hampi/Bangalore are outlined here.

The Bulbul's perspective :

(photos by Lakshmi Sharath)

I've seen her often.
Like me ,
she often flies;
sometimes faster
than me across oceans
and sometimes
amazingly slow
to Chennai.....

I've seen her
on
the Matangi hill.
but
wanted to meet her
alone;
and so
my friend
sat on a tower
directing calls to her guide.

Although a bulbul,
I watched
like a hawk,
straining
at the
fashionable yellow,
and the minute
she was alone,
I flew in
to meet her .....

She thinks
she stood in
pin drop silence,
but I could clearly hear
the beating
of her heart .....

:-))