Day 3

Day 3                                                                                                             8/12/16

 “Hop on a bicycle and explore Hampi on our own”

  After spending two days in this town, now it was time for us to begin the real journey. The mind was unclear, had no idea about what it is going to be like but I was excited to go. We had made a group and decided that we would see the rest of the places that we haven’t seen in past two days. While going to the river in a bumpy auto rickshaw ride we thought we would hire a bicycle and go around to see the places. It would be fun as well as time saving. As per our plan we took bicycles, had a map of Hampi and we started our adventure.

We took the way from the Narsimha temple, peddled and peddled. We would stop at every interesting thing that we saw. That is because we had decided not to do touristy things. We saw Chandikeshwar temple, isolated and was no human to talk with. Then we saw an interesting structure which was an underground Shiva temple, after that we had a long, tiring ride and reached to the sister’s stone. Collected as many stories and information as we could about those places.

 Then we reached a place that made us stunned at one place. Ruins of palace spread over the huge area, beyond the human eye vision. We have to go there said all in union. It was a magical place. Ruins can make you imagine the grandeur; ruins create mystery; ruins can make you fall in love with that place.

Surprisingly, not a single person was seen in that place. So we sat down and began sketching. From nowhere a man came to us and told us that sketching is prohibited unless you have a permission from Archaeology Survey of India( ASI department, Hampi). It was rather funny that we were allowed to take photographs but not sketch. Anyhow, we were glad that we have found someone to talk to. As we began a conversation, we came to know that he works for ASI and has a lot of knowledge about Hampi. We had a long conversation with him and had a bunch of information about the ruins and the history of that place.

We spotted a temple adjacent to the palace walls. The compound walls of that temple were filled with interesting carvings. That caught my attention because for the first time carvings were not simply motifs or god figures but seemed as carvings of common people. And an idea for my research topic struck in my head. Now I was desperate to know the meaning of those carvings. Also sketching was important part in our expedition so I had decided that tomorrow I am going to ASI department in Kamalapura, village located 4 km away from Hampi  and get a permission and person who would help me for the research.

                                                               Chandikeshwar Temple

                                                                   Sisters Stone

                                                         Underground Shiva temple

                                                         helpful lady at the temple

                                                                Ruins of the palace

                                                   Compound walls of the temple

Day 2

Day 2                                                                                                                                7/12/16

 The day of inner peace…finding yourself

 It was 5:30 in the morning. I came out of the room all cold, tugging my hands inside the jacket and four of us waited for our facilitators to come. It was dark and utterly still and quiet outside. We all had planned to go for a morning walk. So our 3 teachers joined us and we started off.

It was a peaceful walk, nobody talking but walked slowly on the dark road. The sky was filled with stars. On the way walking we saw a flashlight far away from us, it was moving as if searching for something. As two went closer, that appeared to be a human figure, it was a farmer. He had attached torch on his west and was working in his small piece of land. Such dedication, I thought, or the necessity?   

We saw a hill like huge pile of boulders placed together. We thought we would see a wonderful view and sunrise from up there. We climbed up that hill under a starry sky. That trek reminded me off my annual Harishchandra fort trek I used to have with my family. We reached at the top and watching the view from up there was an awestruck moment. We sat quietly over there till the sunrise. It felt like the time has stopped there, we could experience each and every second of serenity. Witnessed changing colours of the sky, birds chirping and freezing cold, but couldn’t get up from there until our hearts were full.

After getting ready we went to a village nearby called Anegundi. Some people say it’s a sleepy village. Walked into that tiny village, when people over there were looking at us as if we were a group of aliens. Visited many places around the village, old house of an anonymous owner, wooden chariot, small temples and the most joyous, long boat ride.  That day after so many days I had an empty,famished stomach and had one of the most delicious lunch of my life at a house-stay.

And The Day of Bonding

Coming back from the village, after taking a nap we did not have much to do. So we set up a bonfire. I think our bonding as a group started over that bonfire. We chatted, sang, laughed, played games, gossiped and the highlight stupid Ghost stories. It was a fun night and that when I knew I am spending my time with wonderful people and I was glad that o chose this group.

  

Day 1

Day 1                                                                                                                          6/12/16

Venturing into the land of the God!

After a tiring train journey, we got off from the train at Hospete around 7:30 in the morning. Stuffing our bags into a mini bus, we left for our Resort, KISHKINDA. The resort was a beautiful, calm place. Isolated from the main city, the resort had a huge lawn, swimming pool, small huts as rooms. Little did we know, that this place was going to become a fun place soon, and leaving this place was going to become really hard. As we reached, our immediate plan was to get ready in an hour and go out for basic sightseeing. I was so lost roaming around the resort and chatting that I was unaware of the time and was late on the first day itself. Whole group was waiting for me in the bus and that is when I realized I forgot my cellphone in the room. I rushed towards the room grabbed my phone and came running towards the bus. “What a great start Rahi”, I thought.

Reached at the bank of the river, across the river I saw the long stairway that lead to the temple. Thought to myself, now this is the way that I should be familiar with because that way was going to teach me a lot.  

First we went to Virupaksha temple, went together as a group. Admired the beauty of the architecture, carvings wandered around. And our facilitator acted as a guide as he had a bunch of information of any place that we were going to. After Virupaksha we headed to Hemakuta hills and saw small temples built around that place. Spent some relaxed time over there. By that time everybody was famished so we climbed down the hill and reached to the most famous restaurant in Hampi, ‘Mango Tree’.

Mango Tree is one of the oldest restaurants and is a very relaxing place. Comfortable Indian seating, soothing music and good food, all in one place. We fell in love with that place and that’s where it was decided that this place was going to be our mess for the next 8 days!!

After a fulfilling lunch we actually wanted to rest but were not allowed to. We hired bicycles and rode the streets in Hampi. Narsimha temple, Monolithic Ganesha and Bull all were covered in that afternoon.

While coming back, sitting in a boat thought have I remembered all the places that I can go by myself?

After such a long day, jumping into the swimming pool was the best relaxation. Played with the ball fro a while in pool and had a delicious food! I slept like a baby that day without worrying about what was going to happen the nest day because I  knew that I love this town already.

Overview of the trip

The name of our interim “Temple Town Tales”, itself, was a brief about whole course and what exactly we were supposed to do when we reach there. I got the connection between these eventually.

Initially, before actually heading to Hampi, we had different lectures, games and activities for a week that helped us to develop a mindset about the trip. We got know about how our research approach should be. These activities included visiting temples nearby, knowing the history or stories behind it, introducing ourselves by telling history of our respective families etc. These activities turned out to be fun as we all started to know about each other and bonding. Apart from the faculty members, our group had one more accompanist, Eduardo, who had come from the US, and was qualified and experienced in photography. He told us about his projects and how can one use the medium photography in storytelling.  

Before going there, each of us had researched a tab bit about the place and had a rough idea about what are they looking forward gain from the trip. As for me, I just wanted to explore that place and find out what Hampi really is, wanted to look at it in every possible aspect.

Roaming around Hampi was our first task to do for the first two days. We peregrinated around Hampi to see main places over there like Virupaksha temple, Hemakuta hill temples, and monolithic structures and so on. Next day, we went to see a village nearby called ‘Anegundi.

First two days of the trip were over and now it was time for us to venture on our own. Explore Hampi with our own perception. That was scary at the beginning, but eventually that became our daily routine. I had never experienced visiting a place and absorb its essence completely in. Spending as much time as you want at any place you like, talking to people you find interesting were the things I would have never done if I wasn’t allowed to do for the study. It was a thrilling experience for me. Every day, I was finding something new. I would try to relate it to my research topic. I began my journey by peeping into the history of the place and connect it to the people living presently there. That is because I feel that knowing the past helps you understand why present is like this.

I attempted to look at that town beyond its religious importance and known as a tourist place. Before that usually going to temples was restricted for me to only see the temple, appreciate its beauty and importance and worship there. Contradicting that, in this journey I hardly remember joining both hands in front of the god to pray. I was more curious about what is happening around the temple.

For our evening discussions, one of our facilitators Narendra used to tell us about talking to strangers. How one can learn about lot of things just by having a little conversation with strangers. Looking up on the internet, searching through books is an easy way out. But if you talk to a person that connects and that can be never forgotten. I tried using conversation as a medium for the source of information. And I found out that I do not personally face any problem with talking to strangers. I can make them feel comfortable and make them talk about things. Although I talked to very few people, but I could listen to them carefully and understand what THEY have to say, not just bombarding my opinions and questions on them.

At the end some people started recognizing me and referred me as a local which was kind of overwhelming for me.

A kind of a downer I feel throughout the journey would be that I never allowed myself to sit back, relax and enjoy whatever is coming. I was constantly engaged thinking about my research topic and how things would work out if I do them in some different way, how to put up all together, how to find sources.  I think stressing upon that made me miss out the ‘the doing nothing’ fun. That probably was one more thing that I learnt from this.

Summing up, Hampi expedition has been an enriching, learning experience for me. Surely it was not a leisure trip but I had fun exploring something new. Also living together for 8 days in an unfamiliar place as a team or group helped us to create a bond between us. At the end of the trip we all knew each other till some extent, I can say that we know each others strengths. This expedition gave me a different perception of seeing a place. It gave me an informative eye-vision to look around the environment. Now I can try to understand things which are not only on the surface but are at the core.