hampi

the magical place. like the first time 15 years ago. then, i had left gokarna beach in an air of gloom and unrequited love. i took the local buses to hubli and then to hospet and hampi, arriving at night with the full moon. i walked past the majestic temple tower and took a round coracle boat across the river. after chilling at one guesthouse, i decided that i didn’t like the look of any of them and looked for somewhere else to sleep. spotting a small hill, i climbed up to the top. looked a perfect place, just a small ruin of a temple not far away. i took out my sleeping bag and slept. early next morning, i woke with the first light. i looked over the banana plantations and coconut trees and boulders to see a beautiful big bright golden globe of the sunrise creep up over the horizon. it was an amazing sight to see. but then, i turned around 180 degrees to see a beautiful big dull orange globe of the full moon setting on the opposite horizon. it was breathtaking! i was blessed to witness this wonder of nature in this spectacular setting, as i turned my head from one horizon to another. i also realized that i had not been alone... others were waking up from that hill-top too. and as i was packing away my sleeping bag, a group of 4 or 5 guys approached me. the one at the front reached me and asked: “hello, baba, can you start the good-morning chillum for us?”. bamboolay, boom shiva shankara!!!. the chillum-round done, i made my way down the hill and thought to myself that at that moment and at that time, it all made perfect sense.

this time round, nothing as magical happened. i stayed on this side of the river and met some good travellers to hang out with and explore the area. the first day, willy, ruth, henry and i discovered a ‘secret’ shiva lingam shrine on the way up to the temple on the hill. the second day, we went over the river (small ferry boats now, no coracles) and having found the tipi area, the others decided to move their stuff over. i walked to the stone viaduct and walking along the road, hitched a motorbike to hanumanhalli village. from there, it was just a short walk to the hanuman temple at the top of the boulder hill. many steps later, and a few monkeys along the way, i made it to the top. just more breathtaking panoramic views across the whole area. i found a shady spot and sat and took it all in. a couple of hours later, i looked around the temple itself, there were musicians there reciting some holy texts, and the temple swami. i asked about prasadam, and after waiting a little time, i was directed to another building where a woman served me a big thali of rice and dhal. walking back down, i found the path to the laxmi temple and the brahmin there did a puja for me, offering me holy water and a red bindi on my forehead, and sugar crystals as prasadam.

i walked back to hanumanhalli in the midday heat. stopping for a delicious coconut, i enquired about the way to the old stone bridge and the river crossing. one guy saw me lost at the end of a path and walked with me to where he was going. from there, i got directed to the river. there had been some blocks laid down so it was possible to cross over. could it have been so easy to discover the free and easy way to cross the river, i naiively asked myself. it was only when i climbed up the bank and to the temple there that i saw the oblong pillars of the old stone bridge jutting up from the rocks and river - but it looked as if it was possible to walk across. i made my way in between the pillars and jumped across the ones that had fallen down into the river. there were only a couple of times when i hesitated due to the length of the jump or the rapids sounding too fast and dangerous. the adrenalin levels were surging but there was no turning back now. and when i got to the sandy bank on the other side, i was so relieved, patting myself on the back for finally finding a way to cross the river for free. yes, free, but not easy!

but what’s this... i climbed up a little patch and saw that... oh no, there was another stretch of the river to cross. and already i had a gut feeling that there would be no way of keeping dry this time!! counting chickens before they’re hatched! but there was a reprieve... it was another river crossing place by the coracle boats. someone was shouting across at me: “boat? boat?” i was shouting back: “is it possible to walk?” still hoping against hope. i couldn’t hear the answer, but it didn’t sound too hopeful. i gestured him to come over with the boat. i could have swam across but i had all my documents on me. as he came over, he mentioned that the river was too high now to walk across. ok, ok, i have to pay for another valuable lesson. but it good to enjoy the short ride in one of  these beautiful and practical coracle boats. he stung me for 50 rupees... the price for my ignorance.

still, fate has a way of cancelling things out, as the old christian saying goes: ‘he taketh with one hand and he giveth with the other’. so i was a happy camper once more when reaching the vittala temple complex, the ticket office was offering a two-tiered price structure. 10 rupees for indian citizens, 250 rupees for foreigners. well, this one was definitely a no-brainer, as i asked in my best punjabi accent for one ticket please and pushed a ten rupee note through the slot in the cage. of course it worked a treat, and vittala temple was definitely a treat! that stone chariot and the engravings are just amazing.

third day,  i met laure and max, a french couple also staying at deva guest house. we hung out together for a bit, it was my chill out day after a lot of walking from the first two days. apparently, it was festival time, and i had time to look around the main temple. again, beautiful sculptures and engravings. and after, everyone was invited to take prasadam. i took my turn behind another large group of schoolkids. the afternoon spent lazing by the river, and in the evening, laure. max and i took dinner at our regular place now. and masala dosa again. times two! then we heard the fireworks and heard the drumming and the procession coming down the main bazaar road. the kids were really getting into with, dancing spontaneously and with abandon. and soon the drumming was making us dance too. there was one kill-joy trying to make some of the older kids stop dancing, and us too, telling us it was ok for the small kids but not for us. but max squatted down to gesture to him that he was a kid too! perfect reply! and so we ignored him after that. i wasn’t sure if it appropriate at a religious festival as there wasn’t anyone else dancing, but it seemed like a celebration with the drumming, and the lively and loud beating of the drums was enough to make all the hindu gods dance their stuff. sad how we have become so conditioned, but happy to see that the children had no such inhibitions. there was also another occidental girl, kate, dancing with us as we danced all the way into the temple complex! we made a lot of friends amongst the kids that night! :)

fourth day, we persuaded kate to dump her gear at our guest house and join us for a bicycle tour of the ruins. after finally finding the stepped tank and the lotus mahal, we went to kamalapuram and had a thali lunch there before cycling off to have a siesta in the ruin of a temple along the road. we found the road to the bhajan singing temple and spent the rest of the afternoon looking around there and listening to the sadhus sing their stuff. we cycled on past the vittala palace complex and found a place near the riverside to take a sunset swim... or for me, standing on the rocks in the water cos it was too deep. the sunset gave a beautiful purple-pink tinge to the sky and it was a perfect finish to a great day.

 

sunday and a long wait for the hospet bus to come. i had booked a local bus to pune and was waiting anxiously for it to turn up as it was already an hour late. when it did come, the ticket collector took my e-ticket to get it checked out. i met a young guy, sunil, going to solapur who confirmed that this was definitely the pune bus. and when finally we got going, we realised that it was taking a torturous bumpy zig-zag diversion through village backroads to solapur. a long 15 hours after leaving hospet, again without much sleep, the bus comes into pune and dumps me on the road somewhere. by chance, i find a city bus stand and ask for the bus to koreagon park. and not long after, i am standing in front of the shelled out german bakery which was once a favourite hangout for the backpackers and osho-lovers.