So where would you like to be this Monday ?

Even as the summers are soaring and the day temperatures are getting higher by the day, I would still like to take the road and head to Hampi now..what about you ?

Monday moments - Pups cuddled up in Hampi

Most of my friends complain of Monday morning blues..here is something to add to it..Every Monday, I am planning to post a moment or a destination which your alter ego would like to visit, while we sit at work here is today's moment

A blue sky from Hampi

Elephants Stable from Hampi - a perspective.

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Hampi - A perspective

Mahanami Dibba - Hampi

Built by king Krishnadevaraya to celebrate his victory over the rulers of Udayagiri, this is the Mahanami Dibba. Virupaksha, my guide told me that this is where the kings presided over a ceremony or a festival, especially during Navaratri . As this post coincides with Navratri, I couldnt but help wondering about the celebrations in that era. Climbing up, I saw the entire landscape of this forgotten town, lost in ruins. I took this picture when I was leaving the Royal Enclosure. It just made me think how we are so tiny and our achievements , even more insignificant and yet, we gloat over them. Even a mighty empire like Vijaynagar had to crumble one day.

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Hampi - Photo essay on a nomadic life

We met a few nomads in Hampi and the women folk shyly spoke to us. They are mainly from  Belgaum, but they hardly have a destination called home. They move from villages to villages, often working as shepherds or rear cattle and live in temporary settlements. Their belongings are usually their horses and a few vessels which they carry along with their bundle of clothes.

They work in and around the villages in Hampi until the monsoons are over and then they begin their journey towards their home again. However, when you ask them whether they are headed home , they just smile and say no..When pressed for an answer as to where they are headed, they simply say - " To the next village."

India through my eyes - rustic life

While returning from Daroji, we stopped by at a small village near Hampi to have tea. The locals gathered around us and the mothers asked us to take photographs of their kids. They were extremely happy to see the photographs and within minutes, the entire village, which probably consists of a few houses had gathered around us. As I left the hamlet , I saw the happy faces of these people and told myself that happiness is not that elusive after all. 

More birds from Hampi

There are several birds in and around Hampi and Daroji - we used to wake up to the call of the Grey Francolin or see the red spur fowl disappearing amongst the rocks . Sometimes we used to see quails running away like balls of cotton and  disappearing into the undergrowth.  I was unable to get some good pictures of these birds , but here is a photo-feature on some of the others that posed for me .

Laughing dove and ashy crowned sparrow lark above, while a pair of Eurasian collared dove below.

A white browed wagtail and a wire tailed swallow

Scaly breasted munia followed by rufous tailed lark

A sandpiper followed by a long tailed shrike

A red wattled lapwing

And finally we saw a row of blue tailed bee- eaters in Anegundi..a pair was on the wire and then a trio and within minutes there were close to half a dozen of them...

Birding in Hampi - the pied kingfisher and the commonkingfisher

There are many surprises in Hampi. Everytime I visit this magical place, I see something new. Last year, I did some extensive birding there and found that there were quite a few migratory birds around as well . This time around, I was a little too early for the migratory season, but I did see quite a few birds.

This post is largely about the two varieties of kingfishers that I spotted during the trip. While the regular white breasted kingfisher eluded my lens, I managed to click some pictures of the pied kingfisher while it was fishing near a canal enroute to Daroji . I also saw a pair of the uncommon common kingfisher, which are much smaller and rarer  near the kalyani of the Vittala Temple at Hampi.

As you are aware, Jungle Lodges and Resorts have opened their property in Hampi and they offer birding and nature walks in addition to sightseeing of monuments of Hampi. Please let me know if you would be interested in holidaying in Hampi as Novemeber onwards the season begins and its a great time to spot birds and also see bear cubs at Daroji in addition to the splendour of Hampi and Anegundi . 

Hampi - A quest of a different kind

We climbed the Matanga Hill in Hampi , looking for the yellow throated bulbul. This bird  had made the rocky terrains its habitat and has been defying me every trip. This time I around, I stood there in pin drop silence waiting , looking for it. After a long wait, Virupaksha ,my guide got a call and as he moved away, the bird flew in and perched on the branch ,right above my head. I didnt move or breathe, fearing the bird would fly away,which it did within seconds, only to reappear again on the next branch. This time around, I managed a couple of quick pictures. If you are a birder, you should not miss it !

A beautiful poem by Ugich Konitari aka Suranga Date on this post was in the comments section. I thought I will share it with all of you here. Thanks a ton for the poem :)

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 .....

:-))

Anegundi - relics from the past

A couple of langurs greet us as I listen to my guide Virupaksha gush about his hometown. “ Anegundi is older than Hampi – in fact this is the mother kingdom .” Indeed, Anegundi  is ancient,with cave paintings of prehistoric man, it is the mythical Kishkinta of Ramayana , it is holy as the Pampa Sarovar flows here and it is historic with ruins of forts, palaces , temples and gateways hidden around  the boulders. But the most important aspect of Anegundi is that it is a lively settlement, with a charming village that opens its doors to most tourists who visit Hampi

A fisherman and his wife are busy making nets  near the Tallarighata gate, as we sip tea in a small shack, talking to some old women who are lost in the passage of time. “You will find another gate in Hampi as well, “ says Virupaksha  and explains that these gates were used to collect tolls or taxes during the Vijaynagar dynasty from people entering from other kingdoms.

An auto driver decides to take us on a whirlwind tour of Anegundi . We see the village,  palace , the main entry gates and then climb up the old Durga fort listening to more stories . “ The Vijaynagar kings used to come here and pray before every battle, “says Virupaksha , and then they go to the holy Pampa sarovar lake and the lakshmi temple there. “  We climb further to see  an ancient entrance to the fort, ruins of a palace and tombs .

But Anegundi is ageless  -  be it the settlements of prehistoric man or the myths around the Ramayana, there is a mysticism around it. “ Kishkinta means a bush, a forest where monkeys lived, “ explains Virupaksha, telling me about the Hanuman temple atop the Anjanadri Hill where tourists climb more than 400 steps to reach there.

As we lose ourselves in the green fields below bordered by the boulders, Virupaksha warns us that the last coracle would leave for Hampi soon. A few minutes later, sitting precariously on the rim of the coracle , carrying  two bikes and a dozen people , I cross the river Tungabhadra .  My thoughts get carried away to a passage in Robert Sewell's book , " A Forgotten Empire , which narrates the observations of a 16^th century Portuguese traveler , Dominoes Paes who had visited the empire.

 He mentions that the coracle was used even then to carry ““ fifteen to twenty persons and even horses and oxen can cross in them if necessary . “Paes adds ,” People cross to this place by boats which are like baskets, inside they are made of cane and outside of leather…and the boats are always turning round, as they cannot go straight like others; in all the kingdoms where there are streams there are no other boats than these.”   It is interesting, I thought as we reached Hampi that a relic like the coracle lives along with the monuments from the Vijaynagar days.

This story was published today in Metro Plus in my column, The Inside Story 

A day in Anegundi , Hampi

Anegundi lies across Hampi on the other side of the Tungabhadra. This village is older than Hampi and is said to be the other of the Vijaynagar empire and is believed to be the mythical Kishkinta or the monkey kingdom of the Ramayana

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Im going to be travelling for a week to Hong Kong with my family and may not be able to visit all your posts this week. I look forward to catching up with all of you when Im back...

Lakshmi Sharath and her three bears

This is no fairy tale, but the setting definitely is like one . I was staying at the Sloth Bear Resort in Hampi-Kamalapur run by Jungle Lodges and Resorts last weekend. And I spent three hours in Daroji,Wildlife Sanctuary watching the bears fight each other while a  mother protects her cub . Here are three bears out of the eight that we saw at very close quarters

My weekend destination - Hampi-Daroji

I am heading out for the weekend , thanks to Jungle Lodges and Resorts who have opened a new property in the heritage town of Hampi , close to the sloth bear sanctuary of Daroji. Have a great weekend folks !

Anegundi - Hop on Hop off on an autorickshaw - The Prologue

I know this is a cliche in the travellers circle  - that the journey is far more exciting than the destination itself . However, Ive found this rather true in many cases - especially during my journeys in rural India when  I often dont know what Im looking for or what I will find.

Almost two decades ago, when I was still a college student, I was introduced to Hampi and Badami . And what I do remember about these destinations is the journey . I hardly remember the monuments, but I remember going through the streets, looking for one of those bells that are tied around the cows which I had wanted to  buy. Today , when I visit Hampi , the monuments form a part of my itinerary, but I hardly have the time to enjoy the journey . However what I couldnt do in Hampi, I was able to explore in Anegundi.

I didnt have an agenda when I reached Anegundi. We hired an auto rickshaw and Virupaksha, my guide  took me under his wing. This was his hometown and he seemed to know where to go. This was the first time that I explored a town on an autorickshaw and boy was it a whirlwind tour.. I had a couple of hours before a luncheon meeting with Shama Pawar, a conservationist .

Virupaksha took it upon himself to show me the old gates of the empire, ruins of fort and the village with restored monuments. But the journey on an autorickshaw is what I remember - stopping by to admire the green fields against the boulders, craning my neck to take a picture of a mahal inside the village, sighting half a dozen blue tailed bee eaters on a wire .

We stopped by a small shop to have kitchen , where the woman was cooking on firewood and charcoal. Making conversation with some old women there, we continued to see the saffron side of Anegundi. My story appeared in the Deccan Herald today and although, it was an abridged version, I will be posting the original in the next post.