Your Side of the River

The Tungabhadra splits Hampi into two; in more ways than two - culturally, historically, geographically and more importantly in terms of what you are looking for.

On one side lies what you (probably) already know of - the great and splendid spread of boulders and ruins. While the other side sleepily hums along that Bob Marley rhythm and the rustle and hustle of the shacks alongside the flowing river.

TungaBhadra at Hampi

Its almost a 380 km ride from Bangalore to Hampi. The round trip on a bike will turn your ass to stone. It could even blow up an (un-serviced) engine. But it can be worth the effort. I saw my two day trip turn into three. I believe you could even stay there for a month (and still end up paying less than what your average 2BHK costs a month). Yes, there will be mosquitoes, and a couple leeches might creep up your sock, or a crocodile might snap you up as you dive in for a swim (no warning board there would make you wary of the chances of drowning, but crocodiles - check). Apart from all this and a little bit of midday heat, the rest would keep your heart, mind and soul at rest.

Sanapur Lake

The only catch is getting to the other side (with a bike). Ferries ply carrying people and also bikes. Getting the bike on the boat is a whole new level of effort itself. The alternative being a 40 km maneuver that can cost upto 2 hours.

Anagundi Ferry Port

Once in Hampi, you will find boulders all around. Even the hills and hillocks are nothing but boulders stacked up. Some so precariously arranged that mere wind would seem capable of toppling them over.
The men of past carved this city out of these boulders and they did so so very magnificently. The wonder that it is, is literally set in stone, forever.



After a heartful of stone sojourn, the other side of the river becomes ever so more welcoming to a trek-tired self. With the place brimming and buzzing with people of all skin tones, restaurant settings allowing 180 degrees of feet spread and the dim cacophony of different languages, strings of guitar, people reading and give or take a bakchod waiter - you could settle in your own virtual cocoon.

Two other sites to behold enroute Hampi are the wind-farms as you cross Chitradurga and the endless reservoir (Tungabhadra Dam) just before entering Hospet. Looking at that expanse of water, stretching right upto the horizon, it might as well appear that you have reached the coast, for you will see no land.

TungaBhadra Dam & Reservoir

Then there's Sanapur lake just a little off the boulder'ed hills and valleys. And a path slithers along and then follows a canal emerging from it. All together setting it up for a cool walk, ride, loiter, jump or anything else that you might prefer.

More or less, in Hampi, you will find a side of the river that would hold you, and at the same time, flow on.

Because Crocodile

Sanapur Lake

Sanapur Canal

Laughing Buddha

Shack

Rolling in the net

Illad Stoning

Illad Stoning 2

Illad Stoning 3

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Rights to exaggeration and bragging reserved.

Its not how it happened; its how you remember it.

No characterisation intended

Data and information may have been skewed to suit the storyline

Everything is relative to your perspective

Of Shores and Temples

Kanyakumari
The rock lies about 200 meters off the shore of the cape. He paused for a while and then jumped into the merging waters of the three great seas. He swam up to the last bits of Indian rock, meditated there for 3 days and attained enlightenment.

So goes the (highly controversial) legend of Vivekananda. Why he went there? I do not know. Why I went there? (After so many attempts at making people accompany me to this place.) I do not know that either. But finally, this family trip of ours did fulfill the calling.
Kanyakumari hasn't got as much to offer you that could keep you there for more than a day. I somehow managed to keep my family rooted there for two days. Cause I loved the place. I had always known I would. Why? I do not know that as well.

The wind and the waves seem confused. Coming in from three directions. You yourself wouldn't know which way you would sway the next moment. The sun rises from the green waters of the Bay of Bengal and sets in the blue of the Arabian sea.
I guess there might be some truth in Vivekananda having stayed three days on that rock. For I know time becomes a totally different dimension when you are sitting at that spot. How? Go and find out. And take me with you.

Rain, Rainbows and Coconut Forests

Never saw a greater turnout for a sunrise (except Chhath puja :D )

Mum

And Me

Vatakottai Fort

Stream meets the Sea

Cause I made them stay a day longer

You don't simply avoid local sight-seeing :-/

The rest of the tour was more or less temple tourism. It began in Kanyakumari itself. The Suchindram Temple - where a male must be naked  waist-up to enter the temple.

Madurai

Porthamarai Kulam (Pond with a golden lotus) is located in the campus of this great temple with four pyramidal gopurams (entrance towers). Lord Shiva promised a stork that no fish or other marine life would grow in it and it doesn't. Tamil legends state that the lake is supposed to judge the worth of a new piece of literature. Authors place their works here and the poorly wriiten ones sink while the scholastic ones float.

Temples. They wouldn't let you carry anything that you would like but your money. Always your money. Special darshan, parikrama, abhishek, moksha - these do not come under the priceless category anymore and hence your mastercard can get you these.Take the top ten temples of India and their revenue will outdo the Fortune number one by heavens.

The highpoints were the windmills enroute Madurai and the Meenakshi Temple.

Windfarm - Just outside Kanyakumari

Meenakshi (Parvati) Temple

Rameswaram

They needed to cross the sea. They had to build a bridge. Two of them could identify pumice (rocks of igneous origin that could float on water). So they went about looking for such stone and marked them by writing 'Ram' on them to help others identify which rocks to pick.

My interpretation was termed obnoxious. 

Lord Hanuman built the bridge. Rocks floated because Lord Ram's name was written on them. Period.

Somehow, nobody thought of boats. The technology was sound enough for existence of a Pushpak Vimana (an airship that traveled with the speed of your thoughts) but not a decent boat. 

I kept this thought to myself. Religious sentiments. Faith. Whatever keeps the earth spinning.

The Ramnathaswamy temple has 22 kundas (water-wells) and a pilgrim is supposed to bathe in each of them. The temple is huge with long corridors and each of those kundas are separated by considerable distance. You usually would not have a lot of time at hand due to early closure timings of the temple. So it would a kind of temple run cum treasure hunt as you run from one kunda to the other through the corridors.

Apart from the temple run, the Pamban bridge is a treat - connecting main land India to the island of Rameswaram over the gulf of Mannar.

Pamban Bridge (not to be confused with the bridge that Lord Rama bulit)

Thiruvananthapuram
The Padmanabhaswamy temple has 6 vaults. Of these one vault has not been opened. Two snakes are carved on the door. There are no locks, no bolts, yet they cannot be opened. The priests and astrologers claim that human efforts to force open the vault would have apocalyptic results. The treasures of other vaults were inventoried and their net worth is estimated to exceed 50 billion US Dollars. The unopened vault is estimated to contain treasures worth 1 trillion US Dollars.

Padmanabhaswamy Temple

To enter the temple you must wear the traditional dhoti.
Another noteworthy place where you need to lose your clothes is the Kovalam beach. The waves there are huge. So is the fun.

Kovalam

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Rights to exaggeration and bragging reserved.
Its not how it happened; its how you remember it.
No characterisation or hurting religious sentiments intended.
Data and information may have been skewed to suit the storyline.
Everything is relative to your perspective.