Hotel Mayura on a warm afternoon sipping on beer and having lunch, the alcohol only moistened the parched throat and failed to give me a high. The very location that I was in was making me think hard. One of my oft repeated quotes, “While in the midst of nature, keep your eyes, ears and most importantly soul open” was slowly being modified, more so the first half of the quote. I tried to shut my eyes and ears, figuratively that is, and tried opening the soul. Well the location was not Mayura that made me think, but the 25 sq km or so around the hotel. I was at Hampi, which at its peak was the crown jewel of Indian splendor and wealth.
As much as I hate taking a guided tour, this place was one where you are absolutely lost without one. Four centuries of architectural evolution of buildings, temples and palaces lies in sight of wherever the human myopic eye can cast a view. The human ear deafened by noise pollution of all sorts can only perceive the sounds that are played by the guide on the carvings at the Vijay Vitthal temple complex. People come back from Hampi with either a sense of awe or anger or a mix of both. I for some strange reason did not feel both. My soul opened and took me centuries back to what the place was centuries ago; the place that was described and praised at length by foreign travelers of that time.
The Akka-Thangi (sister) rocks leaning against each other with the elder sister supporting the younger one who is about to fall. A significance of how people try to build a link between nature and human emotions. At the restored market place you can actually hear the merchants shout out the price of their goods; imagine being in a market that sells gold and precious stones in heaps like peanuts; the epitome of human wealth. Tenali Rama’s mantap (vi-ka-ta-ka-vi; his nick name spells the same when spelt either way), at the top of a hill, visible from most of Hampi, signifies the extent to which the human mind can think through a problem. Moving towards the king’s palace, you can see the Dasara procession. The elephants, camels, horses, performers and lot more in a demonstration of the grandeur and splendor of human celebration.
The rocks at Hampi brought out to me the emotions that Gods went through as well. The mind’s eye sailed into the time of serial mutilation, burning and destruction of Hampi. Lord Ganesh who ensures that there is no bhinna (obstruction) to your work stood helpless when His idol was destroyed. Lord Ugra Narasimha, the half-man half-lion incarnation of Lord Vishnu, had come down to earth to destroy the demon tormentor - Hiranya Kashyap. He had managed to slay the demon with his bare claws. He helplessly sat there with anger in His face when His better half, Goddess Lakshmi, who was sitting on His lap, was being destroyed to pebbles. He watched with muted anger when the very people who worshipped him were looted and their homes burnt and demolished. This was the sad depiction of the extent to which humans can go to demonstrate their greed for wealth and factionalism. Even the Gods couldn’t do anything about it.
As the sun was setting, I moved on to the Raja Marga (King’s path) on which Sri Krishna Deva Raya walked to offer salutations to Lord Rama. I felt like a courtier who stood there demonstrating loyalty and respect to the great king who ruled over the land in the peak of its splendor.
If you want to know more about what I am describing above, please make a trip to the beautiful rocks of Hampi; they indeed have a thousand tales to tell. The only thing they ask from you to visualize and hear these tales is the soul’s eyes and ears.
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