Suramya's Blog : Welcome to my crazy life…

Cambodia is a country that I have been wanting to visit for a long time and last month I finally got a chance to visit it thanks to Santosh from Exotic Expeditions. The planning for this trip was a lot more fluid than I like but we finally made it there and back. Initially me and Jani both planned to go for the trip, then as I was about to book Jani had a work trip come up so I decided to book the trip as a solo traveler. Then a little while later Jani’s trip was pushed out so she also booked the trip. This meant that we both had two different PNR’s for the flights. Interestingly, for some reason while I got a single PNR for the entire flight to Cambodia (with a halt in Thailand) she had separate PNR’s for each leg.(more on that later)

The day of the flight we left home and checked into the flight. Met up with Tittli at the airport and the boarding etc was quite smooth. As Jani had two separate PNR’s we booked both our bags under my name only so that she wouldn’t have to re-check them in at Thailand. When we landed at Thailand, we tried getting Jani’s second boarding pass from the Transit desk but were told that she would have to go clear immigration and then check back into the flight at the Airline counter outside. I thought I will go out with her as well but was turned back at the immigration counter and told to go via the Transfer desk to the boarding gate. Jani had to explain multiple times about why she was going out via the immigration before they finally let her through. Once out she was smart enough to figure out that she could print out the boarding pass via the self-service kiosk instead of waiting in the queue at the counter.

Once she cleared security things were simple, and the flight was uneventful. We landed at Phnom Penh and took a cab to the hotel (SIM Boutique Hotel). Unfortunately for us we reached the hotel at 10:30am where as the check-in time was 2pm. The lady at the reception told us that the earlier she could give us a room was between 12-1pm. So we had to wait in the lobby till we got the rooms allocated. We thought that we would grab something to eat but the hotel restaurant was closed and we really didn’t have the energy to walk around so we just hung out in the lobby. I think the lady at the reception got tired of hearing the snores so we got the room around 11:30 and we went up and crashed. After a few hour nap we were a lot more eager to explore the area and by then the remainder of the group had also arrived. (They came from Vietnam via bus as they had combined the two countries). While the others were freshening up me and Jani walked over to this small restaurant called ‘Wheat & Beans’ a few streets over where we grabbed a quick snack.

Ready and eager to start exploring Cambodia

By the time we were finished with our meal the others were done freshening up and ready to explore so we took two tuk-tuk’s to the Night market. The market was decent and I did manage to pick up a T-Shirt and a shotglass amongst other things. Since folks were still tired and hungry we broke early for dinner. Jani and Santosh decided to try the local cuisine and the rest of us ended up having Indian food. This was the first trip where we had a lot more Indian food than the local one because the rest of the group was tired of local food (they didn’t have the best experience in Vietnam food wise). This particular restaurant was pathetic and the quantity was so small that effectively we had like one piece each of Aalu Ghobhi and 2 pieces each from the Paneer. The naan looked like what you would get if you made a pizza without any toppings. To top things off, the refuse to serve any water unless we paid for it and we had a lizard giving us company. Both Fatima and Divya are petrified of lizards so they had an especially fun time.

Once we got back to the hotel the original Idea was to get some sleep but then Divya, Sapna and me decided to go for a swim at the rooftop swimming pool while some of the others went shopping and it was a lot of fun even though we only swam for about half an hour. which was enough time to cool down my body as it is ridiculously hot in Cambodia right now because they’re in the middle of their dry season. The average temperature was in the mid 40’s and since we were walking about all over the place in direct sunlight for most of the trip it felt even worse. Of course Jani enjoyed it but even she was drained out after a whole day in the sun.

The next day started off with breakfast followed by a drive over to the ‘Royal Palace of Cambodia‘, whichwas built back in 1866 and has served as the home for Cambodian monarchs since then. The current king has no official power and is mostly ceremonial. The official name for the palace is “Preah Barom Reacheaveang Chaktomuk Serey Mongkol (Khmer: ព្រះបរមរាជវាំងចតុមុខសិរីមង្គល)“. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of the main hall but the rest of the entire setup was impressive. Apparently only 40% of the area is open to public and out out that we walked through most of the important parts.

Group photo in front of the Royal Palace of Cambodia

One of the interesting (for me anyway) things was that you are not allowed inside if you are wearing a sleeveless top. At most of the other places that have this rule you were allowed to go in if you wrapped a shawl or a shrug around yourself before entering but here that also wasn’t allowed. You needed to change into a sleeved shirt or but a T-Shirt from the stall conveniently located right next to the ticket booth. Divya ended up having to purchase a T-Shirt because she wore a sleeveless dress and even though the color matched with the dress it looked funny :). Our guide was sweet enough that he told her that she could take off the t-shirt in the end and took a photo of hers in the dress for her.

The palace also has these beautiful wall paintings portraying the story of Ramayana (called Reamker or the Story of Rama in Khmer). The depiction is mostly the same as what we have in India but their ending is completely different, in their version Rama and Sita lived happily ever after once the story concluded. Whereas in the Indian version, Sita returned to earth at the end. The paintings are gorgeous but are done in the Cambodian way making it look very strange to us because the faces especially are painted very differently.

Mural depicting Ramayana (called Reamker or the Story of Rama in Khmer)

The palace also has a small hill in the middle called Mount Kailash with a temple at the top. We couldn’t climb it as it was still under renovation but the structure looked impressive. On the other side of the hill is the Silver Pagoda, the official name for which is “Wat Ubaosoth Ratanaram (Khmer: វត្តឧបោសថរតនារាម), also known as “Wat Preah Keo Morakot” (Khmer: វត្តព្រះកែវមរកត, “Temple of the Emerald-Crystal Buddha”).

The pagoda is named such because the entire floor of the structure is inlaid with 5,329 silver tiles each weighing 1.125 KG. Amongst the treasures displayed in the pagoda we have the “Emerald Buddha” which is a 66 centimeters tall statue supposedly carved from a single emerald. Another notable treasure is the gold Maitreya Buddha statue which is a 90 kg life sized statue covered with 9584 diamonds. I was surprised to see that the French who ruled Cambodia till 1953 didn’t end up stealing all the diamonds from the statue the same way that the British stole from India. The statue even survived the Khmer Rouge which is even more surprising as they were rabidly anti-religion.

We also saw loads of other artifacts and treasures in the complex which were beautiful but too many to list out here. One of the exhibits that stood out was the dress code for the palace. There is a dedicated color for each day of the week and everyone dresses in that color for the day.

After the palace we drove over to the Killing Field which was a horrible experience. Not because of any problems but because I can’t understand the mindset that would drive someone to such atrocities. You can read about the killing fields over on Wikipedia if you want, but be aware that it is a grim read. Basically over 2 million Cambodians were killed in just over 3 years, 8 months. Some in the jails, most in fields like this one where folks were killed in what can only be described as an industrial scale. Walking through the fields listening to the audio tour was sobering. There is a tree in there, where kids were killed by bashing their skulls against it and tossing them like garbage into the pit next to it. Others were hacked to pieces or killed with DDT to cover the smell.

Once we were finished at the Killing field, we went over to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, which continued the story of brutality. This site was originally a school which was converted to a Jail where confessions were extracted from prisoners using the most brutal torture. After the prisoners confessed or if the prison was overcrowded they were sent to the Killing field for disposal. Only 12 people survived the prison (7 adults and 5 children). The Wikipedia page on the museum has more details if you are interested. I was in no mood to take any pics over there as it is depressing to go to such sites.

Multi-Storied Monument containing skulls and bones from people massacred at the Killing fields

That being said, I am glad that they have this memorial to the atrocities committed there so that the world knows what they went through. We need to have similar memorials built for the massacres that happened India as well, so that our future generations and the foreign visitors know what our ancestors were put through by the Invaders and colonizers especially the British. I know the Jallianwala Bagh massacre has a small memorial dedicated to it but we should explore something like this for memory as well as memorials to some of the other massacres we had to deal with such as the Bengal Famine, Kala Pani jail at Andaman’s amongst others. The really sad part is that British have still not apologized or been held accountable for any of their actions in India and other countries they subjugated.

Once we were done at the jail, we took a break for lunch as it was much needed. This trip was pretty much the first one where we ate a lot of Indian food during an international trip as most of the folks with us were tired of the local food and the lack of vegetarian options in it, or rather the lack of tasty veg options in it. This restaurant was quite good and the food was great.

Group pic at Lunch

After lunch we braved the heat again to go to ‘Wat Phnom Historical Site’ which had a lovely temple with some great views and peaceful atmosphere which was much needed after the earlier sites. We walked about the location and once we were all relaxed headed back to the hotel and pretty much everyone just crashed because the day had been pretty exhausting with the heat and the content.

Wat Phnom Historical Site temple

Full Carrot in the Sauted vegetables we got

Jani and I decided to order room service late at night as we got hungry where she was served a sauteed carrot (amongst other things) complete with the leaves. She liked it is all I am going to say about that but I am happy I didn’t order it 🙂

Day 3 started with a drive over to Siam Reap which was supposed to take us about 6 hours but took almost 7 1/2-8 hours thanks to stops. We ate some weird fruits on the way along with Mango’s and Ice Apple. They also had fried Spiders and Crickets available as snacks but no one in the group took them up on the offer for some reason ;). We got to Siam Reap in the late afternoon and again had Indian food for lunch, after which we reached our hotel (Central Privilege Hotel) and checked in.

The mangoes were a ‘little’ sour

This was an interesting hotel in many ways. Firstly there is no elevator so you have to use the stairs to carry the luggage to your room. We were on the 4th floor and even though they offered to have the luggage carried over to the room we decided to just do it ourselves as we already had the backpacks on. The AC was quite slow to cool the room and we ended up leaving it on the entire time so that when we entered the room after roaming about it was cool enough. The other problem was the shower which barely gave a stream of water enough to take a bath in. All that being said the hospitality of the hotel was phenomenal and they went out of their way to support us during the stay which more than made up for any lack of amenities or issues.

Hanging out at the pool

After freshening up we all walked over to the old market which was nearby and did a little bit of shopping. It was so hot even at 5pm that I felt like I was melting in the heat. Bought multiple cans of Soft drinks from a shop nearby and they were very amused by my exhausted/drained out look when I was ordering. An interesting fact I noticed was that there were so many folks selling paintings that I kept getting tempted to buy one as they all looked phenomenal. Unfortunately as I don’t have space at home to put up more paintings I had to restrain myself. 🙁 We did pick up a few T-Shirts and other things from the market but I felt that the market at Phnom Penh had more varieties/selection of t-shirt designs available. Right next to the market is the famous Pub street which was buzzing with lights, music and lots of people. It reminded me of Walking street in Thailand (without the sex shows).

Walking over to the Pub-Street & Local markets

We tried out a bunch of street food over there and I especially liked the Ice Cream rolls that were freshly made for us. The folks here are very friendly and it was fun hanging out over there. We ended up skipping dinner because we had a late lunch and had been munching on stuff frequently. We did get a massage from a street shop which was actually quite good and cheap. We wanted to get a full and proper massage the next day but ended up not doing that. On the way back to the hotel we crossed a road side stall which had insects and other ‘weird’ things available for munching. Even though most people don’t end up buying the stuff I guess enough like taking photos that one of the stalls decided to capitalize on it by charging 50 cents for a photo. The hotel had an outside pool which was quite tempting but none of us had any spare energy so we just crashed.

Taking a Tuk-Tuk’s to Angkor Wat

The next day we visited Angkor Wat, the worlds largest religious monument at about 9 square kilometers. We took Tuk-Tuk’s to the temple along with a guide and it was a good thing that we did that because he was able to give us so much information about the temple which we would not have known if we had just been roaming around. You have to purchase a ticket for visiting the temples, we got a day pass each for $37. You need to ensure that you don’t loose the ticket as you have to show it at every location. The counter is quite a way away from the temple entrance itself so unless you know the place it is possible that folks would end up going to the temple and then being sent back to get tickets. Just as we got to the entrance of the main Temple, Divya face planted on the floor and twisted her ankle and scraped her knee. Since she wasn’t hurt too badly, I was making fun of her that she ensured that she did a Sakshat Pranam (Step 5/6 in the linked article) before going into the temple.

Group Pic in front of Angkor Wat

It is hard to describe the scale of the temple if you have not seen it yourself. Each block weighs a few tons and the carvings/paintings in the temple are amazing. You can read about the temple and the complex over on their Wikipedia page. There is a lot of restoration work going on at the site and one of the interesting points is that they are restoring using the original material as much as possible. This means that for each block to be restored, they first search the site for the block and then use it. If they don’t find it then they carve a replacement using the same stone but with only about 30-40% of the carvings. This is so that future generations know that that particular block was replaced and is not the original.

View of the temple complex from the top

Me, just about melting from the heat

Since we started our tour at 9:30am which is something our guide told us that we shouldn’t do because of the heat (but he told us that after we started the tour 🙂 ) and sun. By the time we finished walking around the main temple, we were drained and just about ready to have the Tuk-tuk come inside to pick us up… unfortunately that wasn’t possible so we had to walk :(. The Tuk-tuk’s carried cold water for us with was really sweet of them and really required as we all were getting dehydrated in the heat.

Monkeys in the water trying to escape the heat

Carvings at the temple

After the refreshing drink of ice-cold water, we broke for Lunch at one of the local restaurants recommended by our guide. We ordered a varied bunch of stuff at the place and pretty much everything we got tasted awesome. Jani ordered coconut water and they came back with a coconut that was more than double the size of coconuts we usually get. (See below).

Jani with her gigantic coconut

The place was air conditioned so it was hard for us to head back out into the heat but we had to so we drove over to the second stop of the day “Ta-Prohm” temple about a kilometer away from the main temple. It is also known as the Tomb Raider Temple, because the move was shot here. This temple was built in 1186 AD by Jayavarman VII in honor of his family. It was abandoned in the 15th century when the Khmer empire collapsed and was lost in the Jungle. During this time nature tried reclaiming the complex and since the temples were created without the use of mortar, trees took root between the stones.

As you enter one of the first structures you see is a temple with a tree growing on top of it. The roots of the tree have grown around the structure and it is pretty much impossible to remove the tree without the structure collapsing as the roots are key supports for the remainder of the temple.

Another really cool structure was a small room with a base pedestal in the middle where if you stand on the ledge around the edge of the room and thump your chest it creates an cool echo. But only if you hit your chest. (or the chest of the person next to you if you want to be mean). Striking any other body part or clapping etc doesn’t echo. I honestly have no idea how they managed to do that but it shows the skill of the people who built the temple. To make it clear, it was all human effort and ingenuity with no aliens involved or needed.

The western word has this notion that they were the only people who could create things and any of the work done by indigenous people in other parts of the world couldn’t possibly be done by them because that would mean that the locals had an advanced civilization that was destroyed (for the most part) by the invaders. So they have come up with this elaborate tale that other than the ancient structures in the western world (Europe mostly) the rest were created by Aliens. (Watch Ancient Aliens if you want to learn more about the torturous logic they use to explain some of the findings).

We walked around the complex awed by the size of the trees that are growing on and around the structures. Obviously took a lot of pics even though we were sweating like anything almost ready to collapse due to the heat. Even Jani found it to be too hot which is something I thought I would never hear.

The “Ta-Prohm” temple

The final stop of the day was Bayon temple which has over 200 smiling faces of Buddha carved into the rock. As per Wikipedia “The name of Bayon was given by Etienne Aymonier in 1880. According to his report, Bayon was the Latin transliteration of what he had seen written in Khmer as “Bayânt” which he presumed most have been a corrupted form of the Pali Vejayant or Sanskrit Vaijayant, the name of the celestial palace of Indra of which the Bayon was presumed to be the earthly reflection.”

Group pic in front of the Bayon temple

The carvings on the walls in the temple are very detailed and show scenes from the everyday life along with significant historical events. They show the varied culture and people known to the Khmer empire and how well traveled the Khmer people were.

We spent a good amount of time walking around the complex and then were ready to head back to the hotel. Initially we thought we would relax in the pool but it was too hot for that so we all retired to our rooms to cool down a bit before heading out again.

At night, Jani, Divya, Sapna and me again walked over to the Pub street as they wanted to pick up some T-shirts and we wanted to check out the restaurants over there. We ended up having dinner at an Italian place where we ordered Pizza, soup and a Salad. The quantity of the soup given was enough that all 4 of us could have a bowl each but I am not a soup fan so I enjoyed my pizza with a drink. We spent quite a bit of time just hanging out there and could have stayed longer but folks were tired so we headed back to the hotel.

Exploring the Pub Street

For the next day there was an interesting reversal, in that we had the first half of the day free with the tour starting in the second half instead of the other way round. So we had a relaxed breakfast and hung out a bit. Lunch was ordered in via Grab and we all basically relaxed for the first half. Some of the folks did go to the market, even we went over to the Adidas showroom but were back within 20 mins as we didn’t get what we were looking for and it was too hot to walk around the area.

Post lunch we took a van over to the Tonle Sap lake, which is a UNESCO listed biosphere reserve as well as the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Since it was the dry season, the lake was a lot smaller and shallower with the max depth of only 3 meters instead of the usual 8 meters plus during the rainy season. This meant that we couldn’t take a boat directly to the lake from the parking but instead got to walk through the floating village and interact with the villagers which was a lot more fun.

Stilt houses at the ‘Floating Village’

We tried some local food as well as they had veg options as well. The first item was deep fried potato with some local spices which I loved because potato is pretty much my favorite vegetable. The second item was like a dosa but eaten with literally a lot of leaves of different kinds. It was decent, but a bit bland for my taste.

Local dish that looks like a Dosa

All the houses on this road that we were taking to the lake are built on stilts raising them over 8 get in height. What was really surprising was the fact that even though the road we were walking on is underwater every 6 months for 6 months it was still free of army pot holes and well maintained.

After the walk through the village we got to the jetty and took a boat over to the lake the boat we got had issues with the steering where we got stuck a few times in shallow water and had to be pushed clear using poles. In spite of that we made it to the floating restaurant in good time where we chill out for a little bit waiting for the sunset. Took some lovely photos there.

Posing for pics at the floating restaurant

Posing with my drink at the floating restaurant

Divya, Jani and Me at Sunset

Everyone was too busy taking pics of the sunset to pose

Sunset at Tonle Sap lake

Sunset at Tonle Sap lake

Once the sun set we took the same boat back, and fully justifying our apprehension the boat did in fact breakdown halfway back to the jetty and we got to enjoy sitting in the dark waiting for the replacement boat. Santosh, me and Jani was sitting on the top of the boat so we had a good breeze and surprisingly I didn’t get bitten by many mosquitoes. I did take the chance to experiment with my phone camera settings trying to take some interesting pics. It was too early for the moon to have risen so it got dark pretty soon and I got some cool pics. Found out later that a bat mistook Divya’s hair as its nest, snuggled in and she had to chase it away. That would have been a fantastic pic… After about 20-30 minutes of waiting, while the folks were trying to repair the engine, we finally got a replacement boat and headed back to the jetty and then started back to the hotel.

Since this was the last night we have a small party at the hotel where we picked up some drinks, ordered pizza and just hung out till late night. It was a lot of fun getting to know everyone and share stories and experiences and we ended up staying up till 1am before crashing for the night.

Replica of Bayon temple carvings at the Airport

The last morning of the trip all of us except Santosh were on the same flight. Thanks to the system glitch we talked about earlier Jani again had two different PNR’s so her luggage was again checked in under my name. Thankfully this time she had an eboarding card and didn’t have to leave the transit area and go through Immigration again in Malaysia airport. For the first leg of the flight I got the entire row to myself as the folks next to me moved to another row and was able to nicely stretch out. (Jani was allocated a different seat as seat selection was paid). By the time these folks moved Jani had already settled and didn’t want to move. Plus there was no space near my seat for the carryon luggage to be stored…

The second leg of the flight was much worse as it was a full flight and folks came with multiple carry-on bags so they ran out of room and had to put a bunch of bags in the cargo area. Plus multiple folks were seated away from their group so people were constantly moving up & down and kids were running around like it was a train instead of a flight. I was watching this hilarious show called “I am Nobody” so was able to ignore most of it but still.

Finally landed in Bangalore and were able to head home and crash. It felt so good sleeping in my own bed without feeling like I was going to melt in the heat.

– Suramya

This is a continuation of my previous post about my trip to Historic Hampi. After spending a few days in Hampi, we had visited most of the famous places and were ready to head back when we got into a conversation with Mr Sarath Champati, who is the Associate Director for Conservation and Experiences at Evolve Back Resorts. During the conversation he mentioned that they were in the process of preparing a new trail and had just come back from a walk through of the trail the day before. This was an place called ‘HireBenakal’ which hardly anyone knows about which has Dolmen’s dating back almost 3000 years, making it a megalithic site. Since both of us are quite interested in history we requested that we be allowed to accompany them on the trail and after reminding us that this trail was still under development and involved a lot of hiking they agreed to take us up to the site the next day. We immediately extended the stay by another day and crashed early since we had to wake up early morning to reach the place.

Ombatthugudda, Start of trail to site

The next day we started early (around 6am) and reached the starting point of the trail by 7:30am. If you don’t already know about it, it is hard to find this place as there are almost no signs or directions. I bookmarked the location on Google Maps, so if you are planning to go you can use this to navigate: Ombatthugudda, Start of trail to site. There is single guard over there who is basically there to prevent folks from trying to dig up the Dolmens. A few weeks before we visited some folks from the nearby villages damaged 3-4 of the structures while trying to dig under them because they thought that there would be buried treasure under them. That is not the case but still the damage was done and some priceless artifacts damaged by morons.

Overview of the Hirebenakal Prehistoric site and the trail

The trail up from the starting point is a wonderful trek, you get to see a lot of flora and fauna. Plus since not a lot of people come this way there is a high chance of spotting wild animals on the way. While we were walking up our guide suddenly asked us to stop and talk loudly. After a min or so he showed us a pile of fresh shit on the trail and explained that it was from a Sloth bear which we had interrupted in the middle of taking a dump. They have very bad eyesight but have excellent hearing so if you are walking along quietly and stumble on them they might attack as they wouldn’t see you from a distance. If you keep making noise while walking then they hear you and leave so as not to have an encounter. Which is what had happened in this case. He then told us that the bear had been feasting on Mango and other fruits down at the village and he tried showing us the remains in the poop. But I took him on his word and didn’t try to verify what he was saying.

Fantastic view on the way

About a third of the way up we took a short detour (5 min hike off the main trail) and came to some really cool Rock Art which were dated to be more than 2000 years old. It is not clear why the paintings were done at these rocks but a popular theory is that they had something to do with religious ceremonies. There are about 10 rock shelters in the area which have these paintings.

Over 2000 year old Rock Paintings

Some more rock paintings

At first it was hard to see the paintings as they look like rust or regular mud but when you get closer they suddenly take shape and you can see people, animals and other day to day activities painted on the rock. As this is not a often visited site there were no barriers stopping us from getting close to the paintings so with extreme care to avoid touching/damaging the paintings we got as close as we could (a few inches away at times) to check out the paintings. The paintings are done with natural paint called Red Ochre made by mixing powdered haematite (an iron ore) with water.

Mr. Vinay showing us the paintings

Some more paintings

Since the paintings are exposed to nature a lot of them have been erased by erosion over time. The only way to preserve them is to cover them with something that prevents natural elements from touching the paintings. Unfortunately that would be a massive undertaking and not something that can be done easily or cheaply. Which is why we need to put pressure on the government and the Archeological Society to take steps to preserve these artifacts for future generations.

After spending a little while admiring the paintings we started back up the trail and noticed a massive boulder on the way which looked like it was cut in half by a giant knife. One theory is that this rock acted as a waymarker and guide for the folks coming to visit the Dolmen’s, another is that it was used to warn people about attacks or to notify them about the start of important ceremonies etc. It was carved by hand without any power tools and I can only imagine the time and effort required to cut the rock in half so precisely using only stoneage tools.

Stone kettledrum on the way to the site

Shortly after you see the rock signpost the trail flattens out and is a pleasant walk between trees and shrubs. Soon thereafter we started seeing Dolmens all around us. They started off as small structures about a foot in height and as you near the center they are massive structures over 10 feet high. One theory is that the central dolmens were for the chief’s or other important people in the tribe and the further you came out from the center the lesser the status of the people making the structures which translated into smaller structures that would be cheaper/easier to make. But again there is no way to know for sure why these were built or if any of the theories we are putting forward have any merit.

Tiny Dolmen’s near the outskirts of the site

Slightly larger Dolmen found as we get closer to the center

Dolmen’s getting larger as we get to the center

Dolmen’s are basically stone structures usually consisting of two or more vertical megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or “table”. They are found all over the world and are thought to be tombs or prayer places for ancestor worship. But no bodies have been found at any of the Dolmen’s around the world possibly because of the age and the fact that it looks like the bodies were left in the open inside them which would allow wild animals access to the bodies and over the years all evidence of them would be erased by time. One of the most famous examples of Dolmen is the Stonehenge in the UK but there are multiple sites in India with these structures as well.

Gigantic Dolmens at the center of the site

This particular site started off with over 490 when it was first discovered by local herdsmen but due to damage and time only ~200 are still left standing. There are multiple kinds of Dolmen’s here starting with 3-sided chambers with a large capstone on the top allowing them to balance on each other. These are massive stone structures with each slab weighing several tons. It is hard to imagine the effort required to cut the slabs and then lift them up over 10-15 feet in the air while ensuring the ‘walls’ are stable and don’t collapse. Some of these structures have a porthole carved into one of the walls and they are perfectly circular. Imagine carving a hole in a 6-8 inch thick slab of rock while ensuring the hole is perfectly circular. It would be difficult to do so with modern power tools but these folks did it with hand tools.

Circular hole carved in solid rock without power tools.

In addition to the 3 sided chambers, the site also has several buried and semi-buried dolmens called cists and dolmenoid cists along with irregular polygonal and rock shelter chambers. All of these were carved manually over the years. Near the center there is a massive water reservoir which is where archeologists think the tribes created the Red Ochre paint and one can see portions of the rock that are still colored red from the years of paint mixing.

Photo with the dolmens in the background

Shot of some of the Dolmens still standing after ~3000 years

As per the excavation and study done there, it doesn’t seem that people stayed here full time but rather came up from nearby villages to work on the structures. This supports the theory that the site had religious significance but as I said before it is almost impossible to confirm these theories since there is hardly any remains here. Which is one of the reasons idiots around the world dismiss the possibility that they were created by ancient humans. A popular theory is that Aliens came to earth and built these structures because humans couldn’t have done it. These theories are mostly sprouted by western ‘experts’ who can’t believe that indigenous people did what Europeans could not and thus try to discredit their work. Shows like Ancient Aliens and like don’t help either as they spread this racist theory that without ‘white man’ the natives couldn’t have created such works. These programs ignore the massive amount of supporting evidence that it is in-fact possible to create these structures with only muscle power and time. Similar theories abound about the pyramids and other ancient structures and all I can say to them is that, just because you couldn’t do it doesn’t mean that other cultures were not advanced enough and skillful enough to do it. Looking at what they did with stone-age tools it is humbling to imagine what they could have achieved if they had access to modern tools and resources.

Hirebenkal is one of the very few Indian megalithic sites found with associated habitations. In the nearby village archaeologists have unearthed rich cultural material, including pre-megalithic implements, iron slag, pottery of Neolithic, megalithic and early historic period. So it is sad to find it so neglected and poorly protected. There is ongoing effort to get the site classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hopefully it will happen soon and this amazing site will be preserved for future generations to admire.

After a couple of hours around the site, we started back and the trip down was a lot easier but a lot hotter (as it was quite sunny). We reached the start of the trek and had a quick breakfast there from the packed food that we had brought along. Once done with the food we headed back to the resort, where we relaxed for the rest of the day.

The next day, we had breakfast and started the drive back to Bangalore with a determination to try visit more such historical sites in India and spread awareness about them and our rich cultural history.

– Suramya

Early last month I made my second trip to Hampi with the goal of actually exploring the city this time. My 1st trip was focused primarily on Wine tasting as there are some pretty cool Vineyards around Hampi. I am going to break this writeup into two parts, in the first part I am going to talk about all the regular Hampi monuments that everyone explores. In Part 2 I am going to talk about a historic site that hardly anyone knows about which is about 3000-4000 years old approximately and is similar to Stonehenge. (More details in the next post 🙂 )

Hampi is one of the lesser known historic sites in India and it is better known in the south than in the north. It’s name is derived from Pampa which is another name of the goddess Parvati. I first heard about it when I moved to Bangalore in 2010. It was a popular destination with a certain group of people because of the Hippie island and the easy availability of drugs etc. With the administration looking for better crowd of travelers and less drugs etc along with the desire to remove the encroachment into forest lands, the island was cleared, and a lot of work is being done to restore/maintain the historical monuments.

First Day

Our trip started on 6th July, just after the Evolve Back, Hampi resort reopened their doors to visitors when the Karnataka lockdown rules were eased. We had originally planned to travel on the 29th June but due to the lockdown had to push the trip out by a week. As always, we started early in the morning around 6:30am so as to avoid the Bangalore traffic which has been slowly going back to the pre-lockdown levels. The drive to Hampi was fantastic and the roads are amazing. I had to consciously remind myself to slow down as it was quite easy to go super-fast without realizing it. The highway system in India has really improved in the last few years. We reached the Evolve Back campus without any issues except for a minor funny incident right at the end. When we were less than 1 km from the resort, our GPS told us to turn into a complex which it claimed was the resort, but it turned out to be the Forest Department’s office. When we asked them where the resort was, they looked at us like we were crazy, and the guy told us “This is not the resort”. When we told them that we knew this wasn’t the resort and asked for directions they told us to drive on for another 600-800mtrs and the resort was there on the left side. I think that the issue happened due to the GPS losing satellite signal and thus lost an accurate reading of where we were. In any case we reached the venue and checked in without any further confusion.

This was our third stay at the Evolve Back properties, and I have to say that they outdid themselves with the service they provided. This is from the check-in staff to the waiters, manager, trail guides to everyone. To give an idea of the service level and the personalized service we got here are a few small examples. Jani always takes hot water when we go out and I take ice-cold water, we told the serving staff this during our first meal there. After that they ensured we got a glass of hot water and a glass of cold water every single time without asking. They also remembered that we both liked our food to be spicy so all our meals were custom made to be spicier than the usual. In fact the chef actually came and chatted with us multiple times to ensure that the food was made as per our requirements. Even the room we were allocated was selected to give us great views of the sunrise (which we missed because we were sleeping) and the sunset (which we missed because we were on the trails). But it is the thought that counts. Every single person there was always smiling and working to ensure we had a great visit. I am bad with remembering names and since Jani already did a post detailing our stay and how all of the staff made this a fantastic stay, I am not going to duplicate the work here. You can read her writeup of our trip here, on her blog.

The Room we stayed in at Evolve Back, Hampi

The Room we stayed in at Evolve Back, Hampi

View from the Balcony

Night View from our Balcony

Night View from our Balcony

Since, I had a hectic few days before we started the trip and had gotten up early, we decided to take it easy on the first day and just relaxed. The architecture of the property in Hampi is based on the royal palace in Hampi including the open area in the middle with a water source to help cool the place. As we were planning to stay 3 nights we had 2 full days (and 2 half days) to explore Hampi, which was perfect because they have 4 trails for guests (Raya Trail, Vithalapura Walk, Tungabhadra Trek & Virupaksha Trail) which you can choose to go on. We decided to all 4 of them, doing one trail in the morning and another in the evening.

Second Day

We started off with the Vithalapura Walk, which is a walk through the ancient market and the temples of Vithalapura – a Hampi suburb known for the famous Vijaya Vithala temple that houses the renowned Stone Chariot and musical pillared mantapa. Our trip started early morning post breakfast to avoid the heat, the drive to the Vijaya Vithala temple was short and interesting because Santhosh who was our guide kept us entertained with stories about the historical city. We parked the car at the entrance and then walked to the temple. If we had come a little later, there are electric golf carts that will take you there but as we wanted to stretch our legs we walked the ~1kms distance and I am glad we did that because it gave us the chance to explore the area in more detail rather than watching it from the cart.

The first structure that catches your eye as you are walking is the ‘Kuduregombe Mandapa‘ (Horse riders Pavilion). It is named so because it has sculptures of horses with riders mounting them at its entrance and the word Kuduregombe translates to Horse Riders in the local language. This is a temple for one of the Hindu Gods and was built over 500 years ago. Unfortunately, over the years the idol was removed and much of the temple is in ruins so we don’t know for sure which of the Gods the temple was built to worship. Another theory is that it was used as a prayer place by the horse riders during the annual chariot festival.

Kuduregombe Mandapa (Horse riders Pavilion)

Across from the Mantapa there is the remains of the temple pond which supplied the water to be used for the temple and for the drinking/cooking of the staff and visitors. The pond has steps going down to the water and when we went it was in poor shape as the water had stagnated and a lot of plant growth was there. There is a small structure in the middle of the pond where it is assumed an idol was carried out and prayers were done there before taking it back to the temple. Restoration work is going on in the rest of the compound, but they haven’t gotten around to here yet as there is a lot of work remaining. My sister has been working with various folks to map, photograph and look at rejuvenating step-wells around India as they are a sustainable way of water storage and distribution. (More on water distribution later).

Remains of the temple pond, that supplied water to the Kuduregombe Mandapa

As you are walking down the road you will notice these stone pillars parallel to the road placed about 5-6 feet apart in rows. These are the remains of the market stalls that were placed for the vendors to sell their goods. Only the support structures remain as part the structure was made from wood and has decomposed over the years. The market at its peak was almost 1 kilometers long and had shops on both sides of the road. The market was host to merchants from all over the world, including Rome, Persia etc. At its peak the Vijayanagara empire was compared to the Roman empire by the traders and scholars who visited. It was rich enough that diamonds were used as decorations on the horse’s saddles and reins/bridle. In fact legend has it that Diamonds and other precious stones were actually sold by weight instead of per piece in this market because they were so common. There have been writings about this market (and others in the empire) by famous visitors from across the world. But hardly anyone knows about it.

Remains of the Market stalls

During the walk we also spotted some brightly colored lizards (Agama’s) and other wildlife and plants that Jani found to be a lot more interesting than I did. Still they all looked very pretty 🙂

Another few mins of walk brought us to the entrance of the Vitthala temple and even in it’s current state the word that came to mind when I saw it for the first time was “Impressive”. The Vitthala temple was initially built in 1422AD and expanded between 1509-1529AD out of solid granite rock. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vitthala, who is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Entrance to the Vitthala temple

The temple complex is huge and a lot of restoration work is going on as parts of the temple is in ruins due to the age. Some of you might ask (as I did) why folks are not allowed to drive up to the temple and park right in front as there is enough space available there. This is not allowed because of the fear that the vibrations from the vehicles would damage the structure. Then Santhosh pointed out an ingenious method that is being used to monitor the cracks to ensure they are not expanding. In other countries, I have seen sensors being placed all over such structures to monitor the cracks, here they have taken a very thin strip of glass and stuck it over the crack. If there is any activity or increase in the crack dimension it will break the glass notifying the ASI staff that they need to check for damage. It is cheap, simple and very effective.

Cheap ‘sensor’ to monitor cracks on the structure

Once you enter the complex, the famous The Stone Chariot (Ratha) is right in front of you in the temple courtyard. The Chariot is a shrine to Garuda who is the vehicle mount (vahana) of Lord Vishnu. Garuda is also a dharma-protector and Astasena in Buddhism, and the Yaksha of the Jain Tirthankara Shantinatha. It is one of the three most famous chariots in India with the other two located in Konark and Mahabalipuram. The chariot was built by King Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire during the 16th century. It was created to showcase the beauty and artistic perfection of the Vijayanagara empire. The chariot is made of multiple slabs of granite but due to the skill of the craftsmen it looks like it is made from a single stone. A small example of the skill of the craftsmen is that even though the wheels of the chariot are made out of stone they were crafted in a way that they could rotate freely. (Now the wheels have been fixed in place to protect against damage). Originally the chariot had stone horses pulling it but the statues were damaged and have been replaced with elephants taken from another location.

Us at the entrance of the Temple complex with the stone chariot right behind us

The famous stone chariot

The Maha Mantapa (Great hall) of the temple is behind the Stone Chariot in the in inner courtyard. The hall is built on top of a ornately carved platform from solid granite. The whole platform is covered with images from Mythology, flowers and other designs. The Mantapa was under repair when we visited and still was one of the most impressive structures that I have seen. The hall has 16 musical pillars that have been carved from a single piece of rock, each pillar has multiple smaller pillar carved in it. The carving is done in a way that when you tap on the pillar it creates a musical sound. Each pillar produces a different musical note and there is a carving on each pillar that denotes what sound will be produced when the pillar is tapped. Imagine the skill required to carve these pillars flawlessly. During festivals and events musicians would play music for the dancers by tapping on the pillars with short sticks. The pillars in the hall are curtailed from access to prevent folks from playing music on them to protect them from further damage as they are pretty old.

Maha Mantapa, Vitthala temple

Maha Mantapa, Vitthala temple

Sounds produced by Playing the Musical Pillars

The skill of the carvers is evident from the intricately carved water channels in the platform that are part of the design (see photo below).

Carved water channel to safely channel water from rains into drainage.

Other pillars in the hall are covered with carvings that tell the story of Narasimha and parts of the structure tell the story of Hanuman’s visit to Lanka and Lanka Dahan (The burning of Lanka). What I found very interesting was the carving of the king riding a mythical creature with the parts of various animals each symbolizing a different virtue. Unfortunately I forget what each animal was supposed to represent and I will update the post once I find the details.

Carvings on the temple pillars

Carvings on the temple pillars

Carvings on the temple pillars

Another cool aspect that Santhosh pointed out was something that had never occurred to me even though I was aware of the components. He basically told us that the various avatars of Lord Vishnu tell us that our ancestors were aware of the theory of evolution and his avatars evolved over the ages to show how life evolved from marine life to the current form. Evolution teaches us that we went through the following stages of evolution and each avatar corresponds to that stage:

Marine life -> Matsa (Fish) avatar)
Amphibious Life -> Kurma (turtle avatar)
Simple Animals -> Varaha (boar avatar)
Early humans (like Australopithecus Afarensis) -> Narasimha (man-lion)
Tool Users/Farming (like Homo Habilis) -> Vamana (dwarf-god)
Warriors -> Parashurama (Brahman warrior)
Civilized Man -> Rama/Krishna

Pillar carving showing Hanuman’s Lanka Dahan

Each of the other smaller halls are also covered with carvings and paintings. If I wanted to detail each aspect of the carving this post would end up becoming a book so I am not going to do that as there are others with more knowledge who have written about the temple and what all the carvings mean. By the time we finished the complex, it was starting to get a little hot so we rested for a while next to the 100 year old Temple Flower tree and then headed back.

Ancient Temple Tree

After reaching the resort we rested for a bit. As we had to head out again (and since we were hungry from our outing) we took an early lunch and were ready for our next Trail called the “Raya Trail. This trail started with a visit to the Queen’s Bath. The Queen’s Bath was created by Achyuta Raya over 500 years ago for use by the Royal Women. It is an interesting structure surrounded by a moat on all sides which served the dual purpose of preventing any strangers from entering the building while it was in use and secondly to help cool the building during the summer days by evaporation. The building is designed in an Indo-Islamic style as during the time it was built, there was a lot of cultural exchange happening between the Vijayanagara empire and the Muslim kings (Moguls and their followers).

Carved windows in the Queen’s Bath

The center part of the structure is currently open to the air but it is believed there was a wooden canopy over the structure when it was in use. The halls around the bath have beautifully carved pillars and balconies and it is easy to imagine the splendor of the bath in it’s prime. The bath was supplied with water via ingeniously designed aqueducts and some of that original network is still in service and used to supply water to parts of the city and fields.

Ornate windows overlooking the bath at Queen’s Bath

After the bath we visited the Zanana Enclosure (Women’s Enclosure) which contained the residences of the Queen and her ladies. The enclosure is surrounded by a massive wall built to protect the women against attack while the men were away for war. Due to ravages of time only the foundations and the base of the buildings are left in the enclosure as the buildings are said to have been built using wood which decomposed over the years. The most famous structure in the enclosure is the ‘Lotus Mahal’ which was the primary residence and contains lots of geometric windows and ingeniously designed cooling pipes to reduce the temperature during the summer months.

Lotus Mahal

Carved designs around the cooling piles (that spray water)

Our next stop after the Enclosure was the ‘Elephant’s Stable’, where the king housed his famous elephants. The stable was built in the 15th century and is a massive domed structure. Each dome is a different type such as circular, octagonal or fluted. The structure was covered with plaster and Stucoo ornamentation and the remains of the same can be seen in both the exterior and interior of the stable. The mahout’s (Elephant rider/trainer) residence is right next to the stable so that they could care of the elephants.

Elephant’s Stable

After the stable, we visited the Madhava (Ranga) Temple which is famous for the Hanuman statue inside it which is over 3 meters high. The pillars in the temple are carved with depictions of Garuda, Vitthala, Hanuman and depictions of other Gods & Goddesses.

Hanuman statue inside the Madhava (Ranga) Temple

The final stop of the day was the ‘Royal Enclosure’ which was the core of the capital city of Vijayanagara. It housed over 43 buildings for the civil servants that managed the day to day running of the empire. The main entrance to the enclosure was guarded by a pair of massive gates which admitted visitors to a zig-zag area that took the visitors to the ‘Mahanavami Dibba’ platform. This platform was where the king accepted vows of fealty from his subordinates, showcased their military might and performed prayers for victory before any military campaign. Each layer of the platform is decorated with carvings showcasing the military might of the empire, their cultural achievements, representation of visitors from other nations and the tribute they offered (that included, exotic animals, dancers etc). You can see depictions of merchants and ambassadors from the Chinese, Mesopotamian, Persian and other major empires in the world.

Massive Stone Gate protecting the entrance of the Royal Enclosure

The ‘Mahanavami Dibba’ platform

Ornate carvings on the side of the ‘Mahanavami Dibba’ platform

Carving showing some of the visitors to the empire from around the world with the gifts they brought

View from the top of the Platform

Some of the other structures in the enclosure include grain storage area’s and water storage wells. Interestingly, each block of stone used to build these structures has a maker’s mark on it along with marks that tell the mason where exactly this stone was meant to be placed. In case of damage they would carve a replacement and replace that stone without having to measure the original again.

The main water storage for the Enclosure

Maker’s mark on the stone used to build the structures

The enclosure also had provision for soldiers to camp and right next to the aquaduct supplying water there is provision for the soldiers to have their meals in massive stone plates. (I am trying to convince dad to get some stone plates for home).

Massive stone plates for soldiers to have their meals on

The last stop of the day was the ‘Hazararama Temple’ that is the only temple located in the core zone of the royal Enclosure between the residential and ceremonial enclosures. The temple is dedicated to Lord Rama and is a great example of the Dravida Vimana Temple style. The temple is famous for the carvings and sculptures telling the story of Ramayana in three tiers.

The ‘Hazararama’ Temple

Carved pillars at The ‘Hazararama’ Temple

With is visit, we concluded the first day of our trails and headed back to the resort where after freshening up we rested for a little while enjoying the cool breeze and then had our dinner in the Specialty restaurant called Bahmani. Continuing with the theme of giving us a really VIP treatment the staff seated us next to a lotus pond near the window where we got to enjoy the nice breeze and watch the rain while staying dry. The food was again fantastic and we really liked the meal and the service.

Pond side seating at Bahmani for dinner

Third Day

The third day of the trip started with a heavy breakfast followed by us heading out to the ‘Virupaksha Trail’. We drove to the beginning of the trail and started with a visit to the ‘Saisivekalu Ganesha’. This is a 2.4 mtrs high statue carved from a single rock which was built around 1506 AD, as per an engraving on the rock next to the pavilion. The statue is in an open pillared pavilion that has been standing for centuries without any mortar/cement being used in it’s construction. The whole thing is balanced to an inch and even falling rocks have not damaged the structure.

the ‘Saisivekalu Ganesha’

Next to the pavilion, there are a lot of rocks which were prepared for construction and here is where I found out how the ancients broke these gigantic rocks into smaller pieces or slabs without using any kind of power tools. First they locate the fault line in the rock and carve rectangular holes in the stone using chisel & hammers. These holes are then filled with hot water and left for a bit, then they immediately fill it with cold water. They repeat this for about 10-15 days to allow the hot & cold water to expand & contract the rock to start expanding the fault line. At times, they also insert wooden pegs in the holes that are wett’ed with water which forces the wood to expand forcing the cracks to widen. Once they judge enough time has passed and the stone is ready, they use a hammer and chisel to strike hard blows at key points on the rock and it everything was done correctly the rock splits apart easily. The process was then repeated if smaller pieces of the rock were required.

Square holes in the rock made to cut the rock

Massive rock cut in half using the method above

The walk from the Ganesha statue to the Virupaksha temple is quite nice and you can see how the temples evolved over the years. In the beginning there Shiva linga is carved into the rock right in the open, then a few years/decades later the first structure is built around the idol/Shiva linga which is a simple room, with rudimentary carvings on the temple. Carvings are not very detailed because the rock is extremely hard and difficult to carve. Then the later temples built a room around the central room with additional carvings and more idols. Around this time other stones were used in the construction along with Granite so the carvings start becoming more detailed as well.

Shiva linga’s carved in the rock in the open

Single room temple

View of the Virupaksha temple from a distance

A short walk down the hill brought us to the entrance of the famous Virupaksha Temple. The Virupaksha Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and has existed since at least the 7th century as there are records of the temple from the 7th century onwards. The temple was built by Lakkan Dandesha, under the ruler Deva Raya II of the Vijayanagara Empire. It started off as a simple shrine and over the years was built into a a huge complex during the Vijayanagara rule. The carvings of the temple are phenomenal and cover almost all the pillars and roof. The temple base is made from rock with the top portion made from brick. This allowed the architects to create very intricate carvings on the temple as brick is easy to carve and shape as compared to granite.

Inner Courtyard of the Temple complex

The temple has a lot of repeated patterns in it’s design and if you look carefully you can see the patterns demonstrate the concept of fractals. The patterns divide and repeat themselves as they become smaller and smaller. The roof of the temple is covered in beautiful paintings with some of the original colors still visible.

Carvings showing scenes from the Ramayana in original color

Roof Paintings inside the temple complex

Carved pillars in the temple.

One aspect of the temple, which is not known to many people is that it is designed in a way there is a small pinhole camera that shows us the top of the temple as an inverted image within the main temple in a small room off to one side of the main shrine. Things like this were what made it worth going on the trail with the staff from Evolve Back as they show you stuff that you would have missed otherwise.

Pinhole camera showing the top of the temple next to the shrine

The complex had a lot more decorative structures in and around it which were destroyed by the Muslim invaders in the 16th century. Which is extremely depressing when you think about it. How much of India’s culture and history was demolished by these invaders?

While walking around the complex we walked over to see the step well that functioned as the water storage area for the temple use. The structure is still in use and had fishes in it that you can feed. We didn’t but others were feeding them as we watched.

Post that we walked over to the ‘Kadalekalu Ganesha‘ statue, which is the largest Ganesha statue in South India. It towers over you at a height of 4.6 mtrs and is known as Kadalekalu Ganesha because its belly was carved in the shape of a Bengal Gram (Kadalekalu in the local language). The statue sits in a temple hall that is decorated with tall and slender granite pillars carved with various mythological characters and themes. We spent a few minutes resting in the shade here and then started the drive back to the resort.

The ‘Kadalekalu Ganesha‘ statue

On the way we stopped at the Lakshmi Narasimha Statue which is another major tourist attraction in Hampi. It is also known as the Ugra Narasimha or Angry Narasimha. It was built in 1528 AD and is dedicated to Lord Narasimha (an avatar of Lord Vishnu), and Goddess Lakshmi. The statue of Lord Narasimha is sitting sitting cross-legged position on the coil of a giant seven-headed snake Adishesha and originally had a small figure of Goddess Lakshmi sitting in his lap to keep him calm. The statue was vandalized by the Mugals during their attack and the limbs of the statue were broken along with the Lakshmi statue. The damaged Lakshmi statue is now kept in the Archaeological Museum in Kamalapura for safekeeping.

Lakshmi Narasimha / Ugra Narasimha Statue

Right next to the statue is another famous temple dedicated to Lord Shiva called Badavilinga Temple. Badavilinga is a combination of two words – Badva (Poor) and Linga (Shiva) in the local language. It is called so because legend has it that the Shivaling inside the temple was commissioned by a poor farmer lady. In her honor the temple is known as the Badavilinga Temple. The Linga in the temple is surrounded with water to keep Lord Shiva calm and control his destructive dance.

The Badavilinga Temple

Awed by this grand tour we drove back to the resort where we rested for a while before heading out for lunch. Lunch was great as usual and after a short rest we were ready to tackle the next (and the last official) Trail of the resort, the “Tungabhadra Trek“. While we were waiting to head out, Joydeep who is the General Manager for the Hampi property stopped by to check on if we were enjoying the stay. During the conversion he mentioned that they had just completed the recce for another Trail that they were planning on starting in the future which was something that most people didn’t know about. This was to a site (Hire Benakal) that contains structures between 3000 to 4000 years old with rock paintings from the same time. Since both of us love history and wanted to ensure we visited this place, we asked them if they could organize a trip for us to this place (More details in the next post). They agreed to take us out to visit the Hire Benakal but only if we extended our stay by a day because it was a half day trip to visit the location. We immediately asked the staff to extend our stay by a day and then started off for the Tungabhadra Trail.

Nandi Statue at the start of the Tungabhadra Trail

We were joined by Mr Sarath, who is the Associate Director of Conservation and Experiences on this trail along with Santhosh. We then drove over to the start of the trail which has a giant statue of Nandi at its beginning. The statue is looking towards the Vittala Temple and overlooks the entrance. This trail is a little more hiking than the other trails we did till then at Hampi but was a fairly easy climb. Due to the monsoon season starting the whole climb was through some amazing greenery and we could hear a lot of wildlife such as birds and other small animals. The area is wild enough that there have been sightings of panthers and bears at times. Near the trail there was another trail that takes you to a cave that is said to be the location where Sugriva hid from Bali during their fight and his exile. We didn’t have time to visit it, but are planning to do so during our next visit.

View of the Vittala Temple from the trail

Carved image of Vishnu (I think) on the way to the Achyutaraya Temple

A short hike brought us to the Achyutaraya Temple, which looks like the temple from the Jungle Book which is the home of King Louie. As per Santhosh this temple was the inspiration for the ruined temple in the movie. The complex is huge and mostly abandoned with hardly any visitors. There is a way to come to the temple via the river which is where the main entrance used to be. The entrance we came through was the side entrance only used when the river entrance was flooded and couldn’t be used. The complex is covered with beautiful carvings which tell the story of Ramayana. It was built in 1534 AD and is dedicated to Lord Tiruvengalanatha (a form of Vishnu). The main entrance has the remains of a massive market in front of it and traders from all over the world came there to trade.

Achyutaraya Temple, hidden in the forest

Selfie overlooking the Market at the Temple entrance.

Us overlooking the Market at the Temple entrance.

Carved Pillars inside the Achyutaraya Temple

Walking through the Market Stalls at the Temple entrance.

We walked through the complex, and over to the Kodanda Rama Temple on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. The temple overlooks the Chakratirtha, which is is considered to be one of the holiest places in Hampi. Legend says that this is the place where Lord Shiva gave the Chakra Lord Vishnu which is his most powerful weapon. While we were there some shooting was going on for some documentary and due to this we got a highly decorated Coracle instead of a plain looking one. Initially I wasn’t too interested in a coracle ride but then was convinced to go for it as it was the only way to see the ruined temple and the shiva lingas.

Overlooking the Chakratirtha

Coracle ride to the ruined temple

The coracle took us to remains of temples on the bank of the Tungabhadra river and these really detailed carvings of Gods & Goddesses done on the rock itself. A short climb brings you to the highlight of the trek which is a collection of 100 Shiva Lingas in the rock with another set of 1000 Shiva Lingas in the background. Imagine the effort and skill required to carve these without a single mistake on a surface as hard as Granite. After looking at all the amazing carvings we climbed back to the coracle and came back to the Chakratirtha from where we took another trail to the car.

Remains of the temple carvings in the rocks

100 Shiva Lingas carved in stone

1000 Shiva Lingas carved in stone

On the way back to the resort we stopped at another structure that not many people know about, this was the Akhada (a place of exercise/martial practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training) used by the king’s soldiers and visitors who wanted to compete and show off their skills for hiring. The walls are covered with carvings showing various forms of exercise and fighting forms. Even though the place is a little overgrown it is still impressive.

Tea break at the Royal Akhada

We had a small tea break at the place before we headed back to the resort. By this time the team had confirmed our extension of stay even though we didn’t get the same room we were still glad that we got to stay another day. After a short rest, we went for dinner. Since we had liked the specialty restaurant a lot on the previous day the team again booked us for the specialty restaurant with the same seating location as the previous day. By this time a lot more people had checked in to the resort so the place was full but since we were off in our own alcove we were able to ignore the crowd and felt that we were the only people there for dinner.

Finishing dinner, we headed back to the room and crashed for the night as we had an early start the next day. This completes Part 1 of the write up of my Hampi visit. Part II focuses on the visit to Hire Benakal and will be published shortly.

Well this is all for now. Will write more later.

– Suramya

PS: At ~5900 words and 59 pages long with 67 photos this is officially my longest Blog post till date.