Up 'n' Ruins (Holidays pt. 3)

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I made a promise in my last entry that I would dedicate this entry to ruins and the movie Up, and I have no intention of disappointing (I know you all must be sitting at the edge of your seats, dying to hear about both). First, some ruins, and then I'll move on to this Upbusiness when I get to that part of the story.

Our ruins exploration took several different forms over a couple of days: One day, we walked to one end of the Bazaar and wandered around, and the next we went to the other end of the Bazaar, where the Virupaksha Temple is, and Peter and I took a bike tour from there (Ally doesn't bike so well, so Bitsy agreed to walk around with her instead of touring with us).

(Before I get too far, I want to give a little disclaimer: I was inundated with a lot of interesting information over this week, but I wouldn't be surprised if I wrote something down incorrectly. If, by any means, I misspeak about a tradition or concept, I would like to apologize in advance, and invite you to bring light to the mistake. the last thing I want to do is provide everyone with a ton of misinformation.)

A little bit of background regarding the ruins, and why they are where they are, surrounding the little town of Hampi: The ruins are from the 7th c.-16 c., and display the growth of an empire that at one time covered half of India. Hampi was the hub of this empire, and the Hampi Bazaar was once filled with vendors selling precious jewels. Hampi's golden age was from around 1520-1560, but ended when it was invaded and subsequently occupied for a grand total of 6 months. After that time, the invaders moved on, but took Hampi's wealth and any chance of rebuilding the empire with them.

When you walk to the end opposite the Virupaksha Temple, you are greeted by this fantastic monolithic bull. In Hinduism, bull-statues are called nandi, and they are a symbol of Shiva. The monolithic bull is impressive, but can no longer be considered holy because it is broken. Hampi is actually home to a one-of-a-kind nandi (a very small one, but memorable all the same) with three heads, which is believed to symbolize the unity of the three main gods: Brahma, the Generator; Vishnu, the Operator; and Shiva, the Destroyer. Get it? Generator Operator Destroyer. GOD. My tour guide's, Hanuman's (yes, just like the monkey-god), face lit up when he told us that trick to remember the key Hindu gods.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to our un-guided ruin-wandering.

After you passed the monolithic nandi, you descended into a large temple, complete with deteriorating columns and doorways. Bitsy and I sat and admired the architecture for quite some time, enjoying the quiet, the rest (this was the same day as the Hanuman Temple climb), and the shade.

And then, all of a sudden, I heard it.

At first, I didn't believe my ears, but then it happened again, and I told Bitsy, and she listened for it too. It happened a third time, and there was no denying it.

We found Kevin.

Okay, so that was enough drama for a not-so-dramatic moment, but I will be perfectly honest that this made my day. For those of you who are not familiar with the movie Up, or for those who need a refresher, Kevin is the large fictional bird (called a "snipe") that resembles an oversized, colorful dodo. She has a very distinct call--one that cannot be mistaken--and we definitely heard her many times somewhere in the rocky distance. I did some research, and found out that she was designed to resemble the male himilayan monal pheasant, but when I listened to the call of said pheasant, I was disappointed to find it completely different from Kevin's. So, in short, I have no idea what type of bird I heard, but I like to imagine there is a giant chocolate-loving snipe roaming among the boulders of Hampi.

And while I'm on the subject of boulders: One of the things that baffled me when I first started walking around Hampi is that there are many boulders with a thin line of square holes across its face. It turns out that this is evidence of harvested rock. Quarriers would make little nodules in which they would squeeze squares of wood. When the wood got wet, it would expand, and break the rock.

The following day, when we went into Virupaksha Temple (before the bike tour), we were told to go to the river to see Lakshmi the Elephant get her bath. She later blessed Peter and Ally (put her trunk over their heads). Peter was then approached by a couple of tour guides, both with whom he had agreed to go on tours. They were from the same company, but what Peter didn't realize was that they worked independently during the same hours, so they decided to ask him to choose which one he wanted to be our guide. He chose Hanuman (to whom he had spoken earlier than the other), and we certainly were not disappointed.

Hanuman took us to a bike rental place and outfitted us with some really nice 1-speed bikes (no, really, they were well-kept). He led us to about eight or so stops, mostly temples of various sorts. We learned that Virupaksha Temple was considered a very holy place because Vishnu's symbol, the lingam (which is a cylindrical, basically unmarked slab of rock), was naturally found there without human alteration. We visited a couple of Ganesha temples with broken monoliths ("Peanut Ganesha," named after the shape of the dent in his belly; and "Mustard Ganesha," named so because the man who built it made all of his money as a mustard seed vendor). Across from Mustard Ganesha was another large bazaar, with what looks like a beautiful pool. Turns out that it was actually a tank used for holy water, and was blessed at least once a year by a procession walking around it clockwise (you always do this at Hindu temples).

We also visited the Hazara Rama Temple which, if I remember correctly, is supposed to be on the site of Rama and Sita's wedding. In any case, the temple is covered with a series of pictograms that tell the Ramanyana, and after Hanuman (the guide) was finished giving us a brief description and showed us the very beginning of the story, Peter found the pictograph of Hanuman (the god) showing Rama's ring to Sita (see part 2 if you have no idea what I'm talking about). That made us feel like quite the accomplished students.

So, that's all for ruins and Kevin...but WAIT! There's more action-packed adventure to come! Filled with bicycle accidents and train-chases and McDonalds!

But, for now, much love from India!

Lynn

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Photos

Lakshmi the Elephant
Rubba dub-dub.

Hanuman and Sita
One of hundreds of pictographs at the Rama Temple, all telling the story of the Ramanyana.

Ancient Temple
The site from which we heard Kevin.

Signs of Quarrying
Somewhere in the direction of Kevin.