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March 22-27
The Vijayanagar empire was established in 1336 and the population peaked at about 500,000 in the 16th century before the empire fell to Muslim invaders in 1565. The visible reminders of the empire remain in the hundreds of temples large and small scattered over a 43 square kilometer area. And boulders. Granite boulders everywhere by the thousands - up to 50 feet high or more, creating a truly magical setting. The main temple is a 150-foot high testament to Lord Shiva, and a slightly smaller temple was added 70 years later in 1510. Further to the south the royal center housed the Queen’s Bath, the Royal Treasury, as well as the stables for the royal elephants. What you can only get a glimpse of, from the ruins of the bazaars, is the enormous amount of activity that would have been a daily occurrence here, with traders from all over Asia selling spices, silk, animals, and people, and exchanging ideas, books, religious customs, and languages.
Speaking of elephants, we were able to see Lakshmi the elephant getting her morning bath in the Krishna River several times on the way into town. Lakshmi works in the main temple as
the official rupee collector and blesser - put a rupee in her trunk and she passes it to her handler and then places her trunk on your head for a blessing. It was fascinating to watch the grace of this huge animal as she lowers herself into the river to have her handler scrub first one side and then the next, before she finally stands up in the river and, with enormous trunkfuls of water, rinses herself off before walking up the numerous steps of the ghats. While it’s not too great to see an elephant stand shackled and take rupees all day, there is no denying that when she gets in that river every morning and feels that brush scrubbing her, she is in elephant heaven.
One day we witnessed two Hindu weddings at noon in the main 600-year old temple. One couple was from Hampi and they were married in the main part of the temple. Just off to the side, and at the same time, another couple from outside Hampi was relegated to a secondary position. The Hampi couple was also married under an elaborate cupola made entirely of banana trees, with the main supports made
from the trunks of the trees and the finely woven details on the top and sides made from smaller stalks and leaves. Interspersed among this were marigolds and other flowers. Under the cupola the couple sat, with several officiating persons and holy men guiding each perosn throough the elaborate ritual - which largely consisted of pouring several items such as flower petals, rice, milk, and other symbols of fertility and prosperity over one another. Family members crowded around the couple in no particular semblance of order, and friends and onlookers (anybody and everybody was welcome) formed a periphery around the cupola. A marching band consisting of several horn players and a couple of percussionists (all dresed in garish red western-style marching band costumes) were hired to march in with the wedding party and remain to create as much loud music as possible. Boys were hired to bang hanging drums made from goat skin and probably as old as the temple itself. A very raucous affair all around, with thankfully none of the staid, serious, and sober proceedings of a western wedding. One universal aspect of weddings seems to persist however - the groom looked terrified at times!
The boulders
are justifiably world-famous for rock climbing, and one afternoon after touring temples I was able to join up with some climbers for an evening of bouldering. It was fantastic to climb with German, English, and Canadian climbers on rocks I have seen so many pictures of, all the while watching the sun set over green rice paddies and the main temples rising above everything on the horizon.
While the temples are testaments to the beauty of the Hindu religion and the ingenuity of human engineering, there is a darker side to this area as well. The Hindu emperors waged successive campaigns against their Muslim neighbors to the north, massacring innocent people by the thousands. The Muslims in turn played their part was well. One Muslim ruler, in response to a new Hindu attack on the city of Mudkal in which every inhabitant but one was killed, promised not to rest until 100,000 Hindus were slain in retaliation. In all, 500,000 were ultimately killed. None of this is talked about now, of course, or captured on film or sold as post cards, but the most beautiful triumphs and the darkest moments of the human soul have played out here, with only the boulders as a final witness. What humans are capable of, from chaining a magnificent animal that is servilely bathed every morning to creating monuments to slaughter in the name of religion, never ceases to amaze.
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