Hampi: Encounter With a Hermit
While my friends went in to check out the temple in Hampi, I sat outside waiting for them. I had been inside a couple of times earlier and was in no mood to take out my footwear again.
There were people walking all around, unhurriedly and with no purpose. Some people entering the premise, some leaving, and some more like me sitting and whiling away their time. A few people who were watching Utsava programs till late and could not go home had settled down there itself for the night to recede.
Also see more about Hampi on paintedstork.com:
* A drive to Hampi.
* Hampi image gallery
A sadhu(hermit/saint) sitting below a tree nearby smiled at me. He raised his hands in blessing and I bowed slightly to him from where I was – a process that is usually done the other way round. After a few minutes of silence and indifference, I shifted places and sat next to him.
He was an old man, with a beard and saffron robe typical of any yogi. When he spoke, he spoke softly in an unhurried manner. There was an eternal slight smile on his face that never seemed to fade. And when he spoke, he spoke anything he wished to, with no inhibition of communication boundaries. Many people walked in and out of the temple with no regard for the Sadhu. A few people stopped, touched his feet with devotion and received his blessings. And some people looked at him, half minded and wondering whether to stop or not. The sadhu treated everyone in the same manner. He did not mind if people decided not to stop. And he was not elated when some one bowed in front of him. And his smile stayed all along. He spoke to them affectionately.
We struck a conversation. He said he was here to visit the place, and also inspect the cleanliness in the temple. He had travelled all over India, from far north to the South visiting holy places with the same intent. And he was not happy with what he saw. He talked about his birthplace and a little about his history – something that is traditionally not spoken by these people. I wanted to ask him about his journeys, but such questions are usually not asked.
A villager sitting nearby joined us in the conversation. The talk turned to yesterday’s programs in the Hampi Utsava(Also see – picture gallery, Hampi Utsava). They relished talking on a mythological play which I had missed. The villager seemed to go into a devotional trance as he described the play – “It felt as if Lord Krishna himself had come down to earth and appeared on the stage”. I pinched myself again for missing out on the play.
I asked the Sadhu’s permission and took some pictures. He was willing to pose but I asked him not to. A child walked in all by himself. The sadhu smiled and patted his back. As I came back to him and sat down silently, more and more people walked in. With his ever-present smile, he blessed them and applied a paste of Vibhooti(sacred ash) on their forehead.
Most people who walked in struck a conversation. They felt at home with the complete stranger. My friends were back from the temple by then. I bowed to him again and moved on.