—Categories: bangalore, darter, heritage, karnataka, photo essay

Images – Monuments of Hampi

Here is a compilation of images of heritage sites in Hampi, made during my two visits to the place this year. In these visits, I attempted to go beyond merely documenting the temples, but tried looking for new angles and perspectives to capture them. I must admit that the time I spent at each monument is far less than I would have liked to, to be able to do justice to their beauty. I believe that good pictures are made by continuous and patient observation, taking time to immerse oneself in the surroundings. There will be many more visits to Hampi in the coming years, where I hope to spend time finding more perspectives and unseen beauty of these monuments.

Also see my images of birds of Hampi.

Virupaksha Templs’s tower is the tallest and among the most prominent structures in Hampi. While the deities in all other temples in Hampi were desecrated at some point in time, Virupaksha Temple remained intact. This is the only places among the old temple where the lord is still worshiped. Also read the debate on why Virupaksha Temple was not desecrated, on Anu’s blog.

Hampi

The insides of Virupaksha Temple.

hampi

More views of Virupaksha Temple, taken from nearby Hemakuta Hill.

hampi

hampi

And here is how Hemakuta Hill looks from the courtyard of Virupaksha Temple. People arrive at the Hemakuta Hill in the evening hours to see the beautiful vistas of a boulder-strewn landscape and to watch the sunset. This picture was taken about thirty minutes before the hour of sunset.

hampi

Here is a mendicant on one of the mantapas on Hemakuta Hill.

hampi

A long avenue, called Hampi Bazaar, located in front of Virupaksha Temple is said to be the place that symbolized the past riches of Hampi. This is where gold and diamonds were sold by the street side in the heydays of Vijayanagar Kingdom. Even today, a long shelter with hundreds of pillars has remained on both sides of the avenue, which once served as shops selling the riches. To the other end of the avenue is Matanga Parvata, said to be the highest point in Hampi. This mantapa is at the base of Matanga Parvata about a kilometer away from Virupaksha Temple at the other end of the avenue.

hampi

To the other side of Matanga Hill Achutaraya Temple, seen in the picture below.

Similar to the bazaar in front of Virupaksha Temple, Achutaraya Temple also boasts of a wide and long avenue which once had shops lined on both sides. This Kalyani is at the other end of Achutaraya Bazaar.

hampi

River Tungabhadra flows through Hampi, flowing close to Virupaksha Temple and the kalyani in front of Achutaraya Temple. Further, about a kilometer downstream on the bank of the river is Vijaya Vithala Temple, one of the major monuments of Hampi. It is most known for its musical pillars and a stone chariot in the temple courtyard. My personal favourite is this frangipani tree that adds a great charm to the temple premises. Thankfully, it was flowering during my last visit in February.

hampi

Lotus Mahal is another well-known monument in Hampi, located along with a series of sites that one can visit along with this. During my visit to the Mahal in January, we reached here just before sunset to catch the last golden rays of sun falling on the monument.

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A closer look at Lotus Mahal.

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Near Lotus Mahal is a large enclosure where the royal family lived. The palace and other buildings in the enclosure do not exist any more. A large elevated platform from which the king addressed his subjects, and a series of tanks and aqueducts form the highlight of the royal enclosures. Here is  a small section of a step well in the royal enclosure.

hampi

Not far from royal enclosure is the queen’s bath – a modest building with a tank in the center of it. Here is an image of the passage around the tank.

hampi

Prints of the image available. Request for prints

—Categories: hills, karnataka, monsoons, nature, photo essay

Photo Essay: Chandradrona’s Fog

Some images can be seen at a bigger size on paintedstork facebook page

As monsoon clouds move into the western ghats in the early days of June, the hills of Chikmagalur see a remarkable transformation. The vistas of grassy slopes and the dense forests of Bhadra Wilderness disapper under a blanket of thick fog. The fog never recedes for the next three months and it looks as if the skies have disappeared, never to come back again. But come September, it goes away as magically as it had arrived to reveal the beautiful blue skies and to welcome the warmth of the sun.

Chandradrona Parvata, commonly known as the hills of Bababudangiri Hills, host the highest peaks in Karnataka and is home to some of the densest rainforests in the region. I made a dashing visit to the hills this monsoon season and made an attempt to capture the foggy hillscapes. Here is a collection of images of Chandradrona’s Fog.

chikmagalur

chikmagalur

Coffee estates dominate the slopes of Bababudangiri. The district of Chikmagalur, along with neighbouring Coorg, grows bulk of the coffee produced in India. The need for a balance of sun and shade in coffee estates allows coffee growers to retain some of the trees that naturally grow in the region, but they constantly chop the branches and leaves to allow some sunshine to seep in. This creates a weird landscapes full of tall trees standing bare, often with only tender leaves sprouting from their hacked branches. Add a foggy monsoons that hides the details in the landscape and you get an eerie atmosphere in the hills.

chikmagalur

hebbe falls

Many roads in the hills are without tarmac and sometimes you can barely call them roads. Many roads are also privately owned by the coffee estates that are spread over thousands of acres. We drove through one such road on an ancient Mahindra that lacked the luxuries of shock absorption. Sometimes we treaded over rocks when the road disappeared in stretches, each time double checking to ensure that our backs have stayed unbroken. The road lead to the roaring Hebbe Falls that was falling with full force in the peak monsoon season. I stood in the narrow valley of the stream and felt the wrath of the waterfall whose sprinkles made me completely wet in a matter of seconds. I went there determined to take a picture and decided not to step back despite being faced by a jet of droplets hurled away from the waterfall into me. Keeping the camera covered most of the time, I set it up on a tripod, composed blindly and hurriedly took a picture, exposing the camera in the open just for a few seconds. The lens surface became completely wet in those few seconds and you can see the droplets in the picture. I knew this was a task meant to fail, but I had no heart to come back without trying.

lichens

lichens

Monsoon is the season of fertility in the highlands of Chandradrona. Every exposed surface remains wet all through the three months of rain. Life in different shape, form and size grows effortlessly at the slightest opportunity; even tree trunks are never spared.

chikmagalur

Innumerable streams crisscross the forests in these mountain, sometimes rushing down the hills in a great hurry and sometimes meandering gently through the forests. They come together in River Bhadra and feed the plains of the Indian peninsula. These streams come alive during the monsoons, charged by the continuous rains that keeps pouring throughout these three months.

Prints of all the images available. Request for prints.

—Categories: bangalore, karnataka, photos, Uncategorized

Bhoganandeeshwara Temple

Here is another image from Bhoganandeeshwara Temple. A marriage was in progress when we arrived at the temple, providing plenty of human elements in a place, which I guess usually remains empty.

bhoganandeeshwara temple