Hampi - A perspective

Mahanami Dibba - Hampi

Built by king Krishnadevaraya to celebrate his victory over the rulers of Udayagiri, this is the Mahanami Dibba. Virupaksha, my guide told me that this is where the kings presided over a ceremony or a festival, especially during Navaratri . As this post coincides with Navratri, I couldnt but help wondering about the celebrations in that era. Climbing up, I saw the entire landscape of this forgotten town, lost in ruins. I took this picture when I was leaving the Royal Enclosure. It just made me think how we are so tiny and our achievements , even more insignificant and yet, we gloat over them. Even a mighty empire like Vijaynagar had to crumble one day.

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Hampi - Photo essay on a nomadic life

We met a few nomads in Hampi and the women folk shyly spoke to us. They are mainly from  Belgaum, but they hardly have a destination called home. They move from villages to villages, often working as shepherds or rear cattle and live in temporary settlements. Their belongings are usually their horses and a few vessels which they carry along with their bundle of clothes.

They work in and around the villages in Hampi until the monsoons are over and then they begin their journey towards their home again. However, when you ask them whether they are headed home , they just smile and say no..When pressed for an answer as to where they are headed, they simply say - " To the next village."

India through my eyes - rustic life

While returning from Daroji, we stopped by at a small village near Hampi to have tea. The locals gathered around us and the mothers asked us to take photographs of their kids. They were extremely happy to see the photographs and within minutes, the entire village, which probably consists of a few houses had gathered around us. As I left the hamlet , I saw the happy faces of these people and told myself that happiness is not that elusive after all. 

More birds from Hampi

There are several birds in and around Hampi and Daroji - we used to wake up to the call of the Grey Francolin or see the red spur fowl disappearing amongst the rocks . Sometimes we used to see quails running away like balls of cotton and  disappearing into the undergrowth.  I was unable to get some good pictures of these birds , but here is a photo-feature on some of the others that posed for me .

Laughing dove and ashy crowned sparrow lark above, while a pair of Eurasian collared dove below.

A white browed wagtail and a wire tailed swallow

Scaly breasted munia followed by rufous tailed lark

A sandpiper followed by a long tailed shrike

A red wattled lapwing

And finally we saw a row of blue tailed bee- eaters in Anegundi..a pair was on the wire and then a trio and within minutes there were close to half a dozen of them...

Birding in Hampi - the pied kingfisher and the commonkingfisher

There are many surprises in Hampi. Everytime I visit this magical place, I see something new. Last year, I did some extensive birding there and found that there were quite a few migratory birds around as well . This time around, I was a little too early for the migratory season, but I did see quite a few birds.

This post is largely about the two varieties of kingfishers that I spotted during the trip. While the regular white breasted kingfisher eluded my lens, I managed to click some pictures of the pied kingfisher while it was fishing near a canal enroute to Daroji . I also saw a pair of the uncommon common kingfisher, which are much smaller and rarer  near the kalyani of the Vittala Temple at Hampi.

As you are aware, Jungle Lodges and Resorts have opened their property in Hampi and they offer birding and nature walks in addition to sightseeing of monuments of Hampi. Please let me know if you would be interested in holidaying in Hampi as Novemeber onwards the season begins and its a great time to spot birds and also see bear cubs at Daroji in addition to the splendour of Hampi and Anegundi . 

300 and more - would like your feedback

In the last  couple of months, Ive been travelling rather extensively and some of these overseas trips have been rather unplanned. The Singapore trip was rather a surprise and then I decided to add Bali along with it at the last minute as Borneo and Cambodia, my initial choices did not quite work out. My trip to Hong Kong was a family trip - again, a last minute affair .All three islands have been very different from each other . The journeys have also been very different in nature. So, while I start  posting about these destinations here, I  wanted to know your thoughts on what you would like to read

- Would you prefer first hand experiences and narratives or articles that I write for other publications ?
- Would you prefer photo features ?
- May be you would like short snippets and insights into sights and sounds of a country ?
- Or just little things that interested me about a place ?
- Probably you would prefer a guide book style - what to do, where to go..
- Maybe you would like to hear more about people than places..

Its just that I realized that after  four years of backpacker  and  with more than 300 posts, blogging is more about being reader focussed than just personal trivia. This does not mean that I will stop posting the way I am doing currently, but some feedback from all of you would be deeply appreciated in the comments sections . Thanks for being around .

Bali - Towering sculptures

The first thing that strikes you about Bali is its art. Its the only island in Indonesia where Hinduism is predoninant and there are temples in every nook and corner and every house has a courtyard filled with temples. But what strikes you are the towering sculptures and statues on the road , inspired by Ramayana and Mahabharata. The giant , Ghatotkacha, is one of the first you would encounter when you step out of the airport. The other characters are Bheema, Karna among others. "Take a picture madam," said my taxi driver ," The roads are going to be widened soon and all these may be removed or destroyed." Sounds familiar, doesnt it !

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