It
should be 9.50 pm, Lal bagh express from Chennai to Bangalore arrived 20
minutes late. I was supposed to board Hampi express by 10 PM to reach my
destination. No announcements and no displays regarding the platform at which
Hampi Express. When I was in a puzzled state, an announcement said that the
train is ready to leave from platform no. 7. I ran through the foot over bridge
pushing down everybody walking through my way and found out 7th platform
and the train that I’m supposed to board. By 9.58, I boarded and by 10, the
train left the station.
Next day morning by 9, the train arrived at Hospet junction from where I took an auto to reach talawari katta river crossing that’d take me to a place that constitutes history and pre-history. We could come across this place as kishkinda in the epic Ramayana and Anegundi served as a capital of the Kishkinda kingdom that’s considered as the birth place of Lord Hanuman.
One has to cross Tunga Bhadra River from Talawari katta crossing point to reach Anegundi. A motor boat dropped us on the other side of the River after a 2 minutes ride.
Uramma Hertage Homes, an NGO that encourages rural tourism runs cottages and rooms for tourists. Earlier i booked for a single bed occupancy. Once i crossed the other side of the river, a person from the resort came to pick me up.
After bath and breakfast, i started to explore. Initially, i went to Nava brindavan that is situated in a small islet in the Tunga Bhadra river. On the banks of the river where i took the boat to reach nava brindavan, i saw another monument that's also built on a small islet surrounding rocks. The monument was a grave yard built with 64 pillars and it is dedicated to the renowned south indian king Krishnadevaraya. It was built with 64 pillars because, the king excelled in 64 art forms. But reaching that place was arduous. So i took the boat to reach Nava Brindavan. The boat was going through a rock filled path and finally reached the small islet. Nava Bridavan had 9 different types of tulasi placed on separate tulasi mada's. A person asked the men to remove shirts and get in. I tried to get near the tulasi and find-out the different types of tulasi's available there. But i was restricted to go near as it is considered as a sacred one. On the other end of the place i found a tiny little hanuman temple in which had a stone mural of hanuman.
My next focus was on chintamani, that is considered to be the place where rama came in search of sita as per ramayana. So walking through the other end of the village i reached chintamani. A temple like monument painted in white colour. I was not able to get into the temple as it was closed. So just walked through the banks of the river in which the temple is located and then went to lunch.
I was in search of a good vegetarian restaurant in the village. So when i went across the roads, i saw something called Hoova Cafe. But the person said, we can only serve you what we have. I said, ok. Because i cannot go in search of another and get the same response. So i was served with rice and dhall with papad. That was quite filling for my stomach and the person charged me 40 rupees.
By evening, i went to pampa sarovar. A small pond filled with lotus is called pampa sarovar and there is lakshmi temple along with the pond. People were awaiting for the pandit to open the temple doors. But i moved out to see Rishi mukha hillock. So walking through the road that leads me to hampi and through a narrow lane lead me to river bank. Only by then i came to know that rishi mukha is in the midst of the river. But no boats or bridge to go to the other side as the river was shallower to walk through.
On the other side, i found a temple that was under renovation. But i was not able to recognize what kind of temple it was. It started to get darker, so i left the place. On the way back to my room, i wanted to go to Anjanadri hill. But i felt tiresome. Hence i ended the day by finally visiting the Ranganatha Swamy temple and Gagan Mahal located in the prime spot of the village.
Day 1, went on quite sluggishly till the dawn. I had to get early on day 2 and prepare to go for Vali & Sugriva cave as well as Anjanadri hill. Another thing that i came across was Pre-historic cave paintings. Better than all other places, i wanted to see that first. After a hefty breakfast in the morning, i vacated my room and sauntered through the road that would lead me to cave paintings. A culvert in the main road pointed towards the way that i went. But it was a long walk from the main road. Many people are not aware of this and it is also not protected.
I kept on moving in the same place, everybody passing through that way said, go straight. Finally i got a person who dropped me directly at the place where am supposed to go in his vehicle. It was a small hillock nestled between the agricultural fields, i walked through the single lined path way and found a way to climb up the hillock. A path way formed with tiny little rocks everywhere. I went on till i found a cave like structure, it should have taken 5 or 10 minutes for me to reach the top. A person in that place advised me to take right side after crossing a particular location. Once i crossed that place, there were plains into that small hillock. I found 4 cave structures on either sides.
My excitement was at the core level, i ran towards right hand side where i saw 2 big rocks slanting on each other and forming a cave like structure. But unlikely, there were no paintings in that cave. I ran to the other side, there too i found nothing. Even though my excitements were high, but disappointed to find nil pre-historic paintings. I went exhausted and took some pictures of the caves. Suddenly, a person roaming that place took me to the other set of caves on the other side and showed some red colour paintings, which was the one i was searching for. I was amazed and took some snaps of it.
I
wanted to stay back even some more days as attractions are unlimited. For each
and every yard you've got something to see and note. But its always important
to get back to the groove.
Next day morning by 9, the train arrived at Hospet junction from where I took an auto to reach talawari katta river crossing that’d take me to a place that constitutes history and pre-history. We could come across this place as kishkinda in the epic Ramayana and Anegundi served as a capital of the Kishkinda kingdom that’s considered as the birth place of Lord Hanuman.
One has to cross Tunga Bhadra River from Talawari katta crossing point to reach Anegundi. A motor boat dropped us on the other side of the River after a 2 minutes ride.
Uramma Hertage Homes, an NGO that encourages rural tourism runs cottages and rooms for tourists. Earlier i booked for a single bed occupancy. Once i crossed the other side of the river, a person from the resort came to pick me up.
After bath and breakfast, i started to explore. Initially, i went to Nava brindavan that is situated in a small islet in the Tunga Bhadra river. On the banks of the river where i took the boat to reach nava brindavan, i saw another monument that's also built on a small islet surrounding rocks. The monument was a grave yard built with 64 pillars and it is dedicated to the renowned south indian king Krishnadevaraya. It was built with 64 pillars because, the king excelled in 64 art forms. But reaching that place was arduous. So i took the boat to reach Nava Brindavan. The boat was going through a rock filled path and finally reached the small islet. Nava Bridavan had 9 different types of tulasi placed on separate tulasi mada's. A person asked the men to remove shirts and get in. I tried to get near the tulasi and find-out the different types of tulasi's available there. But i was restricted to go near as it is considered as a sacred one. On the other end of the place i found a tiny little hanuman temple in which had a stone mural of hanuman.
My next focus was on chintamani, that is considered to be the place where rama came in search of sita as per ramayana. So walking through the other end of the village i reached chintamani. A temple like monument painted in white colour. I was not able to get into the temple as it was closed. So just walked through the banks of the river in which the temple is located and then went to lunch.
I was in search of a good vegetarian restaurant in the village. So when i went across the roads, i saw something called Hoova Cafe. But the person said, we can only serve you what we have. I said, ok. Because i cannot go in search of another and get the same response. So i was served with rice and dhall with papad. That was quite filling for my stomach and the person charged me 40 rupees.
By evening, i went to pampa sarovar. A small pond filled with lotus is called pampa sarovar and there is lakshmi temple along with the pond. People were awaiting for the pandit to open the temple doors. But i moved out to see Rishi mukha hillock. So walking through the road that leads me to hampi and through a narrow lane lead me to river bank. Only by then i came to know that rishi mukha is in the midst of the river. But no boats or bridge to go to the other side as the river was shallower to walk through.
On the other side, i found a temple that was under renovation. But i was not able to recognize what kind of temple it was. It started to get darker, so i left the place. On the way back to my room, i wanted to go to Anjanadri hill. But i felt tiresome. Hence i ended the day by finally visiting the Ranganatha Swamy temple and Gagan Mahal located in the prime spot of the village.
Day 1, went on quite sluggishly till the dawn. I had to get early on day 2 and prepare to go for Vali & Sugriva cave as well as Anjanadri hill. Another thing that i came across was Pre-historic cave paintings. Better than all other places, i wanted to see that first. After a hefty breakfast in the morning, i vacated my room and sauntered through the road that would lead me to cave paintings. A culvert in the main road pointed towards the way that i went. But it was a long walk from the main road. Many people are not aware of this and it is also not protected.
I kept on moving in the same place, everybody passing through that way said, go straight. Finally i got a person who dropped me directly at the place where am supposed to go in his vehicle. It was a small hillock nestled between the agricultural fields, i walked through the single lined path way and found a way to climb up the hillock. A path way formed with tiny little rocks everywhere. I went on till i found a cave like structure, it should have taken 5 or 10 minutes for me to reach the top. A person in that place advised me to take right side after crossing a particular location. Once i crossed that place, there were plains into that small hillock. I found 4 cave structures on either sides.
My excitement was at the core level, i ran towards right hand side where i saw 2 big rocks slanting on each other and forming a cave like structure. But unlikely, there were no paintings in that cave. I ran to the other side, there too i found nothing. Even though my excitements were high, but disappointed to find nil pre-historic paintings. I went exhausted and took some pictures of the caves. Suddenly, a person roaming that place took me to the other set of caves on the other side and showed some red colour paintings, which was the one i was searching for. I was amazed and took some snaps of it.
Then
he made me run to numerous cave like structures and showed paintings made in
red soil. A 30 headed snake, tribal dance etc. were some paintings that i saw.
