The happenings in Hampi

Greetings from the boulder-strewn landscape of Hampi! Nothing but rice fields and temples as far as the eye can see, a nice change of pace from the beaches of Goa and Goan style/trance Euro music scene. Hampi is actually a great place, and one of my favorite stops in India so far. It's a very serene place and people are very pleasant. There seems to be quite a bit of boulder watching in Hampi though. Here are some snapshots.



View from the Hahnaman (monkey) temple at sunrise (yeah, I'm suprised I got up that early too).


Sunset glow off the Virupaksha Temple. This temple was built in 1442, and it has a height of around 50 meters. It's dedicated to a form of the Hindu god Shiva.








This is what happens when you don't give Indian kids a school pen... There's a nationwide shortage, you know?


Scenes from the Vittala temple.



The highlight of this 16th century temple are the musical columns. If you hit them just right, they'll actually play a note! You can hear what the columns sound like when "played" by clicking here.

It would have been interesting to see a concert back in the day.

Lakshmi, the temple elephant

Well, I've been blessed (and sometimes cursed and cursed out) by priests, monks, pseudo-holymen, and Indian transexuals so far, so it's about time I get some good karma from Lakshmi, the Virupaksha Temple elephant in Hampi.

Lakshmi basically takes a 1 rupee coin from your hand-

And smacks her trunk on the top of your head

Personally, I think I'd take the trunk of Lakshmi over some of the hands of the holymen any day (and I think she smells a bit better too, I know she bathes everday).


I actually have a video clip of my blessing, I'll try to post it online.

Traditional Goan lunch

Traditional Goan lunch,
originally uploaded by T_Lo.

Goa is not really India. There are so many Japanese backpackers here, that they actually set up a sushi shop. And no, I didn't eat the raw fish.

why I dislike some Indian souvenirs

why I dislike some Indian souvenirs,
originally uploaded by T_Lo.

 

Backpacker culture

Goa in India is unique in some respects because it was the birthplace of backpacking culture when it was first "discovered" by the hippies in the 60's. Most of the following photos are not unique to just Goa in India but anywhere in the world wherever backpackers and modern day hippies congregate for extended periods of time. Here are some scenes of backpacking culture.

Fire dancing involves dipping kevlar sticks or poi (balls on chains) in kerosene and spinning them while they're lit en fuego. Really spectacular to watch people spin. To have an idea how fast they're moving, these photos were all taken for an exposure time of only 1 second!







Beach lessons- there are always lessons going on of some sorts. These ones happen to be of people learning capoeira, a martial arts/dance from Brazil. The sand on the beach is perfect for capoeira.



Chilling out, playing musical instruments or just chilling out period.



A cow on the beach, however, can probably only be found in India.


And of course, no matter where you go in the world, there's always one backpacker cafe with marijuana signs everywhere and a Bob Marley CD on repeat. Even if you're somewhere where people don't speak English, everyone knows the lyrics to Bob.

Scenes from Goa

The state of Goa in India was once a Portugese colony and retains much of that heritage. There are definitely times walking around in Goan cities where I felt like I wasn't in the "real" India but somewhere in Europe or Latin America because of the heavy Portugese/Catholic influence.



Scenes from Arambol Beach, Goa.






Old Goa was a city that was to rival Lisbon in grandeur. An epidemic led to the town eventually being abandoned as the capital of Goa. All that remains are beautiful "old" (by western standards, usually 17th century) churches and cathedrals.






These next photos made me laugh out loud when I saw them around town. These made me realize I was definitely still in India.
Showerhead Mermaid

Blooming Dales

World Heritage picnic site


I know it's probably a sacrilage and I shouldn't be poking fun of it, but I'm not sure what I found funnier. A plastic Jesus shrine (that probably should have had Buddy Christ instead) on painted floating clouds or that it had a locking gate to "protect" it.

You know you've been in India for awhile...

You know you've been in India for awhile...,
originally uploaded by T_Lo.

 



... when you find yourself holding your own spiritual retreats!

It's sunny and hot

It's sunny and hot,
originally uploaded by T_Lo.

 



For those of you who can't get to a beach, I'll sit around in Goa and do nothing for you.

Ajanta and Ellora Caves

Ajanta Caves









Kailasa Temple (cave 16, Ellora Caves)











Ellora Caves



Cave 10 (Ellora caves)

Amazing. Both the Ajanta and Ellora caves are World Heritage sites, and they completely astonish me. I was suffering from temple/palace/fort fatigue after seeing so many in India, but I think after Angkor Wat in Cambodia, they have to be the most spectacular things carved out of stone that I've ever seen, in particular the Kailasa Temple of the Ellora Caves. I included some shots from above to show how far back they had to excavate rock and some of the detail of the interior.

Keep in mind that this was all at one time solid rock and people had to carve this all out over several generations! Everything from the statues to the pillars were from solid stone. It's not like they could suddenly decide they would switch styles midway through, and if they accidently chiseled off Buddha's nose, it couldn't be replaced.

The Ajanta Caves were carved by Buddhists from 2 BC (!) to 650 AD. The Ellora Caves in contrast are "newer" but some were carved by Buddhists, others by Hindus and others by Jains from 600AD-1000AD. They're both very impressive, and the photos truly don't do them justice. I also posted some more on my Flickr account, just click on one of the photos.