Hampi is renowned for two things, both made of stone. One is the ruins of a civilization of over 500,000 that lived here during the early part of this millennium, before being entirely razed by a rival empire. The other is a whole lot of giant boulders. Yesterday, we explored some ruins-- only 'some,' because this place is carpeted with ruins-- and climbed some boulders. Climbed a sort of mountain/pile/stack of them, actually. And, fittingly, on the top were some more ruins. Which we explored. The best bit of exploring yesterday found us in a dark series of corridors, connected in a U shape about some central room, lit only sparingly by a few shafts of light that slanted down through small holes crumbled in the granite ceiling. Bats clung to the roof. Except for the occasional flutter of wings, the room was filled with a heady silence, and the must and dank of ages. The shadowed walls and columns were adorned with mysterious carvings. Black recesses loomed with potential. I felt like I had discovered something real in History, that I had stepped into a piece of History that, unlike the the Hampi civilization, had not fully died. Secrets seemed to still swirl about, roused from the motes of dust to which they had clung for centuries, disturbed by my unsure steps in the darkness. We stayed there for a little while, before moving on. I am going back there today, to that little cave of history.
Tonight we take a sleeper bus to Bangalore. Tomorrow we will see a little bit of Bangalore, perhaps no more than the inside of a restaurant, before taking another bus to Puducherry, to check out Auroville. A few days after that, we are booked for a 30 hour train from Chennai to Calcutta. It is worth noting that one only has to remove a few letters from 'travelling' to get 'raving.' 30 hours on an Indian train may have us closer to the latter.
3 weeks remain. The trip is planned (yes, 'plan' is a part of my vocabulary) from here on out. Delhi is in sight.
Dance.
Chance
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Just thinking about you rattling down the tracks on a speeding train. I hope you are stretched out in a nice, long, comfortable sleeping compartment and that you are able to keep sticky fingers out of your pockets while you sleep! Te amo, Mama
ReplyDeleteHampi should be in the next Indiana Jones movie. There has to be ancient mysteries and clues that must be solved via action with whips, guns and huge rolling boulders in Hampi.
ReplyDelete