Its been about two weeks since my last post [Editors note: This is a lie since this post should have posted at the beginning of April] and a lot sure has happened, ranging from losing my wallet to having beer poured in my sneaker and having a dance party in the academic quad...So first, things first. I know I am on a student exchange here, but I must admit I haven't been doing much scholarly work. One of my classes haven't even started yet! The professor is in the US and will return in early May to come back and teach us...which means, instead of having a nice leisurely class pace, it will be class everyday! I'm certainly not looking forward to that. My two other classes are really chill and mostly we just come to class and have a small lecture with some discussion about the daily topic. I enjoy it, however, I can't be sure that I am getting a good value considering I am paying tuition for this.
Aside from that, I've done some fun things. I went to visit Hampi and a small village called Mantralayam. Mantralayam is a small temple town on the border between Karnataka and Andra Pradesh. It lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, which unfortunately was severly flooded in 2009 and the town was very damaged. Flocks of Hindu Indians make pilgramage to see the two temples and ashram, dedicated to the Brindavana of Guru (Saint) Raghavendra Swami, who believed in the worship of Lord Vishnu as supreme to all other Hindu gods. It is believed that the Guru stated that his Brindavana would stay in Mantralayam for 700 years...he has about 360 years left. He was an interesting person because he advocated the donation of food to all the devotees coming to see him and praise Vishnu. This practice is still continued and I had the experience of having a free lunch with all the other devotees that afternoon.
Hampi is a World Heritage Site, which consists of some very well preserved ruins from the Vijayanagara Empire, also lying on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. Its really sort of a betwitching place; you walk into the ruins and its like walking into a lost time. In the late 1330's, a Prince named Hariharaya chose Hampi as his new capital and by the 16th century it was a huge metropolis with nearly 500,000 people living there. The complexity of the city can be observed in the remains of their advanced water system and different bazaar areas. The city fell around 1560, when it was set on fire by rival sultans. My favorite part about Hampi was certainly the Lotus Mahal, located in the Royal centre of the ruins. Named for the patterned lotus doorways, the building was supposedly the Queen's recreation area. Some of the best preserved areas are actually sites in the "women's quarters" called the Zenna Enclosure, including the Queen's Bath, the Underground temple, and the Elephant stables, located right outside.
In the areas around Hampi are also several temples, most famous being the Vittal Temple. This temple was actually never completed, but its huge compound was being built in honor of the god Vishnu. The temple is well known for its special pillars, which were designed to each play a different musical note. Although tourists are not allowed to tap on the pillars anymore, the guard did play a little note for my tour group! The temple compound is also home to the Stone Chariot, which has the allusion of being built from one solid piece of stone, but was actually completed by using several pieces of granite. The chariot is well-known because of the intricate battle scenes that are carved around its base as well as the fact that the large stone wheels were constructed on axles that actually allowed them to turn.
Another highlight of Hampi is the Hampi Bazaar, which is home to the so called monkey Temple, Virupaksha. One can see many little monkeys living along the main doorways of the temple, which is still used for worship. This temple is dedicated to a form of the god Shiva, and has several interesting delineations from older Hinduism. In particular, in this temple you can see a unique way of depicting Nandi, Shiva's sacred bull. Nandi appears in groupings of three--referring to different phases of Nandi. This is quite uncommon in Hinduism. Aside from the temple, the bazaar itself isn't too impressive, but I did get the experience of going during the Hindu holiday of Holi. Holi is a spring holiday celebrating the story of the escape of a young prince, Prahlad from a giant fire, after a Demoness named Holika, carried him into it. Its also known as the festival of colors because it is celebrated by people throwing colored powder and water at each other. In Hampi, the celebration was on full swing by 8 a.m. and to my surprise, was mostly a lot of westerns just trying to get in the paint action.
After returning from Hampi, I got in touch with a Suvi, who is cousins with a friend of mine from way back when. Suvi and her fiance Rudolph, invited me along to a little thing called the Hash Run. Little did I know what I was getting myself into... The Hash Harriers run group is basically a group of people with a love of running and a knack for inappropriate jokes and beer drinking. My first Hash run was in a suburb of Bangalore, near the airport. We ran about 15kms then had some beer and some time on the ice -- a bit of hazing for the newcomers and those that broke the rules of the Hash run. For more information on the Hash Harriers, Google it. They have clubs in basically every major city around the world, and I plan on joining the Madison Hashers when I get back!
Aside from that, I've done some fun things. I went to visit Hampi and a small village called Mantralayam. Mantralayam is a small temple town on the border between Karnataka and Andra Pradesh. It lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, which unfortunately was severly flooded in 2009 and the town was very damaged. Flocks of Hindu Indians make pilgramage to see the two temples and ashram, dedicated to the Brindavana of Guru (Saint) Raghavendra Swami, who believed in the worship of Lord Vishnu as supreme to all other Hindu gods. It is believed that the Guru stated that his Brindavana would stay in Mantralayam for 700 years...he has about 360 years left. He was an interesting person because he advocated the donation of food to all the devotees coming to see him and praise Vishnu. This practice is still continued and I had the experience of having a free lunch with all the other devotees that afternoon.
Hampi is a World Heritage Site, which consists of some very well preserved ruins from the Vijayanagara Empire, also lying on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. Its really sort of a betwitching place; you walk into the ruins and its like walking into a lost time. In the late 1330's, a Prince named Hariharaya chose Hampi as his new capital and by the 16th century it was a huge metropolis with nearly 500,000 people living there. The complexity of the city can be observed in the remains of their advanced water system and different bazaar areas. The city fell around 1560, when it was set on fire by rival sultans. My favorite part about Hampi was certainly the Lotus Mahal, located in the Royal centre of the ruins. Named for the patterned lotus doorways, the building was supposedly the Queen's recreation area. Some of the best preserved areas are actually sites in the "women's quarters" called the Zenna Enclosure, including the Queen's Bath, the Underground temple, and the Elephant stables, located right outside.
In the areas around Hampi are also several temples, most famous being the Vittal Temple. This temple was actually never completed, but its huge compound was being built in honor of the god Vishnu. The temple is well known for its special pillars, which were designed to each play a different musical note. Although tourists are not allowed to tap on the pillars anymore, the guard did play a little note for my tour group! The temple compound is also home to the Stone Chariot, which has the allusion of being built from one solid piece of stone, but was actually completed by using several pieces of granite. The chariot is well-known because of the intricate battle scenes that are carved around its base as well as the fact that the large stone wheels were constructed on axles that actually allowed them to turn.
Another highlight of Hampi is the Hampi Bazaar, which is home to the so called monkey Temple, Virupaksha. One can see many little monkeys living along the main doorways of the temple, which is still used for worship. This temple is dedicated to a form of the god Shiva, and has several interesting delineations from older Hinduism. In particular, in this temple you can see a unique way of depicting Nandi, Shiva's sacred bull. Nandi appears in groupings of three--referring to different phases of Nandi. This is quite uncommon in Hinduism. Aside from the temple, the bazaar itself isn't too impressive, but I did get the experience of going during the Hindu holiday of Holi. Holi is a spring holiday celebrating the story of the escape of a young prince, Prahlad from a giant fire, after a Demoness named Holika, carried him into it. Its also known as the festival of colors because it is celebrated by people throwing colored powder and water at each other. In Hampi, the celebration was on full swing by 8 a.m. and to my surprise, was mostly a lot of westerns just trying to get in the paint action.
After returning from Hampi, I got in touch with a Suvi, who is cousins with a friend of mine from way back when. Suvi and her fiance Rudolph, invited me along to a little thing called the Hash Run. Little did I know what I was getting myself into... The Hash Harriers run group is basically a group of people with a love of running and a knack for inappropriate jokes and beer drinking. My first Hash run was in a suburb of Bangalore, near the airport. We ran about 15kms then had some beer and some time on the ice -- a bit of hazing for the newcomers and those that broke the rules of the Hash run. For more information on the Hash Harriers, Google it. They have clubs in basically every major city around the world, and I plan on joining the Madison Hashers when I get back!
I also visited a few more places in Bangalore, such as the ISKCON Temple and the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. The ISKCON temple is totally dedicated to mediation and worship of Krishna. Those following the teachings of this temple are encouraged to repeat "Hare Krishna" over and over again. This meditation should be incorporated into all aspects of life, from cooking to understanding one's purpose in the world. I did pick up a few books, which are Hare Krishna publications. Lalbagh Garden was nice, but I wasn't too impressed, considering Bangalore is supposed to be the "Garden City" of India. The gardens trace their lineage back to the King Hyder Ali, who commissioned them in 1760. However, attempts at maintaining these Gardens end up feeling like a park where you can't sit on the grass--its so uptight and stuffy, with guards around every corner, blowing their whistle at you if you veer off the path. Truth is, Bangalore is developing far too quickly and its losing all that formerly made it an attractive place to live, including the lavish gardens and greenery. It seems all that's left is a government trying to desperately cling to that past. Anyway, I better leave before I get on a real rant on Bangalore development!
