Chennai Port Heritage Walk

Heritage walks always interest me. So when I saw a post on a Fb page announcing a heritage walk in the Chennai Port, my eyes lit up with excitement. Its not everday that you can gain entry to the port. This was a good chance to do so and I made up my mind not to miss it.

On the appointed day I trudged up the starting point near the Reserve Bank of India Building(Near Fort St George). As always I was very early to the place. Dawn was just beginning to break and the streetlights of the desolate roads glowed yellowish against the blue of the morning sky. I passed the time aimlessly walking around. Slowly people started gathering at the point and I joined them. By the scheduled time of start a sizable group was gathered but our host from the Chennai Sailing club was nowhere to be seen. He arrived a full hour later apologizing profusely as he got stuck in some blockades due to a marathon that was scheduled that day. Later I found out a lot of the people who joined later were stuck in the same jam.

Our star guide for the walk was Mr K R A Narsiah, a historian and a Marine Engineer. The walk started off with a long and detailed summary of the history of the area. Later we moved on the Chennai Port Trust Building.Here there was a small talk about the foundation stones laid out. Next, inside the building was a bust of the famous Mathematician Ramanujan. I was perplexed. What is Ramanujan doing in Chennai port, I thought. Narsiah sir cleared things up. Ramanujan, I was fascinated to find out once worked in Chennai Port Trust as 'Class III, Grade IV accounting clerk, making 30 rupees per month'. A short talk about Ramanujan later we moved further ahead to finally do the thing I was eagerly waiting all this time. Enter the Port.

But before that, a Fun Fact - What's the connection between Yale University and Chennai ?
Answer - The first British Fortress in India was founded in Chennai(then Madras) in 1644. Its first president was a person called Elihu Yale. This guy Yale amassed a fortune while here in India and later donated a huge amount for the setting up of a college in Connecticut,US. Initially called The Collegiate School, it later changed its name to Yale.

Outside a bus was waiting for us to take us inside the port. After a short ride of 5 mins and a thorough check by the security at the gate we were dropped off at the Passenger Terminal Area. We got down from the bus and looked around. One one side was the Jawahar Dock and on the other side was the Passenger terminal shed. A ship, MV Akbar was docked. It was the first time I was looking at a passenger vessel from such close range. I could practically touch it. Though it was towering over us it didn't make for a pretty sight.Because it was rusting everywhere. At first I felt like does this thing even move. Later I found out it does. Its a famous ship actually. Serves the Chennai - Port Blair Route. 

MV Akbar in all its rusty glory

After a short talk here by Narsiah Sir, we left the rusty ship and moved on to our next stop, the Royal Madras Yacht Club,the guys who were hosting this walk for us. On the way we stopped near a submarine. I was surprised to see a submarine just floating there in the water. Again Narsiah Sir came to our rescue. He explained that this particular submarine was bought here for the sole purpose of making it into a Museum along the lines of the Submarine Museum in Vishakapatnam. But due to some space constraints and other reasons the plan was held up and the Submarine called INS Vagli lies there just rotting away. The Hindu dated July 23 2017 states ''INS Vagli was commissioned into the Indian Navy at Riga in Latvia, which was part of the erstwhile Soviet Russia in 1974, and was decommissioned at Visakhapatnam in December 2010''.

INS Vagli

Next and last stop was the club itself. Here again there were some small talks by the club members and a Coastal Security Chief. After breakfast here, we were offered 45 minutes of sailing activity which I enjoyed immensely.

All of this nicely was organised by the Royal Madras Yacht Club. 

Shout out to you guys!!

Bonus- A video

For further reading
About our esteemed guide - https://www.thehindu.com/books/a-seafarers-story/article3527800.ece
About INS Vagli - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/decommissioned-submarine-languishes-in-chennai/article19337125.ece

Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu.

Mahabalipuram is a small town situated on the southeastern coast of India, 6okm south of Chennai.It used to be a busy port around 1000 AD. These days it is famous for the World Heritage Site of a group of Temples built by the pallavas in the 7th century.

It was dawn as Kishore sir, my colleague at office and myself arrived in Mahabalipuram. The sky was a mosaic of different shades of blue mixed with red. As we walked the long stretch from where our bus dropped us to the main town the colour of the sky changed from the reddish blue to a clear blue. We searched for a good hotel and finally after a 1 hour search we found one. After taking some rest we made off for the World famous Shore Temple.

The snow white clouds were spread over the blue sky like the wild growth of moss on a moist concrete slab. The sun was shining gently, peeking over the clouds now and then. We entered the fenced and ticketed complex of the famous Mahabalipuram. The neat paved road ran along the boundary at the left while at the right a green and well maintained lawn glowed in the sun. Beyond that a section of sea could be seen.

Right ahead of us we could see the outline of the famous shore temple against the bright blue sky. Built around 700 AD this temple is almost 1300 years old. It was built during the reign of Narasimhavarman II of the Pallava Dynasty. The actual temple complex is rectangular with the main temple in at one end. We sauntered around the structure marveling at its beauty. The passage of time had done its work blunting the features of the sculptures on it.

The lawn around it was enticing us to come and sit and we promptly did so. After spending some time we left and headed over to the Lighthouse nearby. We first made our way to the maritime/lighthouse museum. This was the second lighthouse I was visiting after the one in Allepey. Interesting objects on display here were a 5000W Bulb, a lamp changer, a Morse code repeater and a number of models of ancient boats. There was also a huge buoy.

Next we moved onto the hill nearby. There is an ancient structure on top of the hill which was used as a lighthouse in ancient times. We climbed up and marveled at the spectacular views it offered. Far ahead we could spot the Nuclear Plant of Kalpakkam. The place was milling with people. Seeing the crowds we dropped the idea of climbing up the lighthouse.

We left the place and went on a stroll to the other attractions.

The short trip ended with a sumptuous Crab Masala in dinner.

The forgotten Stepwell of Lingampet in Telangana

Sitting in the 100 year old home of my grandfather's sister in my ancestral village,I gazed at the wrinkled lines on her face as she excitedly told me a tale about the days gone by. I was in Lingampet,a small village in Telangana, with my dad to spend the weekend.We used to spend our holidays here during our childhood. All our cousins would be there too and the house resonated with the festivities and noise of the family. But as we grew up the visits declined and after the death of my grandparents the visits totally dried up. Our home there, lay empty save for the occasional visits by my dad's brothers.Last weekend I decided to spend the days there and as I am a history fan I thought of meeting up old timers and extracting some info about the history of the village and of our family itself.

So we paid a visit to my grandather's sister. As the conversation turned from present day to the past her husband casually mentioned about an old stepwell. He mentioned that the local queen long ago used to arrive there with all her cavalcade which included elephants. This piqued my interest and after returning to home I asked my dad if we could make a visit there the next day. He agreed to take me there if we start early the next day.

And so we did.Early morning we reached the place which is just opposite to the police station on the main road. The weather was cool and there was no sign of the sun. We started off on our walk among the barren land lying on one side of the Kamareddy road. Here we had to search for a bit as even my dad was coming here after a long time. At one point we spotted a long boundary wall. We assumed that to be the well and quickly reached there but to our dismay it was just a wall with nothing on the other side. We moved along to check out another low wall a little bit ahead. With my dad ahead I followed him taking pics of the surrounding walls. A couple of minutes later my dad exclaimed with delight that he had spotted the well. I quickened my steps and followed him.Reaching there I saw a wall totally covered with shrubs and foliage. In a clearing between the foliage I finally got a good view of the well. It was majestic.Better than anything I expected. From the clearing I could look down at 6 arches on the opposite side.Built of rocks it looked pretty stable and solid. We couldn't see more of the well, so we hurried along the perimeter looking for a way in. All the sides were covered by the trees and shrubs. At last we found a way in. My father led the way down. Before descending he cautioned me not to come down unless he specifically asks me too. This took me right back to my childhood when dad used to take us around to old monuments and structures and gave us the same instructions. It was a long time since I heard them.

We descended through the dusty and cob web filled steps. They opened in one corner of the well. The sight was spectacular. Like the ruins of a castle, the walls looked beautiful. As I made sense of the structure I found that we were on level 1, below which extended 3 more levels. The base was in the fifth level. The last level was filled with so much garbage on the surface that it was difficult to tell if there was water below or if it was all only garbage. The layout of the well was something like this. At one side, which was the entrance there was gradual slope from the ground level leading to the well. This was all broken up with only the stones remaining scattered all over.. Just at the end of this slope are three grand arches of almost 5 mtrs height. These arches overlook the well. On the opposite side were six arches, three above and three below offering an excellent place to sit and view the proceedings below. The other two sides were split into the 5 levels that I mentioned before. The whole structure still looked stable and we were tempted to explore further but we stayed put in our position. Reason being that the place was covered with decaying leaves and it was very slippery. It was a risk not worth taking.

At the top of the arches near the entrance we spotted some carvings on the wall.They were partly covered by the foliage and I couldn't get a clear picture. There was a lady saluting someone or something. Then there were some animals and other designs of which I couldn't make much sense.I clicked some pics of the carvings as I intend to find out more about them.I wonder who built this well and why. Stepwells are rare in south of India and even rarer in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The only other stepwell I saw is in the Qutub Shahi Tombs complex in Hyderabad.

Soon we clambered back to the top and left after taking some more pics. This place in my opinion has immense potential for a tourist spot. All that needs to be done is clean it up and maybe build a small park around it.

A Guide to the Historic town of Pulicat, Tamil Nadu.

Apart from the British, the other Europeans to have had a presence in India were the French, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Danes. Out of these the Dutch had a major presence in the South of India. At various points of time they held the towns of Cochin, Nagapattinam, Pulicat and Masulipatnam. Out of these the town of Pulicat in present day Tamil Nadu was one of the most significant. The Dutch occupied Pulicat in 1609 after defeating the Portuguese who set up base there in 1502. Till 1690 Pulicat served as the Capital of the Dutch presence in Southern India.Later the British defeated the Dutch and took over Pulicat.

Today only the ruins of the Dutch presence remain in the town. Pulicat is located 60 Km north of Chennai and at the southern tip of Pulicat lake in Tamil Nadu.  

A couple of weekends back I was on an official trip to Chennai when I happened to be in the vicinity and decided to check out Pulicat. I took a Tamil Nadu State transport bus from the town of Ponneri to reach Pulicat. The bus drops you right at the end of the main market street of the town. From here all the landmarks are at a walk-able distance.Though having a vehicle certainly helps. 

The first point of stop was the famed Dutch Cemetery. This is on the left side of the Bharatiyar Street. Very easy to locate. I made my way to the cemetery but was disappointed to find that it was locked. From the outside I could see the graves. There were around 20 graves with 5 of them having big tombs over them. Two of the five had obelisks. These tombs reminded me of the Victorian era tombs I often read in Gothic Horror stories. I had never seen tombs of this style before and I was excited to take a closer look. I went back and asked a couple of persons standing nearby about the it. They said it usually is opened in the evening around 1630 Hrs.This info lifted my spirits as at least I had a chance to take a closer look at the graves. I still had a couple of hours with me so I proceeded ahead to check out a Museum which was showing on Gmaps on my phone. 

This Museum I found out is housed in a couple of shop areas. This was set up by Art and Architecture Research Development and Education Foundation (AARDE). Though small in size it is a must visit for anyone coming to Pulicat. It houses a number of infographics about the early history of Dutch, of Pulicat and has maps of its layout. It also has an excellent summary of the things to see in the town. In addition to the above it has an exhibit of a large pot which was used by the people of Pulicat for water storage. 

On the opposite side of the road is a large swamp. This was the area where the Dutch had built their Fort known as Fort Geldria. It was built in 1613 but was later destroyed by Hyder Ali in the second Anglo Mysore War.  Nothing remains now. I moved on into the village to look at the second cemetery, that of the Portuguese. Using Gmaps for guidance I reached the place after strolling through the narrow streets. When I finally reached I was greeted by a solitary signboard and lots of garbage. The place was overtaken by bushes and rubbish and there was no way for me to look at the graves. 

It was already 1630 Hrs and I hurried back to the Dutch Cemetery. Here I again asked a couple of people standing nearby and one of them said he will go and get the keys. I was delighted now. After a couple of minutes he got the keys and opened the gate and asked me to come inside. I stopped at the gate for a couple of minutes. The gate has an arch on which something is inscribed in a language which I assume is Dutch. On each sides there is a sculpture of a skeleton. The one on the left has a gaping mouth and has on its head what looks like an hour glass maybe signifying the limited time we have on earth. But the more hideous of the two was the one on the right. It has a tilted head and one of its hands is resting on the skull of a smaller skeleton which one can only assume belongs to a child. I have no idea what this means. There was a third skull right in the middle of the arch. The whole picture looked a bit grim.  

I walked inside. There were around 20 graves inside. Most of them were pretty plain like the one pictured here. Rectangular in shape with an engraving on the top. I especially like the badge designs on the top. The ones which really stood out were the five I mentioned before. Out of these two had obelisks and no sculptures on them. Two others had no sculptures. Only one had sculptures of two angels flying. I took a few pics here and strolled around to look at the engravings to find anything interesting. But most of the writing was in Dutch so there was no such luck. I found one in English. It was the tombstone of a certain Henry Fortan, who died in Pulicat in 1864.I assume this man was British.All the while the man patiently waited for me finish my walk. After I was done we walked back together to the gate. I found out that he was the designated caretaker of the Cemetery and it was maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. His name was Mohammed Hussain. He informed me that there was no particular time of opening of the cemetery and if one wishes to go inside one only has to ask him. He can be contacted by asking for him at the dwelling located to the left of the gate. I wanted to thank him by giving him a tip but he refused stubbornly.  

Following the map I found in the museum I decided my next stop would be an Old Dutch Building. This was located on the way to the light house on the left side just before the bridge starts. The old dutch building was nothing much to look at. It was being used as a store house by a hospital nearby. 

Heritage buildings falling prey to Government apathy always brings out the lament that we Indians as a whole simply don't care about our past. 

I walked out the place and continued on to the bridge to take a look at the light house and the beach. This bridge runs over a lagoon formed here.The walk on the bridge presented wonderful views of the sea and the number of fishing boats plying. Pulicat is a fishing town and this is where you can look at the evidence. On the right side of the bridge a huge number of fishing boats were parked. The walk was soothing and relaxing.It was getting dark and the evening breeze from the sea only made the walk more refreshing. I walked to the lighthouse but found out that it was closed for the day for tourists. Its timings were from 1500 Hrs to 1700 Hrs. I next made my way to the beach. There were not  many people were around. A game of cricket was in progress and I stopped for a couple of minutes to look at the action. After enjoying the cool breeze for a while I started my walk back to the town. I returned to the area where the bus had dropped me earlier to catch a bus back to ponneri. Soon a bus arrived and I was on my way back after enjoying a wonderful day at the charming little town of Pulicat. 

A guide map displayed in the AARDE Foundation Museum 

The one on the right side of the red gate is the museum

Things to know

- Lighthouse timings 1500 Hrs to 1700 Hrs

- If the cemetery is locked just ask for Mohammed Hussain at the dwelling just to the left of the gate. 

- Nothing much to eat in Pulicat. Better to bring in your own food. 

Hampi,Karnataka. Day 2.

A warm sunny day greeted me as I flipped open the windows of my room.This brightened up my spirits.We still had a lot of places to visit, but like the previous day we decided to do it at our own leisure. We weren't looking to tick off places, we just wanted to have fun. After a quick breakfast we started our round.

Our first stop was the Achutarayah Temple.This is, in my opinion, the best temple among the Hampi ruins. It was largely empty when we went and the lonely atmosphere only added to the beauty. The main temple is in the middle of rectangular boundary of structures. The entrance reminded me of the Angkor Vat temple in Cambodia.(I have never been there.I am just talking about the pictures I have seen of Angkor Vat). After spending ample time here reveling in the solitude it offered we made our way to the Courtesan's street in the opposite direction.This was the fabled street where diamonds were sold on the street. Only patches of green and empty pavilions greeted us today. 

Next we passed by what must have been a tank. This place looked magnificent with the Matunga hill overlooking the landscape. From here we moved on in the general direction of the Vittala Hill. As with the dominant feature of the Hampi landscape, there were rocks everywhere. To the left crumbled rocks.To the right giant pieces of rocks. Rocks everywhere.

As we were walking we passed by the Two storied Gateway. It didn't look that exciting so we decided to skip it and continue heading towards Vittala Temple. But Bhanu insisted that we just have a quick look. So we proceeded towards it and I am mighty glad that we did. This place offers excellent views of the surroundings.We spent around 45 minutes here. We liked it so much. There was absolutely no one here apart from us and it was serene and peaceful.

We moved on from here and reached the King's Balance. It is said that the king was weighed on a scale here and equivalent amounts of gold and other stuff used to be handed over to the poor.

Next stop was Vittala Temple, perhaps the most popular of all the sites in Hampi. There was a group of people right outside the entrance waiting for a bus. Men, women, young and old. Everyone was here. We were wondering the whole day where the crowd was and here was everyone. We entered the complex and it was swarmed with people. We strolled around and noticed the famous Chariot in the middle. We took a closer look and it reminded me of the Chariot at Konark Temple in Orissa. Of course this was smaller in size but there were similarities in the structure. We waited for a while to get our chance to click some pics and after we got some we moved on to the Vittala Temple.

In the Vittala Temple the most striking part is the below ground passage that runs around the base of the temple. One can take a walk here. The light was streaming in from the sides of the temple walls and the sight was unearthly. We decided to end our stroll here and head over to the other side after crossing the small river. But as we were walking towards the village it started raining. We had our rain gear with us but we decided to wait it out. We ran towards a small shack sitting at the side of the river, selling some light snacks and tea. There was already a couple sitting there having tea. We took shelter under the thatched roof and ordered tea and snacks. As the warmth of the tea spread over inside I looked around. Far away on the river I saw a small coracle carrying a group of tourists. The rain was falling heavily now and the man rowing the coracle was making a commendable effort to take it to the bank nearest to him. I sipped at my coffee and looked at this race with trepidation. Thankfully the man guided the boat towards safety and the people quickly disembarked. The feeling of relief was visible in their body language.

The rain was not showing any indications of stopping so we decided to wear our rain gear and get going. Which is what we did. We went back to the Hampi village and asked around as to how to cross over to the other side. We were directed to a ghat from where boats leave every 30 mins for the other side. We took our cycles with us and booked a seat in one of the boats which was leaving.
It is a short ride. Within minutes we reached the other bank. It is a steep climb uphill here and we were assisted by two kids in carrying our cycles to the top. They wanted to ride the shiny cycles and we obliged. When we reached the top they were waiting. A tip and a thank you later they ran into the narrow streets.

I had hoped that this part of the town would be free of the commercial feel of the Hampi village. Oh boy was I wrong. This part was even worse. The whole left side of the street was lined with one resort after another.On the opposite side were fields of paddy. They did look beautiful in their yellowish glow but the whole touristy feel to the place ruined it for me. Though a bit disappointed we cycled on. After a couple of Kms we reached another river crossing. Here we saw an ancient structure which initially I thought to be a bridge but in fact was an aqueduct. We cycled to the main road here and it felt good to ride on the good solid tar road after riding on mud roads for the last two days. We went in the right direction(from the mud road joining the main road). We went a long way thoroughly enjoying the sights. It was a beautiful countryside studded with green fields nearby and rock hewn hill sides far way. We had made our plans about when to turn back but an unexpected incident changed it.

Bhanu was cycling much further ahead of me and I wanted to take a video of him from behind. Now I did not want bhanu to turn around anytime when I was taking the video so to tell him to not to turn around I shouted out his name. Now generally Bhanu doesn't do stupid stuff but at that time I don't know what got into him. He did two things he should not have done simultaneously though either of the action independently wouldn't have been much of a problem. He abruptly looked back and at the same time he tilted the handle of this cycle to take a sharp turn. This had the result of him being flung in the air and fall on the hard road. I was looking at the whole scene speechless. By the time I had reached him, Bhanu was on his feet trying to lift the cycle. I quickly took the cycle from him and parked it on the side. He was now checking the extent of his injuries. He had scratches on both elbows, his palms and on feet. The sight of blood was making him giddy so he lied down on the soft grass beside the road. Luckily for us I had a first aid kid with me. I quickly applied bandages and gauze wherever required but I knew we had to buy some more band aids soon. This would do for the time being. So we headed the way we came back and bought some band aids in a shop nearby.

After changing all the bandages we made our way back towards the river bank. We quickly boarded the 1700 Hrs ferry and went back to our hotel room.The ferry service stops at 1730 Hrs. Bhanu took a quick nap to calm himself. Later we packed and left Hampi by 1900Hrs. It was a memorable stay here and the fact is true that it is absolutely not possible to cover Hampi in 2 or 3 days.

Hampi,Karnataka. Day 1.

World Heritage Site.What exactly does that mean? Wikipedia states that it is a site 'having cultural, historical, scientific or some other form of significance, and they are legally protected by international treaties'. It 'symbolizes a remarkable footprint of extreme human endeavour often coupled with some act of indisputable accomplishment of humanity which then serves as a surviving evidence of its intellectual existence on the planet'

Hampi is a World Heritage Site. And I could see why. It is a city complex of ruins of spectacular structures. And it is spread around a huge area. Hampi was once the Capital of the Vijayanagar Empire. At the height of its prosperity they developed their capital city Hampi into one of the finest cities of India. But after the Battle of Talikota in the year 1565 the city of Hampi was reduced to ruins. It never recovered after that. Last weekend I spent two days there exploring the ruins with my friend Bhanu.

Day 1

It was a wet morning as I arrived at Hampi. The skies were overcast with the look of imminent rainfall anytime. As I alighted from the bus,I was greeted with the sight of the imposing Virupaksha Temple.The path leading up to it was still damp from the previous nights rain. The builders of this temple are still unknown. It is said that it existed even before the time of Vijayanagar Empire. As I was looking around I spotted Bhanu waving at me from a street ahead. He had arrived a couple of hours earlier and had already booked a hotel in the small Hampi Village. I was much thankful for that. As I had to change 3 buses from Nellore to Hampi ,I was mighty tired. We walked into the main area of the Hampi village,through narrow lanes to our hotel. The village is quite strange. It is lined with homes converted to shops,restaurants and hotels. I suspect since they are in a World Heritage Site no new construction has been allowed. So everything in the village is congested and narrow.

A street in Hampi Village

After reaching the hotel, I had a refreshing bath while Bhanu went out to buy some stuff for the day ahead. Then we got down to planning our course of action for the next two days. We decided to hire bicycles for our stroll around the ruins. Also we decided to have some rest first and then start for the day.

So at around 1130 am we started off on our round. We first had breakfast in a typical Hampi Restaurant where the menu has options like English Breakfast, Continental Breakfast and Israeli breakfast. We had a mix of Indian and English with Uttapams and Pancakes.Then off we went to hire cycles. They are available at many places. The one we approached was at a street corner.It was nothing much, just a bunch of cycles parked at a spot and a man standing nearby.The price for one cycle for one day was Rs 100. So we had a deal for two cycles for two days which cost us Rs 400.

Mohammedan Watch Tower

We started by the Hampi bazaar and cycled out crossing a gate. Right outside the gate the road goes uphill. It was a tough climb.Using the maps we had with us, we first made our way to the Krishna Temple.It was built by the King Krishnadevaraya in memory of his victory over the Gajapati Kings of present day Odisha. The main idol here was bought from Udaygiri Fort in Nellore Dist in Andhra Pradesh. (I already have Udaygiri on my wishlist). After a quick stroll here we moved on and started cycling over to the south side.The scenery was spellbinding all around. There were hills lined with rocks everywhere with occasional patches of greenery. 

From the Viewpoint 

As we were cycling along, we saw to out right a lone watchtower located in a vast empty field. We stopped and checked our maps. This was the Mohammedan Watchtower.From far off the forlorn tower looked majestic. Again there was no one here. Only a herd of goats were grazing nearby. We took a nice casual stroll around the place. We looked for any entrance to the tower but the only entrance was locked, which was expected actually. We retraced our steps to our cycles and just as were starting we saw a car parked on the opposite side near by a small hill covered by tress. We were curious so we cycled there and climbed up the hill. It was a view point. There was a model shoot going on there. The model was wearing heavy ethnic wear in that humid climate.Just looking at her sweating it out in those clothes pained me. Anyway we made our way past them and looked around. We could spot the Virupaksha Temple far away . The defining feature of the dreary landscape was the number of rocks. They were everywhere.

Watchtower 1

From here we wandered in the general direction of the Lotus Mahal which was our next stop. But we soon found ourselves near a stage like structure which looked as the base part of a pyramid. Reminded me of the pyramids of the Incas and the Aztects. This was the Mahanavami dibba. We climbed atop,looked around,took pics and rested for a while. 

From the the dibba we moved ahead to our next stop,the Lotus temple. The lotus temple sits inside a fort. It is in the middle of a large park. This fort complex has three interesting features. The lotus temple and two watchtowers. We first walked past the first watch tower. This was the tallest tower we had seen in Hampi. Reminded me of Age of Empires. From here we went towards the Lotus Mahal. It is a very beautiful structure. From any side you look you will observe it has three levels. It is built in the Indo Saracenic type of Architecture. We sat here in the park surrounding the mahal and rested for a while.

Watch tower 2

Near the corner of the boundary wall there is another watch tower. All the three watch towers that we had seen in Hampi were different from each other. I wonder why. As we were sitting here the sky was beginning to turn dark and the threat of rain loomed. We had come prepared for this. I was already wearing a rain pant and had my rain jacket with me. Bhanu had his' in his small day pack.

Lotus Mahal

Elephant Stable

From the Lotus Mahal we moved towards the Elephants stable. This is a grand structure built for the Royal Elephants. There were eleven sections which were interconnected. As were strolling around it started raining. Within minutes the whole ground was clear as people ran inside the stables. Bhanu and myself, now wearing our complete rain gear were the only ones standing in the rain. We moved slowly, deliberately, enjoying the rain and made our way past the stable behind it towards some structures. We walked in the rain now becoming stronger. It was wonderful. We couldn't see far ahead as the rain turned stronger. The structures were nothing much to look at. Around the last one we turned back and went towards the stable. From here we decided to head back to Hampi village and continue the exploration the next day. We resumed our cycling and started on our way back. The rain was getting stronger by the minute. Our cycles picked up speed as we sped downhill and the rain beat on our faces even more strongly.I let out a huge roar out of excitement! That was the best part of the whole trip.

Bhanu and myself.

As we neared the village Bhanu indicated me to stop near the Krishna Temple. Over the sound of the rain Bhanu suggested we check out the market area in front of the Krishna temple. I agreed.After parking our cycles we walked to the market. We entered the left side of the market where the shops used to be and walked under the stone roof.It was a lovely scene. The rain falling.Our walk. And the solitude. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

From there we cycled back to the Hampi village. It was getting dark by the time we arrived and we were mighty hungry by then. We stopped by another restaurant and had nice warm coffee.
We had done a lot of walking and cycling and it was beginning to show.Our muscles were paining from the exertion.

From there we went back to our hotel. At around 8 pm we heard some awesome trance music blaring from the direction of the Virupaksha temple. Though we were intrigued as to what was going on, our tiredness finally won and we just went to sleep,thereby ending our first day at Hampi.