Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal and Goa.............. Part III

This time monsoon made visit to Goa a unique experience. Landscape in monsoon was in its full glory. It looked even more astonishing than ever...... Its lush green landscape complementing whites and blues of the sea mesmerized us. As the rains accompanied us in our journey most of the fun filled moments remained only in memory. Following are some of the images which could be captured as a memento.....

Journey ends with 220 km covered in 2 hrs flat whereas last 100 km took more than 3 hr ..... thanx to national highways in Maharashtra state.....

Thanx to google map and Susan for help.......

Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal and Goa.............. Part II

Next destination was Badami. 

Reached Badami the same day by 8:00 pm. Next day we visited Caves of Badami. Rains started. Making us wait in those caves much longer than we anticipated. Giving us time to look at all the carvings in more details. 

Colors and textures of stones and acrobatic moves of monkeys entertained us as we were waiting for rains to halt for some time. 

Temple at Badami

Devotion and belief of devotees is something that always astonishes me.

Temple complex Pattadakal

This was the only place where without my knowledge and pressure from my parents to do so my hands actually joined in Namaskar posture. The silence, scale and light made me forget the chaos that was outside and calmed me down. I tried a lot to capture that light quality of the Garbhagriha but failed miserably. 

As the time was ticking, we had to skip Aihole to reach GOA in safe time of the day. On our way to Goa I spotted my first Hornbill. 

We planned to travel through Hubli and a forest area to reach Panjim, Goa. But we chose a wrong way in the google map. and reached close to Belgaum. This was the road which many people have suggested. But we wanted to see the forest. So took a U turn, reached Dharwad and traveled through the forest. Had lost a lot of time due to this change in route. reached forested area after the sunset. it was a dense forest. Fog crept down and covered the entire Ghat. Visibility was 10 m max. No one was there on the road. Very rarely some truck or NWKRT bus would come across. It started raining..... Journey became more thrilling...... Finally we reached Panjim at around 12:00 am

Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal and Goa.............. Part I

As a break from hectic city life we planned to travel on weekdays. Started the journey with a flat tire at 10:30 pm outside a town in state where we dont understand a single word other than 'ille' (meaning no). Though with some efforts of trying to fix it ourselves, trying to contact 24 hr. helpline and finally trying to communicate our problem to local transporters  made it possible to move ahead. Stay in hospet was very short but relaxing. We visited Hampi in the morning at around 7:30. Started with visiting Ganesha temple and Virupaksha temple. Grand Gopuram of Virupaksha Temple made us feel so small that it actually calmed us down. 

We suddenly came across a spotted owlet siting on electric wire. By the time i changed the lens, it flew away. As i tried to move away from structure to look for that owlet, i found out that there was a pair of owlets. My first ever encounter with spotted owlets.

Sine we entered Hampi, stone hills made their presence felt. Their scale was mesmerizing. At some places they looked very fierce because of their shear size and balance achieved with very little support.

With such a rocky terrain, it was still supporting a wide variety of life.

Carving at Krishna Temple

Carving at Krishna Temple

Carving at Krishna Temple

Carving at Krishna Temple

Carvings at Krishna Temple

Chandrashekhar Mandir

Saraswati Mandir

Octagonal Bath

Gopuram Vitthala Temple

Ratha at Vitthala Temple

Grandeur of the structure, precise geometry and sense of scale were the key points to be observed. Long colonnade leading to Vithala Temple sparked my imagination. I thought of the life of that age and how i would have felt if I had been a King at that time who is visiting the Temple for Ceremony, seating elegantly on his chariot, draped in silk clothes, covered in gold jewellery. Chariot walking on a path decorated with Rangoli of flowers and earthen lamps. People standing in the colonnade showering scented flowers on me....... But...... I am still in 2014......

At some point I felt stone in this landscape are supporting humans or their civilizations. Tried to capture the same through a sketch.

Left Hampi at 5:00 and statred our road journey for our Next Destination...........