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Monkeys and Temples and Cows, oh my!
The past week was spent sight-seeing in Northern Karnataka. We traveled via sleeper train, which I have decided is one of my least favorite modes of transportation, but luckily we were able to use the good old Dept. of Tourism buses for the rest of our transportation needs. The cities were visited included (in this order), Badami, Mahakoota, Pattadakal, Aihole, and Hospet/Hampi. I will have to do this blog in two installments because my internet is being finicky, so please enjoy the first half while I try to find time to finish the second half. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will answer as best as I can.
Dr. Rao teaching his disciples about the rock cave temples of Badami. I will spare you all the details and the hundreds of temple pictures I took, mainly because I can't remember all of the details myself. There is so much artwork and symbolism in every nook and cranny!
A ton of monkeys hanging out near the temples just waiting for you to be off your guard so that they may steal your food.
Can you believe these temples were literally carved entirely out of a sandstone in just the beginning few centuries AD?
While in Badami, we had a 5:00 am wake-up call to hike to the sacred pool at Mahakoota. After descending several steep rock-faces, I realized someone had lied to me when they said it was supposed to be an easy hike. In any case, we all survived and I arrived in Mahakoota with a great sense of accomplishment. I still wasn't brave enough to enter the sacred pool (aka natural spring adorned with a temple) crawling with dirty men. I did, however, enjoy sitting (and laughing) with the onlooking women and children while I watched several members of our group take a dip!
Our next stop was a temple complex in Pattadakal. Many of the temples are simply archaeological in nature, but there was still one functioning temple. If there was one thing I learned on our temple tours, it was that Nundi, the bull, outside facing a temple indicates Shiva is inside waiting to be worshiped.
Not all the gods have a statue for them to dwell in. The lingas (large stone phallic symbols) are also popular representations of the gods. Again, this temple is for Shiva devotees. The holy man in the picture takes care of the temple, the linga, and is the middleman between the devotees and the god when it comes to offerings. Popular offerings include money, flowers, and fruit.
Aihole (pronounced I-hole-eh) also had a lot of cool temples...and cool kids. This stubborn little fellow would not stop following us around even when Dr. Rao yelled at the children to leave us alone. What was different about this little boy was that he didn't keep nagging us for chocolate, school pens, or money. At one point, he just took my hand and walked with me for awhile. We never spoke a word, but his little hand in mine said more than I ever could have.
The kids in Aihole also were great when it came to taming the cows for us. We were all shocked when a herd of them started following us up the stairs to the temple! Of course, watching them nonchalantly canter down the stairs was even more amazing.
We climbed to the top of this temple via a stone ladder and a small little opening in the roof. There was an unimpressive mini-shrine, but the birds-eye view of the temple complex and extracting a laugh from some Indian tourists was worth the climb.
The last (and longest) stop on our tour was Hampi. Hampi is literally a huge archaeological site/city full of ancient ruins. In one of the larger temple areas, there was a beautiful stone chariot. It is a replica of the ones they actually used to tote statues of the gods around during important occasions.
The marketplace in Hampi was largely touristy, but we could still find some neat souvenirs. Believe it or not, all of that pretty stuff serves religious purposes. However, as tourists, we still insist on buying it for fashion.
Dr. Rao teaching his disciples about the rock cave temples of Badami. I will spare you all the details and the hundreds of temple pictures I took, mainly because I can't remember all of the details myself. There is so much artwork and symbolism in every nook and cranny!
A ton of monkeys hanging out near the temples just waiting for you to be off your guard so that they may steal your food.
Can you believe these temples were literally carved entirely out of a sandstone in just the beginning few centuries AD?
While in Badami, we had a 5:00 am wake-up call to hike to the sacred pool at Mahakoota. After descending several steep rock-faces, I realized someone had lied to me when they said it was supposed to be an easy hike. In any case, we all survived and I arrived in Mahakoota with a great sense of accomplishment. I still wasn't brave enough to enter the sacred pool (aka natural spring adorned with a temple) crawling with dirty men. I did, however, enjoy sitting (and laughing) with the onlooking women and children while I watched several members of our group take a dip!
Our next stop was a temple complex in Pattadakal. Many of the temples are simply archaeological in nature, but there was still one functioning temple. If there was one thing I learned on our temple tours, it was that Nundi, the bull, outside facing a temple indicates Shiva is inside waiting to be worshiped.
Not all the gods have a statue for them to dwell in. The lingas (large stone phallic symbols) are also popular representations of the gods. Again, this temple is for Shiva devotees. The holy man in the picture takes care of the temple, the linga, and is the middleman between the devotees and the god when it comes to offerings. Popular offerings include money, flowers, and fruit.
Aihole (pronounced I-hole-eh) also had a lot of cool temples...and cool kids. This stubborn little fellow would not stop following us around even when Dr. Rao yelled at the children to leave us alone. What was different about this little boy was that he didn't keep nagging us for chocolate, school pens, or money. At one point, he just took my hand and walked with me for awhile. We never spoke a word, but his little hand in mine said more than I ever could have.
The kids in Aihole also were great when it came to taming the cows for us. We were all shocked when a herd of them started following us up the stairs to the temple! Of course, watching them nonchalantly canter down the stairs was even more amazing.
We climbed to the top of this temple via a stone ladder and a small little opening in the roof. There was an unimpressive mini-shrine, but the birds-eye view of the temple complex and extracting a laugh from some Indian tourists was worth the climb.
The last (and longest) stop on our tour was Hampi. Hampi is literally a huge archaeological site/city full of ancient ruins. In one of the larger temple areas, there was a beautiful stone chariot. It is a replica of the ones they actually used to tote statues of the gods around during important occasions.
The marketplace in Hampi was largely touristy, but we could still find some neat souvenirs. Believe it or not, all of that pretty stuff serves religious purposes. However, as tourists, we still insist on buying it for fashion.
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