My DIY Light Tent

Managed to get a light tent for myself. I made it using thermocol sheets that are available in book shops. Use thermocol sheets as side walls for the box. Keep a card board with a hole on top so that a bulb can be inserted through it into the box.  I used a 36W CFL (6500 K) to illuminate the box. 

It's worth the effort. Some of the pics are posted below:

Christmas Nostalgia

I always used to think December is the month when nature celebrates itself. Afterall, it brings Christmas. Misty mornings, dew drops on flowers and grass that line the way side, not so hot days, golden afternoon light, early sunset, chilling nights( well… not so chilling compared to other parts of the world) and most of all, the thought about Christmas eve and crib decorations. School term exams that fall in December were really a spoil sport and I used to long for them to get over to enjoy the ten days of Christmas holidays.

Christmas eve used to be the busiest. Main activity is to decorate the crib. The typical way of doing it is to use a coffee table as the base, attach sticks to its legs, then tie up sticks on to them to make a frame for a thatched shed. Dry hay, straws and other foliage used to decorate it used come from neighbouring paddy fields, farms and our own courtyard. I would spend days altogether in collecting all these materials. It was such a fun doing all these since friends from nearby households also will be doing the same and we would venture into every field, every farm to get what we needed.

I still remember the first Christmas crib in our home when I was a little kid. My father had made the frame for a tiny cow shed out of coconut tree fibers. I watched the way he cut news papers to make it look like a thatched shed. He then placed it inside a wall shelf and covered the entire cavity using foliage. The tiny clay figures of Joseph and Mary and a shepherd were placed inside the shed and , baby Jesus inside the manger to complete the nativity scene. We used to make sure it was soft enough for baby Jesus to be comfortable!.I was so happy to see the crib in our home as all our neighbors used to make it every year.

We did'nt have the luxury of electricity in our locality those days. Electricity connection came in many years later. So, beautiful christmas lights sold in shops were of no use for us. So my father bought a paper lantern, which had a candle holder inside. This was made for lighting candles inside and was called star-lantern. We hung it in front of our house and lit a candle inside. This first christmas light is very vivid in my memory. I never moved from beneath the lantern and watched every flicker of the candle.  The deep pink coloured light that spread in our courtyard in an otherwise dark night was a treat to my little eyes.

We waited long into the night for the carol band to arrive. When they were near our house, my father took out the lantern to place a new candle inside it. He then tried to hang it again on the tiny hook on our front window shade and that's when the new long candle flipped inside the lantern. Alas! Fire swallowed my sweat little lantern. My father blew it out immediately, but then the damage was done!. The lantern got burnt almost to the half and we had to keep it aside. I still remember those burnt pink paper rings kept in one corner and the nostalgia surrounding that Christmas light gives me a heart burn every Christmas.

I used to decorate the crib every year ever since I could do it on my own. Few years later we got the luxury of electricity and we were able to put up those beautiful star shaped christmas lights. But the very first christmas crib my father made for me and the very first star-lantern that made my eyes wide in wonder are still the first images that come to my mind when December arrives with its cold breeze.

Another December is here and here I am shuddering at the thought of doing the same Christmas crib for my kid, for the fact that, I have to do all these in plastic. Plastic trees, plastic loan, plastic leaves, plastic flowers… and at the end, the magic of lights waiting for the tap of a switch. I feel sad, for  living in the tiny concrete capsule in Bangalore that we call our home now, he doesn't have a chance to experience the true joy of this season. I now have every material, every tool needed to build a perfect beautiful crib. But it will never match the timeless joy of  doing it as I did it when I was a kid. There's glitter at the tap of a switch, but they don't light a fire within my heart.

Two days in the midst of ruins...

CAUTION:!!
1. This blog is unusually long.
2. I am no expert in history. Most of the facts appearing in this post is taken either from many guide books available or from other web resources.

A trip to Hampi was something that I was planning for quite some time. Due to one or the other reason, the idea never gathered momentum until a long weekend came along in the fag end of October. 
 

It was a spontaneous decision to travel and logistics rolled out quickly. While having lunch at the office canteen, I mentioned the plan to my colleague, Muthu. He too was keen for such a trip. He himself booked bus tickets for both of us, while I did the research about the site. Main source of information was http://www.hampi.in/. Believe me, this web site is the single most source of information for a back packer. 

Hampi was the capital city of the grand Vijayanagara empire that ruled most part of South India for many years. The empire saw its glorious years during the 16^th century and Krishna Devaraya was the most successful among the Vijayanagara rulers.

In its glorious years, art and culture flourished. Hampi was a centre of trade. It is said that gold and precious stones were sold on the streets of Hampi.

It withstood the attack from Sultanates from the north for years, but atlast succumbed. The attackers plundered the city, massacred the population and looted its palaces and temples for months. The city was ruined and remained neglected and forgotten for centuries. Today, Hampi is a beautiful hamlet that preserves the remains of this bygone glory. It has got UNESCO world heritage site status as well.

Bangalore to Hampi is approximately 350 Kms and takes 7 hours to reach. The best option is the "Hampi Express", a night train service from Bangalore to Hospet; but by the time we made the decision, tickets were all sold out. The Rajahamsa service from KSRTC, which we took, is the only known bus service that will take you upto Hampi. There are other private operators who will take you upto Hospet, a small town 12 Kms before Hampi.

We started off on the night of 29th Oct 2010(Friday). Met Muthu at the Kempegowda bus stand. Boarded the bus and we hit the road at around 11PM. There were lots of foreigners in the bus - mostly back packers, heading towards Hampi. Bus moved ahead wading through the Bangalore traffic and I fell asleep; but the comfort did not last so long as we hit rough patches on the road. It became increasingly uncomfortable as the roads became worse. In some stretches,there was no road atall. We thought the Rajahamsa buses had air suspension, but it turned out that the passengers were kept in the air most of the time !. In the back seats, a group of foreigners seemed to enjoy the rough ride and they were laughing and shouting all the way. It seemed a good decision that we did not opt to travel by car. Given the condition of the road and the heavy lorry traffic, driving down to Hampi is best avoided.

We arrived at Hospet at around 8AM and after a few minutes break, our bus started for Hampi. Hospet to Hampi road, though narrow, is well maintained and traffic is also less. After a few minutes, the scene outside started to change. Big boulders and rocks started to appear as though they were poured down during a rain. As we neared Hampi, ruined monuments became visible amidst the rocky terrain. At around 10:30AM, our bumpy ride to Hampi came to a halt. There are a few guest houses directly opposite to the bus stand and we could pickup one for Rs. 700/- per day per room. Room tariffs move up during weekends and fall during week days, strictly following the demand-supply theory.

Freshened up quickly, grabbed our cameras and stepped out into the Hampi Bazar road, which is some 100 feet from the bus stand. This road leads to the Virupaksha temple, whose tower is visible from almost all places.

Had Idly and tea for breakfast. You will find mostly ordinary dhaba type restaurants on this road. Food was simple, yet tasty. After re-fuelling ourselves, we both sprung into action.

Some street side photos to begin with

Wood work on one of the chariots used for festivals


Virpuksha Temple Tower as seen from Hampi Bazar Street

Through the left side of the temple, we entered Hemakuta Hills, where a large number of Mantapas are seen on a rocky incline.



Engraving on the entrance to Hemakuta Hills


The place is very scenic with the rare structures and rock formations.
All mantapas are constructed in the same fashion.



You can see in the picture how the stone girders are joined together.


Rock formations have taken funny shapes and positions.


A temple with a tree in front grabbed my attention with its branches adding drama to an otherwise ordinary scene.


Hemakuta Hills is a fairly large area with lots of mantapas built on rock,and a few temples. It also has a vantage point to view the sunset. We spent a lot of time around this area as every angle, every rock seemed beutiful and photogenic. For a photo enthusiast, this is a must see place.

We came down from the hills to the place where Mustered seed Ganesha idol is placed. This is a monolithic idol. The picture here does not convey the size though.

Next was Lakshmi Narasimha statue. This statue is 6.7 mts. high and is monolithic.

The Badava Linga temple is also next to this site.


We walked back towards Hampi bus stand and on the way we saw the Krishna temple. This is a fairly ornate temple with lots of engravings and wall statues. The Gopura is made of brick and lime mortar and has lots of sculptures depicting war scenes and the like. You can see that nature has taken its toll on these structures over all these years.

The small shrines and mantapas inside the temple complex have fairly ornate gopuras and they look really beautiful.


The Krishna temple overlooks the Krishna Bazar - A 500 meter long market place. You can also see a sacred water tank on the back side of the market.

Caught this on the market ground. The shepherd boy is carrying a little sheep on his shoulders and mummy sheep is escorting.
This little chap grew curious when we were roaming around the place taking photos and he wanted his photograph as well.

It was a heavily overcast day and was drizzling every now and then. Looked like it was going to rain heavily and we packed our cameras and returned back to the main bazar area for lunch. Got into one of the restaurants which served roti and rice. Rotis were served straight out of tawa and was really tasty. By the time we finished lunch, it started to pour heavily. We decided to wait for the rain to settle down and could see people running helter skelter in the rain.

After about half an hour, rain subsided and we went back to our room. Took rest and soon fell asleep. When I woke up it was almost 6PM and there was barely any light outside. Rain had subsided by then. We got out again, but it was dark everywhere and could not do much.

The photo was taken from the the monolithic bull statue towards Virupaksha temple. You can see near-by mantapas and stone structures getting illuminated from a street light in front of the traffic police station near by.

We went back to the front side of Virupaksha temple and took the road that went towards right. There were guest houses and restaurants which served pizzas and other italian food. This street also has a couple of shops selling tibetan handicrafts and leather items. Other than that there are shops selling clothes and other handicraft items, but I guess the prices are on the higher side. We walked up to the Tungabhadra river. There were stairs leading to the river, but as it was pitch dark, we returned back. Manmatha pond can be seen adjacent to the Virupaksha temple.

Got into a restaurant for dinner which was well lit inside. Prices were reasonable. Most of the restaurants here offer Italian and Israeli food. It seems lots of Israeli's visit this place. 

After dinner, we got back to the room and planned for the next day. The idea was to capture sun-rise somewhere in the Royal centre. (The bus stand and Hampi Bazar is in the midst of sacred centre). I put my camera battery on charger and wished the rains would get over during night and leaving a bright and clear sky for the sunrise.

Second day morning:
 

Woke up at 5:30AM, got ready quickly and hit the road. Luck was not on our side. It was as cloudy as the previous day and it was drizzling too. We missed the sun-rise scene.

Chandikeshvar temple on the way
Saw sisters rock on the way-two rocks hugging together so that they don't fall down. The picture does not convey the magnanimity of these two rocks though.

We walked past the underground Siva temple. The gate to the complex was locked and we could not enter. It is called so because the temple is situated in a low ground and the roof is at the same level as the surrounding ground.

Another monument captured on the way.

There was no mention of what this structure was. Sadly, this is the case for most of the monuments. Except for a few well known structures, there are no descriptions available, especially in the mint area - which we covered next.

We saw the Mohammeden watch tower next. You can see the Band tower and a mosque at a distance.

We walked past these structures to reach Krishna Devaraya's palace. There is a Veera Harihara palace as well in this area. As you can see, only basement is left and it is hard to make out what is what. It seems the whole place was covered with sand and these monuments were excavated. It would have been much better if there were sign boards and descriptions about those buildings.

Opposite to the horse stables, there was this Kings Audience Hall, which appears as a raised plat form.
Some of the basements in the royal enclave have engravings of stories from sacred books. Some of them are shown below:

There is this underground enclosure, the pathway to which is pitch dark and I had to use my camera's AF assist illuminator to get into it.

After this we saw a well and an aqua-duct that supplied water to the stepped tank. The steps to this tank are in a peculiar fashion as seen in the picture.

Next was the Mahanavami Dibba. This is a raised structure with engravings of socio-cultural activities on all four sides. This structure seemed to be used during Dussera festival. You can see some of the engravings here.

Form of punishment where criminals were trampled to death by elephants
Art forms

We asked for the route to the queen's bath and one security guard pointed to the back side of the stepped tank. We took some photographs, but later realised that it was not the one. So we missed queen's bath.

On the way back we saw huge stone doors lying outside the Mahanavami Dibba

On the way, we saw Hazara Rama Temple. This one too is fairly ornate and has got lots of stories engraved in its pillars and walls. This is the only temple within the royal enclave. We were getting tired and did not spend much time here.
Opposite to the temple was the Supari Market.


We walked into the market and reached an open land. A foreigner couple was also trying to figure out their way through the area. Finally we saw a temple named as Ranga temple and the security guard there directed us towards a token counter.

We had to take tokens to enter Zanana enclosure.
Rs. 10/- per person if you are an Indian. For foriegners, this is Rs. 250/- per head, which I feel is ridiculously high.

The area contains the queen's palace basement, treasury building, watch towers on all corners, elephant stables and the Lotus Mahal.

Lotus Mahal is one of the most photographed monuments in Hampi and looks beautiful.
Elephant Stables

It was around 10AM and we didn’t have any breakfast. Both of us were tired and had tender coconuts from near the stables. Lemon sized coconuts were sold for Rs. 10/- a piece, but we had no choice.

Came out to the road and saw an archeological museum, but there was nothing worthwhile inside. We asked an autorikshaw guy to take us back to the bus stand, but he was asking for Rs. 80. Didn’t even bother to bargain. We walked past him and hit the tarred road soon. A shared auto was coming along and he dropped us near the bus stand for Rs.20/-.

Went to our room, freshened up quickly and went out to the bazar area looking for the "Mango Tree" restaurant. Had to walk for 10 minutes and finally we reached the place. The restaurant is under a huge mango tree and hence the name. The place overlooks the Tungabhadra river and the ambience is very good. Had Rotis and vegetables. Boys who serve speak good English and I could see many foreigners vsiting this place. Looks like the hotel name is mentioned in many travel related web sites.

After food, we took the road infront of Virupaksha temple and reached the monolithic bull statue. The idea was to reach Vittala Temple. It is a climb through a rocky terrain and there is a flight of stairs as well. On the top, a mantapa can be seen.


We climbed again and it was a long walk. Finally we reached Achyutaraya temple. This one too is a fairly large temple complex.

After a few clicks, we moved ahead as we were running short of time. There is a market and a street in front of this temple, which is named as Courtesans Street or Sule bazar.

Soole Bazar. One of the guide books which we bought from Hampi says this was the red lit area of Hampi and prostitution was a very well accepted profession in Vijayanagara period.

Achyutaraya temple Pushkarni

We got to see the Varaha Temple on the way. The gates of the temple has got the Vijaya nagara empire’s official emblem – A dagger, Boar and the Sun and the Moon - engraved.

Vijayanagara emblem
Other engravings on the entrance of Varaha temple

Signboards are not available everywhere and we did not have a detailed map as well. The map that is sold at the Hampi Bazar area is not very useful. The best option is to carry a printout of the maps available at http://www.hampi.in/. We carried only the detailed maps of Royal centre, Sacred centre and an overview map.
Most of the monuments are not far from one another. You need to find your way through the rocky roads relying on your direction senses and can occasionally confirm with other tourists.

River Tungabhadra flowing behind the Varaha Temple

We saw the Kings Balance on the way. There are hooks on the horizontal bar to hang a balance. During the glorious ages, kings used to distribute gold and grains equivalent to their weight, as charity.

Kings Balance
Engravings on the pillars

Vittala temple is next to the Kings balance, on the other side of the road.

Temple Complex as seen from the entrance
Gopuras

Some more snaps of Vittala Temple Complex. Among the ruins, this temple is the most ornate and hence the biggest crowd puller.


The chariot made out of rock is one of the most photographed.


Weekends are crowded and everyone wants a photo with the chariot in the background.
If you are planning for photography, weekends are best avoided.

The day was mostly overcast, but when we entered the temple complex, the sun came out of the clouds and the rock paved floor was shining too bright against a relatively dark rock construction. I could not get a snap without blowing out the floor. Testing Muthu’s patience, I waited for another half an hour for a perfect snap, but had to give it a miss as we were running late.

Vittala complex is accessible through tarred road, but is a long way from the Hampi Bazar. We were so tired, so hired an auto rickshaw to take us back to Virupaksha temple.

Next we went to Virupaksha temple complex, which still used for worship. They charge Rs. 50/- for cameras. We saw Lakshmi - the elephant inside the complex. She’ll raise her trunk and touch your head to bless you if you like.

Virupaksha Photos



Huge bells and a drum that are used during festival times and dates back to Vijayanagara period.


When we were almost done, it rained a bit and these kids were jumping in the puddle that formed inside the temple complex.



We boarded the return bus at 11PM from Hospet and by morning 7:30, we were staring at Bangalore's concrete jungle.


If you are with me till here, I salute your patience!. Hampi's charm is best experienced on-site. Blogs can only show you photographs.