Trips and Suchlike

Sa (Note 1): Click on Images for phull sije. Also, this transperancy thing means that the background image of the blog will impose itself on the photographs. So, colours may appear different after clicking!
Ri: Long Post. You stand warned.
Ga: Our MDR post, which we loved a lot, got buried under the excitement over the Love Theme. We are sad.
***
I went to Belur-Halebeid-Shravanabelagola by the Karnataka Tourism bus yesterday with Radha (in photo with her favoured Gadget - a Sony Erricson phone with outgoing barred):

and Elsa (in photo with her favoured Gadget - an Olympus SLR - model unsure):

It was fun, yes. But like all trips on tourist buses, it was like the little tasting spoon at Baskin Robbins. You taste it. If you like it, you decide to come back for more. Else, you try another flavour. I decided that this flavour was excellent. I'm definitely coming back for a whole scoop. Who knows, maybe even a double scoop!

Our getting-ready-early-in-the-morning process was surprisingly smooth - only some hot water issues we had to endure. Ergo, we boarded the bus in fairly sleepy state:
But AC bus and Himesh Reshammiya (I swear, the "Assalamu 'Alaikum" song played at least seven times!) made for a god nap till we stopped at random highway place for breakfast. Good filter coffee we got. Some chips were purchased and consumed. Some bad jokes were cracked concerning Mr. Chiplunkar. Bus resumed, but now with Kannada music. I switched on iPod and listened to excellent 'Kanakana Ruchira' (my favourite of the five) by the great Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna - very whatay, it was!

Shravanabelagola was reached. Random man, "My name is Johnny!" bugged Elsa and asked her to buy some photographs and a guide book for 10 bucks. A board at the base of the hill read, "Kniees and sharp objacts not allowed. Please preserve Silance." With my almost non-existent right knee, I partially qualified. We climbed the climb.

The knee took the burden well. Except for some discomfort at the top stages, I was fine. And, as always, the sight of the Gomateshwara made the climb worthwhile.


This is how tall he is. Check out the men at the base.
V Chitappa called Radha around that time for updates on how the trip was going. I heard her say, "Yeah, Appa. We just saw the naked man thingy." (No, she didn't say, 'the naked man's thingy') Anyway, I vowed to come back again for the Mahamastakabhisheka!

Did I mention that the view of Chandragiri from the top was lovely?
The bus then proceeded towards Belur. We decided that Kannada music must be heard - our homeland, our culture, after all. We came across two gems. One went:

"Nimbehannu tara hudugi bandlu, node Balu, node!"

(Lemon-like girl is here. Look Balu, look!)

The other, a duet, featured the following lines - cant remember them in Kannada, but they vaguely translate to:

"MAN
When I look at you, there's fire in my eyes, Fire that can set a haystack ablaze!
WOMAN
You know that the fiery eyes wont do; You know that you need to do more to make me a mother!"

After all this entertainment, we reached Belur. I was overwhelmed by all the excitement, but had to wait - because the bus was "Shtapping for dinner. Farty-five minits!" Earliest dinner of my life (1 pm), a simple South Indian Thali, was had at tourist 'complex' at Belur. Interesting plaque:
(Wonder what/who Shri H.C. Srikantaiah co-operated with!)

Language isn't developed enough to convey what the temples at Belur and Halebeid are. The sculptors were geniuses, no doubt, but genius is a much-diluted word these days, what with the two Andrews - Symonds and Flintoff - being called geniuses! But they were not just ace sculptors - their imagination, conceptualisation, architectural prowess is second to none. Their astute knowledge of mythology and aesthetics is undoubtedly supreme, but the use and execution of this knowlege, laced with excruciating attention to detail and a keen sense of humour is what puts them in a league of their own. For instance, this mantelpiece at Belur:
This is a picture of Ugra Narasimha (their family God) on Garuda, flanked by Jaya and Vijaya. But, you'll almost miss the dasavataram carvings in the circles around the main god (The photograph doesn't cover all ten (my bad!) - it misses out Vamana and Parasurama).

Then, there's the famous one of the monkey and the lady:
You can almost feel the force of her pull, cant you? And remember, we're talking of stone!

(I just realise at this point that there are many many pictures of many many sculptures that need to be put up and written about. That will be done in detail in a few days. For now, I continue with my journey. From Belur and Halebeedu.)

There was an irritating Delhiite bunch in the bus who decided that Halebeedu was pronounced Hell-e-bed (the Hell of Bed), like Sher-e-punjab (Lion of Punjab) or Jaan-e-mann (Love of Mind). Aargh. They also played Antakshari throughout and produced the most apashruti noises for the most part. No good Hindi song was spared - Antakshari for six hours ensured that. Double Aargh. Why aren't such people just banned?

Halebeedu was even better - a temple twice as large as Belur, with twice as many sculptures and two dieties. There were the oddities, like Shiva in the middle of the Trimurtis, instead of being the third, a Ganesha whose trunk faced left instead of right, and some cheeky ones like the Arjuna with his multiplying arrows, and a Bheema killing many elephants:

Simply lovely, I tell you. Simply lovely.


There was a minor incident with a guy selling photographs again. He was very persuasive and wanted me to buy it. When all arguments failed, he pulled out his trump card, "Saar, punya kshetradalli daana madidare nimige tumba olleydu!" Yeah, dude. He'd worked out his role in the food chain perfectly. He wasn't selling photographs at all. He was trading in 'punya'. Give him some money, and God gives one 'punya'. This rendered me thoughful for most of the journey after that.

On the way back, the bus guy then took to playing videos of songs from Krishh followed by Dhoom 2 and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. An overdose of Hrithik Roshan! Meanwhile, there were these two hills with beautiful windmills, and a discussion followed on whether the fan of the windmill turned equally fast irrespective of the height at which they were placed. I felt, somehow, that this one fan, at a lower height than the others, was turning slightly slower. The only innovative method I could think of to test this idea was to sing a song to the rhythm of the windmills. The experiment was incolcusive.

The videos were followed by a comedy movie called Sunday. The movie was a pleasant surprise - it wasn't bad at all. Arshad Warsi and Irrfan Khan act really well. Ajay Devgan is, well, Ajay Devgan. The surprise element is Ayesha Takia. I must say, in the movies that I have watched her, I've really liked her - Dor, No Smoking and finally Sunday.

Finally, I leave you with a series of potographs from yesterday featuring various skies and bits of buildings. As you will find, these photos are fairly repetitive.




We came back, dumped Radha at home, and headed to Pecos. It was fairly late, and with the new rules, we were just in time for the last order. We ended up being the last people to leave Pecos. Kiran said, "This BJP Government is bad for business," and added with his usual genial smile, "See you tomorrow!"

Today, I had some other work to do, and Elsa went alone to Lal Bagh. Apparently, two men asked her to pose for a photograph with their wives! And then, another set of men asked her to pose for a photograph with them. God!