Photo essay that appeared in the October issue of India Today Travel Plus… A few of the images from this photoessay can be viewed online here…
Don’t believe everything they tell you about Hampi – all those stones do not sing. Some of them speak to you with unmatched eloquence, some others stutter while others stare at you silently, mute witnesses to centuries of destruction wrought by nature and man.
Here among the ruins of the Vijayanagara empire is really the closest you can get to time travel. Watching the sun set from Hemakuta hill, watching the sun set or enclosed in the almost completely destroyed Achutaraya temple, it is possible to close your eyes and imagine that you have been thrown back a few centuries.
Keep your ears open, however, and listen to what the stones are saying. They ask you to return, and you will.
Hello Charu,
Good one ,again ! You certainly are going places 🙂 How about putting down all of your travel experiences in a book ? All those photos will make a very very attractive guide and offer a unique perspective as well .And if you are a fan of publishing on demand , check out lulu.com.
ps:Forget I mentioned that if you already know about it and HATE the idea 🙂
Ultra nice…
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!! Haven’t seen the mag yet, I am sure the pics look all the more alluring
on those glossy pages….
wow! super cool!! well done!
I visited Hampi this March, and really fell in love with the place. My second visit, and yes,
I’d love to go back. And to take one of the comments literally, those stone pillars don’t sing
anymore, there are guards around the place to ensure that no one tinkers with them –
one guard said something like everybody’s tested them to death and now it’s forbidden lest
they lose those qualities for good.
Radha, thank you 🙂 actually i was always going places – literally – just now gathered the courage to do something of it! book? nope, don’t think so – I have nothing unique – right now – to offer and there are too many guidebook sorts out there – photo essays maybe? oh that would be a dream!
Prashant, thank you!
Pallavi, look, look in the glossy – PR promised he was going to buy it over the weekend 🙂
desigirl, thank you 🙂
sra, two things – one is, never take things literally – generally not good for health – in any case, even if there were no guards, the stones wouldn’t sing – they merely emit musical notes, not open their mouths to break into song. and then loss of quality? these stones have been there for centuries and a few more human hands knocking on them is going to make no difference! the main hall had been closed to visitors for maintenance work and nothing more 🙂
Hey, hey!!!! what do u mean nothing unique and so won’t make a book?? aaaargh, if ppl knew their own worth, world wud have been a different place, no ;)?
very nice Charu