Because I have been so focused on stone, I realize a certain lack of “life” in my images. I admit that I wait for people to move out of my viewfinder so I can grab my perfectly abstract notions of photographing the architecture without that for which it was supposedly built.
A coracle is a round boat made like a basket, logically common to any number of rivers & seas throughout world history… this lark became a highlight inside our intense explorations of rocky spirituality. Rock Shiva took us on a long drive out of Hampi, up the river to the new bridge & over a dam then along a road on which, by some “system” he parked & we met a young man who lead us hiking over rather desert-like territory down to the edge of a reservoir’s quiet water where we were introduced to these rather magical vessels. Large bamboo baskets laced together with nylon cording & sealed with plastic sheeting. A modern recreation of an ancient design obviously used universally. I first encountered it years ago, in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Trilogy, as a Gallic mode of transportation.
The water in this reservoir was calm, surrounded by the rocks of the landscape… again Arizona flavored.
Cell phones are ubiquitous in India & all over the world, of course! We frequently encountered folk who wanted to make selfies with us… often young men, happily enough.
Hearing about the possibility of watching the temple elephant’s bath, we arranged for Rock Shiva to pick-us up early next morning for a ride to the river where a small group of folk enjoyed watching he/she arrive to a place wide & shallow enough to lay down to enjoy being scrubbed by the mahout.
Its pale spotted trunk stained red with a seemingly indelible bindi.
One ought to approach worship dripping clean, so… fittingly scrubbed & anointed… it bowed to the deity…before taking a stately walk back for breakfast in its stall near the main gate. An honored resident!
Bathing elephants before breakfast does work up an appetite! While we rigorously avoided street food, Madhulika knew a place nearby that was clean & safe for us. She ordered only piping hot fresh fried goodies, cooked right in front of us by happy women who really knew what they were doing. I appreciated the well-seasoned pans… one looking like our Ebelskiver pan.
Those deep fried chilies were amazing! Let’s go find more elephants!
As we were putting on our shoes after leaving the temple gate we were engaged by a pair of quite colorful characters… magicians only wanting money, Madulika explained with her usual candor. We were wanting to digest & savor the mood & get on with our agenda, but they were worth time & a tip for these photographs.
A couple of young beings were playing in one temple porch…
The young man suddenly struck a pose seeming rather in character with the carving…
He might have been posing as part of a newer temple which we passed coming & going through the village which was populated by a pantheon of exuberantly realistic figures of colored stucco.
A curiously symbolic being, an aspect of Vishnu, was this turtle flatly supporting a whole world of meaning as part of an altar…
Nearby was welcomed the ubiquitous sacred cow…
Who were being herded home as we too moved toward our evening.
This photo poignantly references the labor of working in this heritage site… in a huge country with an even more huge population & thus workforce needing employment. Hands & knees…
These fish carvings on the walls were beings never quite fully understood, simply occurring in something probably not the random manner it seemed. We enjoyed inventing possibilities… ‘Need more research!
Oh yes… we were searching for more elephants! In this city with an historic army of 500 war elephants we found those beings were carved everywhere as basic repetitive elements along borders & bands of the foundations.
Another common character, an ancient mythological complexity of lion, elephant, serpent & other beings as well, called a Yali. They are seen as guardians.
This one is a simple presentation on a handsome column.
These monkeys were pestering a Nandi… the bull deity acting as guardian of gates
Monkeys were simply hanging out…Oh… there were horses & camels as well…
But, the best of the beings of all were human indeed: Madulika, Rock Shiva & our boatman… representing the the extraordinary people who facilitated & allowed us to navigate such deliciously unfamiliar territory.
We be happy basket cases!
