Sunday February 5 - Badami to Bijapur

Left the Badami Court hotel early while Tollywood stars did yoga outside on the grass. Made a stop at the Kudalsangana Temple, a very peaceful white place with yellow gopurum at a spot where two rivers meet. Lakuma told us that temples are always built in such spots. These particular rivers are infested with crocodiles but this fact didn't seem to deter visitors from bathing and sitting in the water. Kudalsangana is a Shiva temple and I noticed a vendor selling suicide linga. Many people were sitting outside under cover of the temple promenade enjoying the weather and relaxing. Along one side of the parking lot vendors sold children's toys, snacks and soft drinks, temple trinkets and glass bracelets. Ferris bought an arm-full of pretty green ones.

Lakuma had arranged for us to have a pack lunch since we had a long drive to Bijapur. Around 1 she found a small village gate (a cement archway with platforms on either side) for us to use as a place for lunch. We sat on newspapers and ate a bowl of vegetable biryani with our fingers. We drove for a long time on a combination of local roads and highways. Arrived in Bijapur (pop 100,000) at around 3pm. Spent the remainder of the afternoon visiting Muslim sites.

Bijapur is noted for having fine examples of Mughal architecture in the Deccan. Bijapur's population is about 50% Muslim and 50% Hindu. The atmosphere here certainly has a different feel to it. I've been to many predominantly Muslim towns and to Muslim countries but can't say I've ever felt so alien or unwelcome. In 2004, people in Damascus couldn't have been more friendly (perhaps they see many more Western tourists than does a town in the middle of nowhere like Bijapur) but here we were greeted with sullen, expressionless, staring faces. Of course I may be misinterpreting these expressions, but I don't think so. Having said this, the Mughal architecture was lovely.

Our first stop was to Ibrahim Rauza, a 17th century palatial tomb "beautifully proportioned with slender minarets, carved decorative panel of lotus, wheels and cross patterns and bold Arabic calligraphy bearing witness to the tolerance of Adil Shah of other religions". Jama Masjid, built by Ali Adil Shah I in the 16th c, is a large functioning mosque and there were 20 or so men at prayer when we visited. With the exception of the minraub (sp?) which was decorated in gold with calligraphy and representations of architecture and nature, the rest of the building was largely plain white.  The Gol Gumbaz, a vast tomb of Mohammad Sadil Shah purports to have the world's second largest dome unsupported by pillars. The site closed around 6:30 and we returned to the hotel.

I must comment on the Hotel Pearl. It reminds me of some hotels I've stayed at in China because of its level of hygiene, or lack thereof. Everything in this hotel is dirty, including sheets, floors, bathtub; the works. Our bed had no top sheets and we had to call housekeeping to ask for them. Our bathroom has a tub with long brown dirt streaks at precisely the point you were supposed to lie back and put your head on a built-in pillow. Around the top edge of the tub is a thick circle of grime. The shower is simply in the middle of the bathroom and I have to hope that if when I use it (with shoes on of course) that water will indeed flow to the drain in the corner across the room. [Cut to tomorrow morning - I tried to shower and found that water shot out through three pin-hole openings only, barely enough for me to even feel on my hand never mind shower with it! If I'd thought the water would have shown up in a picture I would have taken one it was so funny. So taking a shower was out; took a modified sponge bath instead.] Our bathroom's louvered window doesn't close all the way and has no screen. Meanwhile we're in the middle of malaria mosquito territory and are doing our level best not to get bitten. We put on deet repellant morning and evening. I can't even begin to describe the hotel restaurant and its level of cleanliness. Let's just say we're all praying to every god we can think of that we are well tomorrow and not in need of antibiotics.

Before dinner we met to talk about making a change to our itinerary. We feel that Gulbarga, the town we're scheduled to be in tomorrow night, will be more of the same. We investigated and have made arrangements to go directly tomorrow to Hyderabad instead. Ferris and I are happy about this because we had previously had a very limited time in Hyderabad - not even a full day - and now we'll be able to see something of the city.

Saturday February 4 - Hospet to Badami

Today was another beautiful, hot and sunny day. The sky is relatively clear in this part of the country I suspect due to lack of industrialization. Badami was once capital of the Chalukuyan Empire which ruled much of central Deccan between the 4th and 7th centuries AD. But the town of Badami today would be unrecognizable to its former inhabitants. It is a skeleton of a town; gray, undistinguished, and possibly the dustiest place I've ever been to. I now understand the value of having yards and yards of sari material to pull across your face to screen out smoke and dust particles. But more about dust later on.

In the morning we drove to the countryside to see four cave temples cut into the sandstone hillside in the early 6th c. The cave temples run along the right side of very large water tank. Cave 1 is reached by climbing 40 steps, has Shiva in his manifestation as Nataraja with 18 arms and seen in 81 dance poses.  Cave 2, on a higher level, has reliefs of Varaha and Vamana and Cave 3 is dedicated to Vishnu. According to a Kanada inscription unique to Badami, this cave was excavated in 578 AD and has numerous sculptures including a huge reclining Vishnu.   Cave 4 is the only Jain cave and was possibly excavated 100 years later.

Many women washed clothes in the water tank. We admired interested large patchwork quilted prices drying on the steps. Lakuma explained that they are used as sleeping mats. The women were also washing pots, pans, plates and cups in the tank. We circled the vast tank making stops at small temples and at a museum. At one point we heard a yelp and discovered that the women had run away because of an "attack" of makek monkeys who were attracted by the pots and pans and who were looking through them hoping to find food. Monkeys know that pots and pans mean food!

In the afternoon we had quite an adventure going to a temple. Lakuma bought a sari last night that she wanted to have blessed by a priest before giving it as a gift to her mother in law. She also wanted us to see a special gathering of people who come together for a celebration once per month. On the one hand it was a photographer's dream; colors, stalls selling temple items, accoutrements for bullock carts and vehicles, food, cooking items, pseudo-antique statues and devotional items. On the other, it was perhaps the filthiest, dustiest, most fly-infested place I've ever been to and it was hard to put my fan down long enough to photograph. I'm not sure why this particular place was so thick with flies, both inside the temple and out, because we've been to many and this place was unbelievable.

Thanks to Lakuma's help I did acquire a wonderful temple trinket: a small Shiva Linga that devout Lingites (a sub-sect of Shivites) keep with them at all times as a kind of cyanide pill. In the old days (centuries ago) if a Lingite was captured by an enemyand about to be killed or even if they had lost a philosophical debate about their religion, rather than fail in the eyes of Shiva they would swallow this small linga and commit suicide. The area around the Shiva temple contains 100s of large linga under portals used by visitors to have lunch and rest.

Saw a group of history teachers and students sitting in a circle on the ground having lunch. It was interesting to see men sitting on one side and women on the other. Lakuma says this separation stems from the tradition of women serving guests first, then elders, then men, then children and last themselves. We saw a water tank within the temple complex where young boys learn to swim. I videoed fathers teaching sons to swim and boys showing off their swimming and diving abilities.

Afterward we walked through the choking, dusty streets of Badami to see the market area. It was late afternoon and so not many villagers were shopping but shopkeepers were still hard at work. My favorite was a chili grinding shop that smelled wonderful and another that mixes chili powder with other spices and pounds it into a masala. It was interesting to see a large electronic mortar and pestle at work. Chili dust wafted down the street and we sneezed and coughed. Returned to the fabric shop to pick up purchases.

Moon over Badami.

Dinner with Lakuma. She introduced us to a delicious appetizer of peanuts with onion, chili and lime. Ate gobi, vegetable curry, lemon rice, dahl fry, papadum.

Friday February 3 - Hospet, Aihole, Pattadakai, Badami

Today we had a very long and bumpy ride as we made our way to Badami. We passed many water buffalo and teams of bullock carts as we drove. Bullock carts aren't decorated here in the wonderful way they are in the southern part of Karnataka.  Here it's the John Deere tractors that are festooned with brightly colored tinsel, flashing lights, tassels, and painted designs. I'm desperately trying to get decent photos of them.

We stopped in the morning at a colorful village market. Saw Lambodi (Deccan) women dressed in bright, multi-colored clothes decorated with mirrors and coins. Silver hair ornaments hung from (what appeared to be) strands of hair on either side of the face. They reminded us of tribal women we've seen in Gujarat. I particularly enjoyed the spice vendors with bags of marvelous smelling spices in every color imaginable. As we walked we came across a man (obviously some kind of performer) whose cheek, painted with yellow and red stripes, had a huge dagger piecing through it.

Our first historical site was Aihole (pronounced eye-ho-lay), a Chalukyan Dynasty capital dating from the 5th century. Aihole is regarded as the birthplace of Indian temple architectural styles and the site of the first built temples, distinct from those carved out of solid rock. Gopurum design shows how this early period influenced architecture seen at Halebid and other Hoysala Dynasty sites.

Most of the Aihole temples were originally dedicated to Vishnu but later became Shiva temples. It was amazing to see how facile artisans were using stone so many centuries ago. Some temple roofs looked as though they were made with wood; many had beautiful pierced windows, each in a different design; ceilings were adorned with circular motifs containing fish, nagas, and sacred flowers. Next we visited Ravanaphadi, a rock-cut Shiva shrine from the 6th century where inside we saw a tall dancing Shiva.

Pattadakal, a gorgeous temple on the banks of the Malaprabha River, is the second capital of the Chalukyan kings between the 7th and 8th c. It is the city where kings were crowned. The architecture of the vimana (the tower above the "inner sanctum' where the temple's deity is housed) reminded us of styles we'd seen in Orissan temples. On both the exterior and interior of the temples are beautiful carvings of figures of the gods. All but one of these temples are dedicated to Shiva.

At Pattadakal we saw a portion of a wedding ceremony quite different from our experience the other day. This time the young man (about to be a groom) underwent preparatory prayer and spiritual cleansing. He circled a temple prostrating himself again and again. There was a musical group preceding him, a person who ran placed the sari on the ground for the man to lie on, and a procession of men and women trailing carrying offerings such as coconuts to the gods.

Arrived in Badami, a small, dusty rural village and checked into our hotel.  What it lacks in decor and modernity our hotel makes up for in service. We sat outside for a hour on the grass near the pool. While we relaxed a group of Tollywood (Tamil Hollywood) movie people arrived, creating much excitement for Lakuma, Cliff and Cathy who knew them all.  We've been people watching ever since.

At dusk we took off as a group of five in an auto-rickshaw to look at textiles in town. Riding in the auto-rickshaw (aka 'tuk-tuk') was fun; Cliff and I sat in the back, laughing hysterically as we went over bumps and pot holes and hanging on for dear life. Lakuma took us to a nice textile shop and everyone else bought lovely cotton cloth and ordered shirts to be made. Cliff tried to find wi-fi in town, to no avail. I don't think there's internet anywhere in Badami. Took the auto-rickshaw back home. The restaurant at the hotel has delicious food and service is very nice.