Hampi’s heritage
January 14, 2012
By Shama Pawar
Hampi has been home for me for 17 years now. I have been visiting this pristine land since 1991. The simplicity and purity of the place is stunning.
It is like an endless horizon of magic: No scars and very pure. People shared a high sense of trust with each other.
A bookshop on Bazaar Street called Inspirations was a place where natives would leave their things and come at a later time to collect it.
Very often, I have seen people buying a book and paying for it later. The owner of the shop was very helpful to anyone who visited, like everybody else in the town.
The same man even guided me to Anegundi in Koppal district. To see this high level of trust was delightful.
With the entry of motorboats to cross the river, the tranquility of the place has changed. Something that I really miss patrolling around in are the coracles.
We always crossed the river in coracles; they don’t exist anymore. The banks of the river suffered badly in the 1992 floods. The pathways were also very different back in those days. We had to cross the river to go to an STD booth.
But there’s no doubt that the place still is very beautiful and secluded from everything. I am very happy that my daughter is growing up here. I love this place and would love my children to experience the warmth of this land.
I love the Hemakuta Hill, which is a magnificent hill in Hampi. Many years ago, I stayed in an ashram on the hill, seeking the solitude to paint.
When there were weddings here, they would ask us to vacate the rooms. Once, a big family came and left sweets outside.
The monkeys spotted this, made their way through the jaali and devoured all the mithai. By the time anyone could protect the sweets, they were finished. It is a very funny incident.
The land is like poetry. The river is incredible, but things have changed. The number of tourists has increased.
Once, I was travelling in a coracle when a woman selling oranges (five for Rs 25) was cheated by a tourist, who ate the oranges without paying her.
Also, intervention from all directions has not been very light on the land. The landscape is very soft. Something I really miss is the pure smell of the soil. I have an organic farm.
Today, more chemicals are used, even in organic farms. The land never had these kind of smells before.
Hampi is like a paradise. The past has left us something incredible.
Shama is the founder of the Kishkinda Trust and convener of the Hampi Anegundi Chapter INTACH. She lives in Hanuman Halli in Koppal district, Hampi
January 14, 2012
By Shama Pawar
Hampi has been home for me for 17 years now. I have been visiting this pristine land since 1991. The simplicity and purity of the place is stunning.
It is like an endless horizon of magic: No scars and very pure. People shared a high sense of trust with each other.
A bookshop on Bazaar Street called Inspirations was a place where natives would leave their things and come at a later time to collect it.
Very often, I have seen people buying a book and paying for it later. The owner of the shop was very helpful to anyone who visited, like everybody else in the town.
The same man even guided me to Anegundi in Koppal district. To see this high level of trust was delightful.
With the entry of motorboats to cross the river, the tranquility of the place has changed. Something that I really miss patrolling around in are the coracles.
We always crossed the river in coracles; they don’t exist anymore. The banks of the river suffered badly in the 1992 floods. The pathways were also very different back in those days. We had to cross the river to go to an STD booth.
But there’s no doubt that the place still is very beautiful and secluded from everything. I am very happy that my daughter is growing up here. I love this place and would love my children to experience the warmth of this land.
I love the Hemakuta Hill, which is a magnificent hill in Hampi. Many years ago, I stayed in an ashram on the hill, seeking the solitude to paint.
When there were weddings here, they would ask us to vacate the rooms. Once, a big family came and left sweets outside.
The monkeys spotted this, made their way through the jaali and devoured all the mithai. By the time anyone could protect the sweets, they were finished. It is a very funny incident.
The land is like poetry. The river is incredible, but things have changed. The number of tourists has increased.
Once, I was travelling in a coracle when a woman selling oranges (five for Rs 25) was cheated by a tourist, who ate the oranges without paying her.
Also, intervention from all directions has not been very light on the land. The landscape is very soft. Something I really miss is the pure smell of the soil. I have an organic farm.
Today, more chemicals are used, even in organic farms. The land never had these kind of smells before.
Hampi is like a paradise. The past has left us something incredible.
Shama is the founder of the Kishkinda Trust and convener of the Hampi Anegundi Chapter INTACH. She lives in Hanuman Halli in Koppal district, Hampi
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