A trip in a nutshell...

                                                              गूंझे मंदिर का घंटा, 

                                                         ठंग ठंग थाली करे आवाज़, 

                                                         चारों और हो जय गुणगान, 

                                                         सब हाथ जोड़े करे प्रणाम !!

         An obvious site that one shall see in a temple and is the one I expected to see in Hampi. 

Since my course was “temple town tales”, by default the colorful image portraying people practicing their religious rituals and the temples filled with vibrancy of all kind, formed in my head.But unlike other temple towns, Hampi is a city born in and around seventh century. It’s a place that not only speaks history of kingdoms and their cultures but beautifully lays down the foundation of brilliant architecture and sculpture. The vibrant image didn’t come out to be true but other fascinating things filled in those gaps.

I started my journey with the mindset of Hampi offering me history but it amazed me by its structures. I was so awed by its carvings and architecture that there was a point where presence of UNESCO didn’t matter to me.

Its true that after Hampi being declared as the UNESCO world heritage it had its pros and cons. On one hand it did affect the life of local people but on the other it was also acting as a protecting shield to this city. Despite of this I kept drowning in the beauty of its structure and the role of UNESCO just became a background aspect of Hampi for me.

One thing that I realized was that this city has lot to offer and no matter what the mindset is, one tends to break those walls and absorb in as much as one can. Thus, throughout this trip unknowingly I started looking at other factors and aspects apart from structure and layouts.

In all, this trip made me want to time travel back to that century where I could witness the life in Hampi. Moreover apart from stories and art, one thing I took with me from this place was the sense of belonging. Within few days this city made me feel like my land and the reason for this must be the familiarity and connectivity I made with people and roads on the journey of knowing as much as I could about Hampi.

I must also mention that it was not just Hampi and its stories that made this trip memorable but it is also the group with whom I came here. Every single day ended with learning different perspectives of observation from my fellow mates and the knowledge given by facilitators. It did play a major role in enhancing my understanding about this city.

I'll conclude by saying that this trip taught me how to look at the same place from different perspectives every time I visited it. It taught me to engage with not just people but everything that surrounds you there. So I guess this is my first step towards learning how to empathize with people and place which in future shall prove to be important in whatever I do.