My Way Is The Highway

Kuda caves

2nd May 2008

On the way  back from Janjira, we stopped by the 2000 year old Kuda caves (also spelt Kude though always pronounced Koo-day).

The caves are located about 28 KMs (18 miles) from Murud at the head of the Rajapuri Creek (18° 35' N, 73° 50' E to be precise). The road is motorable all but the last 1000 meters. While a tough car can navigate the last kilometer aswell, the hike is not too difficult or steep.

The caves are almost unknown and hence clean. Remember to carry your water and canteen. There is absolutely nothing you can buy there. You probably will stay there for an hour and a half unless you are there for the view which is exhilarating. There are a total of 26 caves with the oldest dating back to 1 century BC. They are build about 150 feet above sea level into the side of the 250 feet hill.

The caves themselves are very simple and follow the typical Buddhist cave style (similar to Ajantha-Ellora, Karla, Kanheri). The 22 "living" caves or lenis have a verandah (covered patio) with a door, opening into a cell with a shelf cutout for the monk to sleep. Each door has hinges showing the presence of a door in ancient times and proves that the caves were lived in. Each cave also has a tank cut into the floor of the rock to store rain water. The caves were funded by rich merchants of the Satvahan rule who made their money in the trade between Konkan and Greece. Each cave has Sanskrit inscription calling out commissioning sponsor. 

A few caves have the buddhist Sthupa built into the inner most sanctuary while a other caves have some basic figurines and carvings. The most impressive carving is in cave 6  starting with the 11 foot elephant with the missing trunk and tusks. On the front of the cave, behind the left elephant, is a sculptured figure of Buddha, eighteen inches high, seated on a throne with his feet on a lotus, over a wheel with three deer on each side, and upheld by Naga figures with others below. At each side of Buddha a fly-whisk bearer stands on a lotus, the left bearer being Avalokitesvara, who holds a lotus stem with his left arm. Two demigods or vidyadharas hold a crown over Buddha's head, and above the crown is a segmental arch support-ed by alligators on each side, and two flying figures above it. Beneath, to the left, is a faintly cut and much decayed inscription of a later date than the preceding inscriptions, and in Sanskrit. In the beginning is 'This meritorious gift', and then 'The honorable tranquillizer of the Sangria.' The rest cannot be read. [Click here for more details]

From left to right: The buddhist sthupa , the complex hinge system for the doors, the amazing view commanded by the caves

 

 

 

Translation of the Sanskrit inscription: 'This cave is the meritorious gift of Sivabhuti, the son of Sulasadata and Utaradata and writer to Mahabhoja Mandava Khandapalita, son of Mahabhoja Sadagiri Vijaya' together with his wife Nanda'. [Source]

 

 

Each of the cave had the up-pointing and a down-pointing crescent or pair of horns separated by a block of stone, a common ornament in the earlier (B. C. 100-A. D. 200) Kanheri and other Western India caves

 

 

 

 

Like every monument anywhere in the world, the caves have their own share of graffiti. While most declare undying, unreciprocated love for someone, this one caught my eye. It has been written in 1887 and while any graffiti is despicable, is as much part of the history. [Here is my blog about other ancient graffiti I have come across. Coincidentally, the first photograph on that blog also has a 1887 graffiti]

 

 

 

And like a well made film with a deliciously wicked open ending, I saw this sealed opening.

It has a bit of inscription, and does not seem opened. How old is it? What does it hide?

The impregnable armor shell of Janjira

May 1st, 2008

How ironic, I thought as I gingerly stepped off the off the rocking sailboat onto the wet steps of Janjira. Shivaji tried to raid this fort several times and yet never managed to set his foot in Janjira. And all I had to do to get here was pay Rs.400 ($8) for the boat rental.  

Tired of the pirates, in the 15th century, the fishermen of the Rajapuri village built for themselves a wooden fort (medhekot). Between 1567 and 1571 it was razed and rebuilt. (Our guide insisted that the fort was first built in 1118CE. I really could not find references to support that data point). The workmen who built the fort knew their tide-table well.  They constructed the outer walls during low tides and innards during the high.  The fort was ruled by Assyrians until it became part of independent India in 1947. Besides Janjira, there are only two other unconquered forts in India: Daulatabad near Aurangabad and Golconda in Hyderabad.

The main entrance It has been designed to be invisible amidst the shadows of the strategically placed bastions. So much so that the entrance is apparent only after coming within sniffing distance of it. (see photo series later in the article). 

The entry way has a beautifully carved royal emblem - the lion walking over elephants.

The fort, at last count, has over 450 cannons including Persian and Arabic. The most famous of the cannons -  Kalal Bangadi - still ominously points at the Rajapuri village

 

Despite being in the middle of the sea, the fort has two sweat water tanks. The fort, built over 22 acres, is self sufficient with its own mosques, temples, farms, and has withstood sieges many sieges, the longest lasting over 14 months.

The majestic Royal Courtroom

The fort is in advanced stages of decay and yet, very, very formidable. After all, the fort has withstood the English, the Portuguese and the Marathas for 500 years, with a bit of TLC it can go on for another 500.  Three and half floors of majestic Raj darbar – the royal courtroom – is the biggest surviving building and gives a glimpse of it’s better days.

 

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A boorooz – turret - overlooking the main entrance to snipe the the invading enemy

 

Beautiful Mughal-style arches in the watchtower that has portholes on all sides providing a 360 degree view. 

 

Chor Dindi – a secret escape that goes down to the water line where a few boats would be waiting. From outside, the opening looks just like another window - another marvel of its design

Fort Kasa

Sambhaji, Shivaji's son tried to build this Fort Kasa to counter the strategic importance of Janjira. Sambhaji also tried to dam the creek by filling it with rocks and stones for a full frontal attack. Sambhaji could not do what his father could not either. Sambhaji died in 1689 at the hands of Aurangzeb.

 

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Here are some photos that how easily the main entrance disappears I took three straight-line photos, a minute apart, as we headed back to Rajapuri. In the second frame, the doorway is almost gone. In the third, Janjira is an shell!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a zoomed photo of Janjira.  You know exactly where the main entrance is but you still cannot see it - despite the the boats being a dead giveaways.

Hampi - pure "rock" music

26th, 27th April 2008

Domingo Paes beat us to it. The Portuguese horse-trader called Hampi the "the best provided for city in the world"  and found it "...as large as Rome and very beautiful to look at..." during his richly detailed visit to the city in 1520.

 

The "before" photograph. See here going clockwise:  Viayam in the red T Shirt, Kip, Ananth, Shringar, Sankara, Kunnal and Ravi	We took the Hampi Express to Hospeth to give Kip an authentic taste of India.	We picked, probably, the worst of the season to go there with the mercury perennially stuck about the 40 degree Celcius mark.
Day 1	We retained four rickshaws for the two days that we were there. For the better part, they allowed us to drive around the ruins and the town.	Queen's bath was the first stop despite telling the group that the name referred to the place not the process.
Kip proving that the moat at the Queen's bath was not broad enough to keep away the peeping toms	The handsome walls around the queen's bath were very Cuscanian	The popular victory platform in Hampi.
The stepped tank that resonated with Kip's "Abe Chup" (sic)	The team besides the super sized Kings bath	Sankar, Sunil and Shringar at Diwan-E-Aam or the hall where the king met the common man. The photograph shows the "security counter" used to frisk people as they entered.
Shringar and Vijayam near a panel depicting the Sugriva-Bali fight in the Hazararama temple	We ate some spicy food at the picturesque Mango Tree	and stole 40 winks before plunging back into the 500 year old city
Sankara and Ananth in front of a rock overhang used by Indians 8000 years ago as a canvass	The two-storied gateway on the Hemakuta hill. The three layers representing different energy levels (four is you include the photographer)	The Hampi heat had just about started to hit us before we drenched ourselves in cold water at the pre-Vijayanagar era Triple Shrined Temple on the Hemakuta hills
The metaphorical FY09 target..	.. which the girls seem to find easy	Kip's  "cow on the road" India photograph. This one near the Virupaksha temple.
Ananth inside the Virupaksha temple	Kip comes across a slightly bigger animal in the Virupaksha temple and gets his blessings	The ancient steps to the top of the Matanga hill
And the wait for the ..	.. sunset	The proud Vijayam
Day 2	The open air Bhojan-alaya with plates carved in Schist and a very, very hungry Vijayam and Shringar	The 500 year old terrakota pipeline at the Octagonal Fountain
The grand entrance to the flooded Underground Siva Temple which lay buried underground for over 500 years	The marriage mathapa in the Prasanna Virupaksha	The team atop the Octagonal Pavillion with Ravi in the gargoyle pose
Sunil in front of the beautiful Lotus Mahal in the Zenana enclosure. Was it really the harem or the HQ of the commander-in-chief?	Kip seated in the elephant drivers pavilion with the 11 pens of the elephant stable visible in the background.	The Krishnadevaraya funded Krishna temple clicked from the exact same spot that Colonel Alexander Greenlaw clicked in 1856
And once again, Kip and Ravi, unable to resist the temptation to scale the boulder of Hampi	\While the ongoing repair works prevented entry into the main shrine of the Vitthala temple (and access to the musical pillars), the 16th century courtyard kept the jaws open.	Sankara and Ravi  with KIp at the Hanuman stone in the Vitthala temple courtyard, before they took off for a dip in the Tungabhadra
The dragons in the Vitthala temple  proving that the "Chinese have been here"	Finally, the after photograph. A little sleep deprived, a bit hung-over, a tad sun-burnt and thoroughly impressed

 

 

 

 

 

Hampi resources

 

The new Cambridge history of India: Vijayanagar Author: Burton Stein ISBN:978-81-85618-46-3 Price: Rs. 195/-	Hampi Authors: John M Fritz & George Michell ISBN: 81-7508-336-0 Price: Rs. 396/-
Vijayanagara: Origin of the city and the empire Author: N. Venkata Ramanayya ISBN: 8120605454 Price: Rs. 265/-	New Light on Hampi JOhn m Fritz and George Michell ISBN:978-8185026534 Price: Rs. 2250