Kumbhakarna park was discovered in the late 90s or early 2000s during one of the journeys between Bangalore and Kurnool. Back then Bangalore - Hyderabad highway was a two lane road with a few railway crossings. The railway crossing near Penukonda can't be forgotten, because of the pothole ridden stretch and those terrible speed bumps. Amidst that chaos, a nice little park was being made in a space between two hillocks. At that point, the idea was unique and we had stopped to check out. Luckily, I had my camera and we had taken a few shots of the giant sculpture of Kumbhakarna.
In the mid 2000s Bangalore - Hyderabad highway was widened to a six lane road flying over all the railway crossings and bypassing some of the bottlenecks. The new road bypassed Kumbhakarna park as well. So if someone wanted to see the park, they had to leave the highway and suffer that nasty stretch of road. Somethings don't change.
January 13, 2019
Almost two decades later, after ending our stay at Hyderabad, Pushpa & I were heading to Bangalore by car. I was curious about the park and also wanted Pushpa to see it. Here I was looking at Kumbhakarna again. The first thing I noticed was the change of color scheme; back then it was grey and ochre, now it's colorful. The change was like moving from Eastman to color photo. Overall the place had transformed from a construction site to a fairly well maintained park.
One may wonder why Kumbhakarna park was situated in a remote place. This spot is about 6 kms from Penukonda which was the second capital of Vijayanagara empire. The ancient monuments of Vijayanagara, be it Hampi or Lepakshi or Penukonda or Gummanayakana Kote, are hundreds of relief sculptures depicting scenes from Ramayana. The stories etched into stone have kept the religious / cultural sentiments alive. I guess some political leader from this region wanted to create a monument, and the idea of Kumbhakarna theme park was born. In my opinion, this park was intended to be fun for kids and adults alike.
I think we had to buy tickets to get past the gates. Apparently, the restaurant was functional but refreshment was not on our agenda.
For some reason access to the space inside the sculpture was prohibited that day. I guess it was under renovation.
The scenes of Rakshasas trying to awaken Kumbhakarna are amusing. Kumbhakarna was so big that normal Rakshasas had to use ladders and ropes to climb on to his body. While some Rakshasas was bringing pitchers filled with drinks and plates loaded with food. While many toiled, two Rakshasas helped themselves to a part of the grand feast, which is amusing.
The normal Rakshasas are life size. Based on that scale, we get an idea of Kubhakarna's size.
The creators have even paid attention to jewelry. It's my observation that Telugu people have a liking for grandness. I felt that during our visit to Warangal fort and Ramappa temple. The grand arches at Warangal fort, and Ramappa temple themselves are examples of megalomania. Perhaps, the word megalomania is too strong a word but you get a sense.
Creating that expression of deep sleep, that too at this scale, is not an easy task. The master sculptor deserves appreciation. I don't remember seeing any board here crediting the sculptors.
The Rakshasas spared no effort to awaken the giant. Prodding him with spears, blowing horns and beating drums next to his ears, tickled his nostrils, tugging his hair, they even made an elephant prod giant. They also brought fresh food and drinks hoping the aroma would do the trick. Our legends are truly marvelous!
Yes, the restaurant was temporarily closed.
Also, there was a tower, maybe 20 feet high. I think we climbed up for a better of the sleeping giant. I don't think we shot any pictures because the trees were blocking the view. With that we decided to end our tour and resume our journey towards Bangalore.
The ancient monuments of Penukonda are a underrated. I had made a couple of visits and saw the ruins of fort, the temples, Gagan Mahal, Saluva Thimmarasu Bandhikane and few other monuments. Also, I drove up the dirt track going up the hill to see the ruined temples and water tank. The Narasimha Gudi, stepped tank and colonnades atop the hill were a reminder or monuments at Hampi. During that visit, I was the only person out there, it was scary but beautiful.
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