Hampi story in Light & Sound

Last Friday I read about the show in DH. I called Sudhin to check if he was in Dharwad. No, he was at Bekal Fort near Kasargod. He asked me attend the shows. Two shows were organised- Saturday and Sunday. He told me to get in touch with Hari Krishna, in-charge of the team and the sets. Sudhin asked me to check out the sets when it was still light.

Saturday morning I spoke to Hari Krishna and at 5-45 PM Suresh mama, Praveen and I were at the venue R N Shetty Stadium. We met Hari who was understandably tense awaiting government dignitaries Jagdish Shettar, PWD Minister and Darpan Jain DC, Dharwad District and few others. While we waited, we could see the crowd build up. By 7-15 the stadium was packed. We were comfortable on the first row in the front, the best place to watch a light & sound show. The dignitaries arrived and after a low-key opening ceremony the show started at 7-30. The speakers blasted out sounds that could drown out every other sound... at times we could not hear ourselves talk. I recorded about 60 minutes of the 66 minute show.

The crowd just loved the colorful spectacle and sound effect was mind-blowing. Youngsters would cheer and whistle when the entire set lit up... all lights blazing away at the same time. It was one hell of a show. Later both mamas and me went out for dinner at Hotel Ream Land near Tegur cross, about 15kms from Dharwad.

Sunday morning I was back at RNS Stadium to see the sets. It takes 12 trucks to move all this material and another 6 vehicles to move the 60 crew members. Lot of logistics involved which means lot of problems to tackle. Good work by KK, Sudhin and rest of the team. This program is organized by the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka and executed by Innovative Lighting Systems Corp., Bangalore.


Ugranarasimha


Lotus Mahal







Virupaksha temple and other ruins


Sasive Kalu Ganesha



Stone Chariot



Elephant stables




Virupaksha temple


Gateway to Virupaksha temple.


The powerful lamps which make the sets come alive.


Scaffolding which hold up the images.


One of the two speaker towers. Maximum output from the speakers is 50,000 Watts.


The mobile control room. I should have taken a picture of the two mobile generators too. No pictures of the crew since most had been out.

Link to Hampi Light and Sound Show videos.

KK, Sudhin and team have also executed Rani Chennamma Light & Sound Show at Kittur during Kitturu Utsava. Wish them all the best for their future projects.

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