Hanuman seated on coiled tail

This picture was shot almost nine years ago at Ranga Devastana close to Elephant Stables at Hampi. The relief sculpture was on one face of one of the outer pillars. The sculpture is a depiction of Hanuman sitting on his coiled tail. It's a story from Ramayana.

After Ravana abducts Sita from Pachavati inside Dandakaranya forest, he brings her to his kingdom Lanka. Ravana keeps Sita at Ashoka Vatika as a prisoner. Meanwhile Rama and Lakshmana searching for Sita arrive at Kishkinda the kingdom of Vanara people. They become acquainted with Sugreeva the brother of Vanara king Vali. They also get acquainted with Sugreeva's colleague Hanuman. Due to a feud between the brothers, Sugreeva is in exile while Vali reigns. Rama and Sugreeva arrive at an understanding to solve each other's problems by helping each other. A search team of Vanaras spread out in different directions. Hanuuman follows leads and arrives at Lanka and happens to see sad and lonely lady in Ashoka Vatika. In a subtle way Hanuman approaches the lady and confirms her identity as Sita. Then he tells that Sita about Rama's rescue campaign and takes permission to return to Kishkinda. However before leaving Lanka Hanuman with an intent to get Ravana's attention wreaks havoc in the city. The Rakshasa soldiers were no match for Hanuman. Ravana's son Indrajit enters the scene. Using his special powers Hanuman is captured and presented at Ravana's court. However, the invisible force restraining Hanuman has expired.

Hanuman identifies himself as an emissary of Rama and asks to be treated with respect but the Rakshasas mock him. That's when Hanuman elongates and coils his tail into an elevated seat higher than Ravana's throne. Seated high up he then warns Ravana to return Sita.

So that's the story of Hanuman's coiled seat. What follows is more mockery; Hanuman's tail being set afire. Hanuman gives them a taste of their own medicine by setting fire to Lanka itself and returns to Kishkinda.

With a story behind every image, our ancient temples were like books to impart cultural values.

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Nandi and Hanuman of Savandurga

Savandurga is first known for its size- one of the largest monoliths of Asia. Then its known for its fortifications which are spread over the two hills (Biligudda and Karigudda) and also on the sprawling rock bed at the base of the hill. The other noticeable manmade item on Savandurga is Nandi Mantapa standing at the summit of Karigudda. The four pillared and  crowned structure can be seen from the base of the hill itself. Here's one picture of the monolith shot from a kilometer away. At the tip of the peak is a speck. That speck is Nandi Mantapa.

sometime 1995

Once you start ascending the hill, it goes out of sight until you reach the top of Karigudda. The tip of Nandi Mantapa Shikhara is visible from a point close to the start of a narrow path passing between and under huge rocks. This is my cousin Ashwini standing with two boys we met during the climb some time early 2000s.

The following pictures were shot on Aug-17-2011. Deepak, Vijay (Deepak's colleague) and I had reached Savandurga at 6-30. It was rainy season, the hill was wet and shrouded in mist. This is the rear of the Mantapa. Nandi facing away, looking towards his Lord somewhere far away. During my first visit the Mantapa was in its original form, plain stone look. Someone decided to cover it with a thick layer of lime which wasn't necessary. The Shikhara is brick & mortar, a coating of lime helps preserve it. But lime has a damaging effect on stone. Hoping the people here realize it and remove the lime somehow.

Most of climbs are nonstop. We pause to catch our breath but never sit down until we reach this spot. The moment I reach the Nandi Mantapa, I climb onto it, touch Nandi and then take rest. This spot has its moods depending on the conditions... sunrise, sunny, cloudy, misty, windy. It feels most serene when its misty,. That's Deepak staring into the mist, listening to the sound of silence, as though in a trance.

Here's a closer view of Nandi sitting in his Mantapa. The architecture of the Mantapa is Vijayanagara. It's a well built structure to have stood there centuries absorbing the forces of Nature.. heat, cold, rainwater, mist and wind.

I would like share another picture of Nandi Mantapa, shot in Dec-2007 during my fifth overnight stay atop Savandurga. The Mantapa is seen in early morning light. Imagine the scene minus the flag pole and electric pole.

Every fort in the Indian subcontinent has a shrine dedicated to Lord Hanuman known for his perseverance, pragmatism, strength, sense of humor and selflessness, loyalty & humility. The idol could be small or big, but you'll find one shrine at least. Savandurga too has a shrine dedicated to our god of strength. The idol is sculpted on a rock, facing northerly direction. The idol is unknown many since it is off the main path. During rainy season the narrow path is slippery and hidden behind vegetation. With a little effort one can reach the shrine.

There's our lord in company with Sun and Moon. This is the pose in which Hanuman is usually seen. The lord's disciples have painted the image which is not really required. The natural look of stone is most beautiful.

Here's an older image of the lord, probably 2004, shot in dry weather.

To my knowledge these are the two shrines on Karigudda. I've heard there's a shrine dedicate to Ganesha on Biligudda which is visited once a year by the people of surrounding villages. Then there are temples dedicated to Veerabhadreshwara and Laxminarasimha at the base.

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Kondanda Rama temple and Yantroddhara Hanuman temple, Hampi

August 14, 2017
The second day of our Hampi tour we started with Sasivekalu Ganesha. We moved on to explore the gateway and temples on Hemakuta hill and reached Virupaksha temple. Having spent some time at Virupaksha temple, we went towards the river. I remembered visiting one spot during my first visit in 1996. At that spot Tungabhadra flowed through the rock formations ..I wanted to see that spot again. On inquiring a local person told us to go to Rama Laxmana temple which is about a kilometer from Virupaksha temple. I thought the spot was close to Virupaksha temple ..well lets check out Rama temple then. So we walked through the narrow streets of Hampi village ..guest houses, garment shops, jewelry shops, foreign tourists ..it was a different world. in there. We reached the end of Virupaksha market street and turned left into the path leading to Rama Laxmana temple.

Tungabhadra came into view, a lovely sight it was. The foot path wound along the rock formations. It was silent, hardly any people at this time.

This spot known as Chakra Teertha. Here the river changes it direction and flows in north-east direction. This spot is considered holy and people flock to this spot to bathe. It was nice to see the coracles on the calmly flowing water.

The temple path passed through the rocks, a small cave like formation.

This spot is truly convenient for bathing and swimming too. Of course, one needs to be careful. The water marks showed how high the water flowed. The lighter shades on these rocks is due to contact with water. I was imagining the sight when the water level was 15 feet higher ..I wouldn't be standing here. On my right is the temple.

There it is.. Kodandarama temple. It was a small, simple structure but the pillars are tall. On the right is the bathing ghat and shelter for pilgrims. The arrangement indicates this was an important shrine. According to legends, the temple marks the place where Rama crowned Sugreeva as the king of Kishkinda.

The bathing ghat is about 90 meters long. Behind and above in the rock is a clump of trees, that's where another important shrine is i.e. Yantroddharaka Anjaneya Devasthana.

We stood in the shade of the massive Banyan tree opposite Kondandarama temple, the tree must be hundred years old.

The shaded yard of the temple. Truly this spot is peaceful.

The temple entrance. Inside are idols of Laxmana, Rama and Seeta carved on a massive boulder. The idols are at least 10' tall.

Among the rocks of Chakra Teertha are other temples on either sides. Its amazing to see the structures nestled among the rock formations. Wondering how the construction work was carried out. Amazing.

While Pushpa rested in the cool shade at Kodanda Rama temple, I climbed up to see the Hanuman temple,

That's the temple entrance.

That's the deity ..Lord Hanuman at the center of a hexagram. Like Kodandarama temple, the idol here is also carved on a boulder.

The idol has an interesting story which I read on Hampi Online. I'm quoting the story as is..

Sri Vyasathirtha, a great scholar saint during the reign of King Krishna Deva Raya is believed to be an incarnation of the celestial Shankukarna. The earlier incarnation of Shankukarna was Bhakta Prahlada and the one after Sri Vyasathirtha was that of Sri Raghavendra Swami. Sri Vyasathirtha used to go to very calm spots on the banks of river Tungabhadra and meditate uninterrupted. One day, while he was meditating in a hillock near Chakratirtha, an image of Lord Hanuman kept coming to his mind. This happened only at that particular spot and nowhere else, even in nearby hillocks.

Sri Madhwacharya (believed to be an incarnation of Lord Hanuman) appeared in the dreams of Sri Vyasathirtha and instructed him to install an icon of Lord Anjaneya (Hanuman) next time. The next time Sri Vyasathirtha saw the image in the middle of his meditation, without any delay, he drew the image from his mind on to a rock using an Angara (coal used by Brahmins during Pooja performance). To his surprise, a monkey came to life from the rock and jumped out of the rock and his drawing would disappear. He repeated the process of drawing and every time, a monkey would jump out of the rock and the drawing would disappear. This happened 12 times.

Full of surprise, Sri Vyasathirtha finally decided to bind the image of Lord Hanuman in a Yantra. A small temple was built there and hence the temple has the name Yantroddhara Anjaneya. In the core of the Yantra is the statue of Lord Hanuman in Padmasana position. This is probably the only temple of Lord Hanuman in a sitting position which is generally in a flying or blessing position. The Yantra here is a form of binding which looks like a 6 cornered star. The star is encircled in a circle with flames going outwards giving it the drawing look of a sun. A closed, benzene like ring of 12 monkeys holding each others’ tails can also be found around the star and the sun which forms the outermost structure of the Yantra.

Following this, it is believed Sri Vyasathirtha installed 732 Hanuman temples all over South India. It is, to date, very difficult to get a list of all these.

One of the Hanuman idols installed by Vyasaraja is deep in the jungles near Yellapur, at Hanumana Kote.

In the areas enclosed by the segments are Telugu or Kannada text. Its a lovely drawing. Perfect circle, straight lines and angles. What techniques did those sculptors possess to create such an art ..definitely extraordinary.

From here we planned to explore further ..spots which have to be reached by foot like Varaha temple, Vyasaraja Matha, King's Balance, and many more.
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Anjanadri Betta

June 23, 2012
Anjanadri Parvatha is said to be the birth place of Lord Hanuman. The hill is about 3 km west of Anegundi village.

A closer look at Anjanadri Betta. The hill is surrounded by plantain and paddy fields. At the top is a small temple and many monkeys.

One has to climb about 500 steps the summit. The climb is safe and quite easy because of the stairway right from the base all the way to the top. Close to the summit, there's a overhanging rock, one has to really bend low to go under it. The hill top is heavenly, refreshing cool breeze and beautiful sights of. Rashyamukha hill, green fields, Tungabhadra river and parts of Hampi. This is Rashyamukha Betta; on the boulder strewn surface a fort wall can be seen close to the hill top.

That's river Tungabhadra flowing through the valleys of rocky hills. On the left is Koppal district and on the right is Vijayanagara district (formerly Bellary district).

Plenty of monkeys live on this hill, in fact they hang around the temple. Tourists and temple visitors feed these monkeys with channa and other eatables. This well built monkey seems to be the leader of the group, other monkeys kept distance from him. He was sitting like this for quite some time, the position seemed  to be relaxing. He was facing the temple entrance. In the background is Rashyamukha hill.

Anjandri is popular among Western tourists for sunsets views. During my two visits, I was a bit too late for sunset on the first visit. During the second visit, it was cloudy and it had rained some time back. Clouds obscured the sunset :(

Ravi and Malatesh relax after a hectic day.

This temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman and his mother Anjanadevi sits on a edge, a 60 feet sheer drop. The temple is managed by a friendly Baba and his disciples who live here. During my first visit, I saw a person having tea, its pleasant aroma in the air. I too wanted to have tea. I asked the Baba if we could get some tea. Yes, please sit down. A boy spread a mat for us and brought cups of tea. It was one of the best teas I ever had.

During both visits, Anjnadri Betta was our final destination of the days. Oh, both visits were on Saturdays, Lord Hanuman's week-day.

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