Queen's Bath House, Hampi

December 23, 2013
This was the third spot we stopped on entering Hampi.. we came from Kamalapur side. The Queens Bath is one of the most visited spots in Hampi.

A signage at the entrance describes the monument as follows-
The Queen's Bath is located to the Southeast of the Royal Enclosure, with its own separate enclosed space consisting of a complex of changing rooms and a bath. At present only the bath is extant. A strikingly, simple facaded structure in the Indo-Islamic style of Vijayanagara architecture. The interior of the bath is in total contrast with its ornate stucco and plaster work.
The structure is 30 sq. mts. Bath inside which is 1.8 mts deep. Pillared and vaulted corridors run all around with ornate balconies projecting into the bath. There is an inlet water channel to the east and a moat that runs all around the structure that ensured a constant supply of fresh water. There are steps leading down to the floor of the bath to the north, and the remnants of four pillars in the center which probably supported a pavilion.

What we see from entering the gate is the rear portion of the structure. We have walk around it to reach the entrance.. The bath house is surrounded by a moat which supplies clean water continuously.

Here we are.. the entrance to the bath house.

The doorway is arched, low and narrow.

Try to imagine this place with water.. it would be cool even on a scorching summer day. Balconies projecting over the water.. where queens and her companions would be enjoying water games. Oh what a sight that would be.

Arched entrance to one of the balconies. Through the opening on the right, the water inlet channel can be seen.

 

Water flows through this channel into the central bath.. falling into the tank with a splash.. mind soothing sounds of water. BTW, the water is supplied from river Tungabhadra.

Architecture is Indo-Islamic. I guess engineers from neighboring or far away kingdoms were employed to design and build these marvelous structures.

Various floral and geometric patterns decorate the ceiling domes.

 View of another balcony.

This is just one of the examples of luxuries royal members of the empire had access to. Another good example is the Octagonal Water Pavilion.. less than a kilometer from here.

You might also want to read about the Adil Shahis summer resort at Kummatgi, near Bijapur.

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Prehistoric stone tools factory of Hiregudda, Sanganakallu - 2

..continued from Prehistoric stone tools factory of Hiregudda, Sanganakallu - 1.

We are exploring the western side of Hiregudda, i.e. behind Peacock hill. The eastern face was a tools manufacturing factory.. raw material quarry, shaping the tools, polishing them and also trading them - Rama Dasa says that all these activities had happened here. We are looking out for evidences of such activities- sources of raw material, semi-finished tools, chips, grinding stones, etc.

December 22, 2013
A layer of grey powdery stuff caught my attention.. I felt it was ash, probably prehistoric ash. When I mentioned it to Rama Dasa (my guide) he said it wasn't ash, it's soil. I tested the powder between my finger tips.. the powder stuck to my skin.. I felt it was ash. The presence of pottery pieces strengthened my opinion but I cannot be sure.

Close to the ash patch was this exposed section filled with stone chips from tool manufacturing. I felt this is a beautiful example of collection of waste material generated by manufacturing activity. These pieces of similar size must have been embedded at this spot for centuries with being disturbed.

These stones originally one stone, are relatively heavier and harder. A polished surface can be seen.. a polishing stone.

We come to a rock bed with three man-made concave surfaces.. marked A, B and  C. There were few more such pits on other boulders in the vicinity. They were either created by grinding cereals or stone tools.

The pits are shaped like mid-section profile of a chicken egg.. about 4½' and 2½' at its longest and widest points and 7" deep.

This is probably the cleanest pit we found. The black circle is dried lichen. Notice how smoothly the surface is polished.

One more polishing stone.. this was specially used to sharpen pointed edges like spearheads or axe-heads. This stone's unpolished surface is gritty, granular bits embedded in the stone form a rough surface.

Rama Dasa explains finds a good sample to explain how pointed  stones were created or how edges were sharpened.

These ridges were created while sharpening edges.

And the pits were used to sharpen pointed edges by twirling the piece.

A series of shallow circular pits form a square with two intersecting dividers.

Converging ridges created by sharpening edges. Wonder why grind only at this spot on such a large stone..

One of the smaller polishing pits.

A collection of semi-finished stone tools. A- axe heads. B - grain grinding stone.

Shallow circular pits arranged in a circle with a pair of perpendicular diametric lines.

A line of pits with a pair of zigzag lines. Rama Dasa says the zigzag lines represent a pair of intertwined serpents. You might have seen medical logos with a pair of intertwined serpents.. the concept is not really new.. its history goes back several millennium.

View of the standing stone. Looks like a dolphin nose.

In the plains below a stone-circle can be seen. That stone arrangement is prehistoric, probably a marker for place of burial. According to Rama Dasa several such stone-circles have been destroyed and lost while quarrying was active on this hill complex.

A pre-university college building of Sanganakallu. In the foreground is a group of boys playing cricket. In that ground is a spot which marks the position of standing stone's shadow's on winter and summer solstice days - marked by none other than our guide Rama Dasa. He religiously marks the position every year. He's been the shift in the shadow's position year on year. With his knowledge about astronomy and astrology he can talk about shift in planetary positions.. most of it I could not grasp :(

Having spent close to 5 hours under blazing Sun was tiring. We had had a light breakfast of dry snacks and running out of water. It was close to lunch time and we had to make to Jatinga Rameshwar hill top and Ashoka Siddapura before the day ended. We decided to head back to the base where our cab was parked.

An ancient shrine close to the base of Peacock hill. As you see, people still perform rituals here. In the background is the dolerite dyke with ancient petroglyphs.

Do check out the petroglyphs in these posts below-

Prehistoric Petroglyphs of Kappagallu - part I

Prehistoric Petroglyphs of Kappagallu - part II

And close to the base of the hill is an ancient ash mound-

Prehistoric Ash Mound of Kappagallu

 I have to come back to explore the summit portion of dolerite dyke, there are hundreds of petroglyphs which we could not reach during our first visit. Thanks to our guide Rama Dasa for time, patience and effort.

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