Photo. View of the Virupaksha temple from the hill. © Anne Jokisaari.
Anne from Finland - Soumi, reports that she and her mother travelled around Goa by themselves. They took taxi for a day, used local busses to get to the destinations, and participated on guided tours.
Some of their experiences:
- Calangute - the village where we lived and had many adventures
- Panjim - the capital of Goa Ponda and Old Goa - Churches and temples Anjuna Market - old hippy place and market
- Flora and Fauna - meet the animals and vegetation of Goa
- Food - look at the wonderful meals we had and a video of an indian cooking lesson
Goa is India's smallest state in terms of area after Delhi and the fourth smallest in terms of population after Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. It is located on the west coast of India, in the region known as the Konkan, and is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the east and south.
The group of monuments at Hampi in Karnataka become notified on UNESCO`s list in 1986 as a world heritage site. The churches and convents of Goa, the former capital of the Portuguese Indies, particularly the Church of Bom Jesus, which contains the tomb of St Francis-Xavier and illustrate the evangelization of Asia. These monuments were influential in spreading forms of Manueline, Mannerist and Baroque art in all the countries of Asia where missions were established.
The austere, grandiose site of Hampi was the last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. Its fabulously rich princes built Dravidian temples and palaces which won the admiration of travellers between the 14th and 16th centuries. It become conquered by the Deccan Muslim confederacy in 1565. The city was pillaged over a period of six months before being abandoned.
Hampi, the abode of Lord Virupaksha and his consort Pampadevi, has a hoary past. Traditions and local legends speak of the penance of Shiva on the Hemakuta hill and his subsequent marriage with Parvathi. The ancient Kishkindha of the Ramayana was situated close to present day Hampi.
This is the site of the fight between Vali and Sugriva, killing of Vali by Lord Rama, and the subsequent stay of Rama in Malyavantha Hill when Hanuman went in search of Sita to Lanka. Thus, many of the sites: Matunga, Malyavantha, Rishyamukha, Anjanadri Hills and Pampa Sarovar and Sita Serugu are all associated with RAMAYANA.
Hampi the 14th century capital city of the Vijayanagar Empire lies in the Deccan heartland, in the state of Karnataka. The ruins spread over an area of more than 26 sq. kms protected by the tempestuous river Thungabhadra in the North and by rocky granite on the other three sides. A terrain such as this was excellent for a capital city that needed to be vigilant.
It may not have been military shrewdness alone that made the god-conscious Vijayanagar kings settle for this fierce landscape and build on it one of the great imperial cities of medieval times.
It was believed to have been the site of the monkey kingdom of Kishkindha associated with the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. The presence of a large number of monkeys seems to testify to that.
This article continue in Part 2.
Stein Morten Lund, 20 June 2006
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