Hampi
The café Ian had mentioned lay slightly hidden in the outskirts of Bombay. I drank some chai and watched attentively but slightly ill at ease the activities around me. Then the owner approached me and asked:
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, I am looking for Moses!”
“You're a bit early! Come back in an hours time! Place one hundred Dollars into your passport and hand it over to him discreetly!”
“Thank you! Could I get something to eat?”
“Across the road from here you can eat very well! Don't fret, all will be o.k. Moses is always dressed in white when he comes here!”
“Thank you, see you later!”
An hour later I saw him and returned to the café. He greeted me and I was invited to have some chai.
“Can I do something for you?”
“Yes!” and discreetly I handed over my passport.
“Do come back here tomorrow around the same time. I am Moses and I hold the key to the promised land!”
I could barely sleep, my insecurity kept me awake and was getting worse. What had I done! Handed over my passport and one hundred Dollars to a complete stranger! Fortunately though, my worries were completely unfounded; I got my passport back the following day endowed with a 3 month visa! Relieved I took the boat back to Goa allowing myself some liberal helpings of delicious Port wine.
From Panaji I took the bus to Hampi. Halfway on the journey we had a flat tyre and the old tyre was placed before the last bench in the back of the bus. My luck to have found a window seat turned into misfortune and I was relieved to arrive in Hospet after travelling for 12 hours. The last 13 km to Hampi I was allowed to travel behind the driver's seat – what a joy!
“Now where IS Hampi?”
one of the tired and impatient travel companions asked. From an elevation we finally saw the Krishna Temple to our left and to the right the Shiva Temple came into view and we were rewarded with an exceptional view of this remarkable place. Vijayanagara, as it was called earlier, was the capital of a Hindu Kingdom from the 14th to the 16th century. It held a powerful army and there were huge fortresses and apparently over one million people lived there. After many battles the town was destroyed by Moslem warriors and the survivors had to flee this paradise. From a landscape that is characterized by huge rocks and boulders apparently distributed randomly by giants.
Hampi Bazaar
The main attractions are the Hampi Bazaar and the Vijaya Vittala Temple complex with its chariot made of stone.
Stone Chariot
The lotos shaped wheels of the chariot can be moved and it is a static
replica of the temple chariot.
Vijaya Vittala Tempel
The columns inside the temple are famous for the sound they produce when knocked on.
Vijaya Vittala Tempel II
The Tunghabhadra River created banana plantations, rice fields and jasmine gardens
Tunghabhadra River
and the granite rocks supplied the material for the temples, the palace and the gigantic statues of the gods.
Tunghabhadra Fluss II
A truly mystic place where some Saddhus had withdrawn to. I befriended one of them and spent the next few days away from the rest of the world. But the pesky mosquitoes made me take up quarters in the village. I purchased a mosquito net in Hospet so that I could also sleep peacefully on my daily hikes in the wild landscape.
Saddhu in Hampi
Photos by Tabaiba
In the meantime a few dozen like minded people had also found their way to this secluded place.
Amongst them were a few Germans who were travelling with a bus. And again I was presented with a gift. This time it was a LSD trip on paper. I saved it for the next full moon. Without the moonlight I was not going to go on a nightly trip – and during the day I did not dare to. I wanted to be undisturbed and alone!
After sunset I sallied forth and my landlord warned me:
“Beware! There are many hoods around here!”
I wandered through the landscape, which no longer was totally strange to me – still I discovered new things continuously. I dug in the earth and everywhere I was digging relics from the past came to light.
I sat down in one of the temple ruins and heard voices – ancient voices from the times when Hampi still was a huge town. I heard quarrelling voices, debating about land ownership, voices that arranged marriages and with my eyes open I saw the whole magnificence of these ancient times. The king how he was outweighed with precious stones; but also farmers who had to work like slaves! I could watch and listen to them unobserved! And then I heard something in the far distance that did not fit into this imagery of mine at all! The sound of a didgeridoo echoed through the temple, over the fields and across the rock formations. Had I been mysteriously transported to Australia?.
After sunrise the riddle was solved – I met Ruff in the village, an Australian accompanied by his instrument.
“Was that you last night?” I asked him and told him about my adventures. He did not say much but we were laying in each others arms for a long time!
19 years later, on another full moon journey in Hampi I collected some lamb vertebrae and with this, some buffallo bones, corals, rubies, eye agates, silver and horse hairs I created the following piece of art:
He fabricated these cone-shaped approx. 15 cm long hashish pipes out of 7 different types of clay and adorned them with a cobra – an attribute of Shiva.
After each usage one is to clean the pipe by means of rubbing it along a tensely held string made of twined cotton strips. For a thorough cleansing however, one is supposed to place them in a fire once in a while and his pieces of art passed this fire test, i.e. they did not break. The colour after this purifying procedure is always
red with little black stripes. To get a nice uniform black you have to add some greens like banana leaves into the fire.
With several dozens he was planning on leaving for Goa the following day. There they were highly sought after and cherished. I did not want to take a chillum with me but I took the opportunity to smoke one. I placed the stone in it and a mixture of my Manikaran and Will's Gold Flake. The mouthpiece I enwrapped with a moist, thin piece of cloth, called a Safi. This cools the smoke and absorbs the expelled condensate. Then I clamped it between the small finger and the ring finger of my right hand, which in turn I placed into my left hand in such a manner that an airtight hollow space is formed. To smoke you suck at the gap left between the thumbs. This way the Safi does not get contaminated by the spittle of other smokers nor does condensate get into the mouth via the drenched Safi.
Completely spaced-out I floated through this wonderland and again I was fixated by the glowing eyes of a skull. I remembered it from Goa and this time it appeared to me as a pirate and it dawned on me, that this was not a demon but a demon fright, there to protect me.
Demonfright
Photo by Tabaiba - Demonfright by Chris De Bié
A little while later I befriended a British couple who were on their way to the Baghwan Shri Rashneesh in Poona. Poona was not my destination but it was on the way to my journey back North. So I gladly accepted their invitation.
