At sunrise, I got up to see the main attraction at Shravanabelagola, on top of Vindhyagirl Hill. During my walk up, I was met by a number of Indians coming down and they all wanted their photo taken. It might not be too difficult to take people photos in this country when they want me to do it so bad. However, it is only males who want photos. They also wanted to shake my hand, they were very excited.
Everything was stone, including the hill, the buildings, and the statue. They say it is the world’s tallest monolithic statue (cut from a single stone) at the top of the hill of Bahubali. The statue looked brand new, even though it was sculpted over 1000 years ago. It is hard to believe it has stayed in perfect condition outside in the weather all these years.
Since I got a refilled water bottle yesterday, I thought I might as well refill it myself. Near the guesthouse was a tank saying Drinking Water and on the tap there was some kind of cloth filter. Seemed good enough, no problems with that water.
Today I took five buses to different places and seemed like they worked well. First I took a bus to Hassan, where I found a cheap guesthouse. Then I took a bus to Halebid, the site of stone temple known for its architecture and sculpture called Hoysaleswara. It was unbelievable. I’ve been to a lot of museums and temples, but this seemed to beat everything. The outer walls had rows after rows of carvings and at the top many Hindu gods shown with great detail. Inside the columns, up to 16 feet tall, looked like they were turned a lathe. Not sure what kind of lathe they use on such a big stone like this 900 years ago.
Then it was to Belur, a similar temple called Chennakeshava and at the site of the capital of the ancient kingdom of Hoysala. Similar style with these columns I liked and countless carvings around the outside walls. There was even a stone overhang carved so it looked like beams holding up the roof. The inside continued with impressive skill shown everywhere.
Outside some kids asked if I could take their photo and then asked if they could take mine. I think they were a little too excited about using my camera, I said no. I don’t want them to run off with it.
Back to Hassan, I looked around for a cybercafe, but I couldn’t find anything. This was starting to get annoying. For perhaps the first time in my life, I bought a newspaper to stay caught up with everything. Only 3 rupees ($0.06 USD), it is a good value. The newspaper explained how IT workers have increased hours from 40 to 45 hours per week for the same pay. I also read in the US, companies are doing the opposite, like having 4 day work weeks. I read the job postings and was surprised to see “Nurses for USA” as one of the advertisements.
After seeing everything today, I thought I must have seen the best India has to offer. I guess I could go home now if I wanted.