Page 33 - Seniors Today - July 2021 Issue

thing we did was to take a ride down the river
in a coracle.

Yet they stood, impassive and silent, a stone witness to the It was unique and exciting. I would say a must for anyone
hazards of time….. visiting there.

And in complete contrast, fields of sunflowers— yellow, Coracles are shallow traditional floating baskets made of
vibrant, swaying- singing now in the breeze of golden bamboo and plastic and have been used as a mode of
days and promises to come. transport from the time of the Vijaynagar Empire.
About 700 years ago, Hampi was the capital
of the Vijaynagar Empire, founded by the
alleged descendants of the Yadava line. It was
a part of the Persianate world which spread
from the Balkans to Arakan and lasted from
the 9th to 19th century. A Lot of Turks were
part of the Vijaynagar Army. You see a lot
of Islamic influence in the architecture at
Hampi and one realises that unlike the normal
thinking of an Islamic North and Hindu South
it was an integration of cultures. The ruins
of the once prosperous region, where traders
from Persia thronged, are spread across
4000 hectares and dotted with temples,
ruins, monuments, shrines, forts and rock
formations.
Once we settled in at Hampi’s ‘Boulders
Resort’, right on the edge of the Tungabhdra
River, we decided to explore the area. The first

SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #25 | JULY 2021 33