ADHVAGATI

Pic 1. Aihole Durga( Fort) Temple Parashurama washed his bloodied axe in the river after his genocidal agenda of revenge and the waters ran a fiery red. If the Malaprabha is still running red, it is because of the silt and slush washed into it by the recent floods. We did not have time to stop by it and cry out " Ai ! Holey !" ( oh the river !) as a mythical lady is fabled to have done, spooked by the sight of all that blood. But there were ample occasion that day for us to go "ooh ! " and "aah" repeatedly as we visited temple upon temple upon temple.....till we were so "templed" out that even the rolled up Dosa on the dinner table started looking like a fallen dwaja-sthamba ! pic 2 :Dravida Vimana Though the riverbed has fostered settlements from paleolithic times and been a possession of ancient dynasties like Mau...

" Its just like the gorges of Grand Canyon, abridged! " Said one. " Its just like the gorges of Petra, scaled down ! " said the other. " Its just gorgeous ! " said I , slack jawed, "and just like the Vatapi i'd always imagined ! " We were standing on a flat rock, hedged in by GIGANTIC, craggy cliffs on all sides, catching our breath before tackling the next fleet of steps leading to the pavilion called The Lower Shivalaya. Carved into the rockface at the very base of the red sandstone massif on our left was a tiny Hanuman in bas relief, smeared with turmeric and vermillion and perfumed by a bunch of dying agarbattis. Traditionally, Hanuman is a guardian of wayfarers. Considering that the whole valley is overrun by armies of marauding monkeys, its always useful to be in the good books of the Big Boss. We dutifully uttered our prayers and proceeded left towards a lovely stone gateway heralding the Shivalaya. Another fleet of steps ran off ...