ADHVAGATI

  There are things in life which seem part of  humdrum growing up years , but someday , suddenly, you come to realise what a wonder that thing is . And then , you  want to go grab it once again .   Its about Bahubali , the  colossal Gommateshwara of Sravanabelagola . Yes, been there , seen him. But in such a distant past that there is no sharp memory of anything , no recollection of the impressions he made on the mind . No photos . I cannot claim that my familiarity with this Icon comes from having met  and admired him in person , it is most certainly due to seeing pictures of him intermittently down the years  : in books , brochures, newspaper reports and later, on TV and The Net .  The personal connect , sorely missing .   One-day-excursions they were , in early 1960s . The excitement of seeing  the giant's torso bobbing into view even  from a good 7 kilometers away.....  the climb up the warm , shallow steps cut in...

Wrapped up 2009 with a big salute to the genius of the Chalukyas, who at the peak of their power, ruled over a vast tract of the Deccan peninsula stretching from the Narmada valley to the Kaveri Basin. The heart of this empire ,that lasted merely two centuries( 6th. to 8th. AD), was on the bank of River Malaprabha, in present day Uttara Karnataka . And to that heartland we took a train on 27th. December, for a 3- day gaping-fest ! Gadag . The only associations this name used to evoke in me were the "Gadag- seeri" ( a variety of fine, durable handloom sarees) and "Gadugina Bharata"( the classical Kannada Mahabharata). Discovered a whole lot more about this place during the visit. Officially the town is called Gadag -Betageri , conjoined twin towns with a common municipality in Gadag District. The district, rather backward and under developed to begin with, was one of the worst hit during the recent floods. The land is sort of arid, but Sunflower, j...