The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
Hampi is associated with the rise and fall of the Vijayanagar Empire but the town of Anegundi on the opposite bank of the Tungabhadra has seen not just the rise and fall of dynasties, but even the evolution of mankind! In scientifically documented terms, Anegundi is said to have the oldest plateaus on the planet, estimated to be about 3000 million years old – according to Wikipedia. In terms of Indian mythology, this is translated to be the home of Bhudevi, the goddess of Earth! Home to our ancestors from the Neolithic Era (Stone Age), Anegundi has their imprints in the form of cave paintings; which lie among the rocks, which mythology tells us were homes of the vanaras – the monkey-men – who aided Lord Rama on his quest for his wife. Anegundi is a blend of history and mythology, making it in some ways even more interesting than Hampi itself! Our first sight of Anegundi