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Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

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
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Surprises at Udupi


In October 2011, we spent the Diwali vacation in and around Sringeri. Refreshed and rejuventated by the peaceful and serene environs of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, we visited a number of temples around Sringeri, and then headed off for a quick visit to Kollur and Udupi. Continuing with the story............

It had been drizzling while we were in the temple, but the rain seemed to take a break as we emerged. As we hurried to the bus stand before the rain started again, our attention was caught by these huge mannequins at the entrance to the temple hall. A faded poster informed us that they had stood welcome for a Yakshagana performance a few weeks earlier...




Naturally, I stopped to click a photo, and that drew our attention to something else... something I hadn’t seen in a long, long time..... local tightrope artistes!



They were a fairly common sight on the roads of Delhi during my childhood, and even when we came to Mumbai, we spotted them now and again. There was a time when I remember watching them with bated breath... Then came a time when I passed by without stopping for a look... It has only been recently that I realised they have been missing from our streets for quite a few years... and, as with most such things, the realisation came only with the desire to show Samhith the entertainments we grew up with!



Shankar and I were transported to our childhood, and we watched happily, but Samhith was less impressed, thanks to all the stunts he watches on TV.....



The kid with the collection bowl was covered in feathers...
Here are a couple of videos...






And as we watched, behind the performers and the temple, there arose a beautiful rainbow!



It was a wonderful sight.... the rainbow, the temple, and the performers!



What an end to the day, we thought, as we went on our way to the bus stand. It just shows how little we knew of what was to come next!!!

We reached the bus stand, only to discover that we had missed the last bus to Sringeri once again!!!! And it began pouring too!! Any sane person would have hired a car to Sringeri, or stayed overnight at Udupi. But not us! Shankar decided that we could take an auto back to Sringeri. I was sceptical, but the auto driver whom he found seemed ready to take on the challenge. Thus we set off, amidst the pouring rain, on a road which seemed too pockmarked to justify the title of ‘hghway’... till somewhere near Manipal, where the rain proved too much for all of us, and the auto driver finally gave up! How we managed to get a taxi in pitch darkness, with the rain in full force, and how we arrived at Sringeri, bedraggled and drooping with sleep, is something I wish I could forget!

That, we hoped, was the end of our adventure. We were to leave Sringeri the next morning, and head towards the River Tern Lodge. It was a much anticipated part of our trip, and we were looking forward to it eagerly. However, we had more adventures in store before reaching the lodge! 



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Location: Udupi, Karnataka, India

Comments

  1. Smitha SreejithOctober 29, 2012 at 2:35 PM

    Hi Anuradha! Awesome write up. I happened to take a look at it by chance and I am inspired. Both to travel to Udupi and to continue my writing...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 30, 2012 at 9:28 AM

      Thanks Smita... All the very best!Hope I get to read soon about your visit to Udupi!

      Delete
  2. DietmutOctober 30, 2012 at 2:41 AM

    very interesting. I enjoy divali in 2009 in Tamil Nadu. Greetings Dietmut

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 30, 2012 at 9:30 AM

      Thanks Dietmut! Hope you enjoyed Diwali in Tamilnadu

      Delete
  3. ZephyrOctober 30, 2012 at 7:11 AM

    Hey that street performer just gave me an idea for a post. Thank you :) Your travails in the auto sounded too traumatic. Wonder how you survived that and made plans for the next day! I have been to Udipi in 2002 and gone to the temple. Didn't go around much though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 30, 2012 at 9:34 AM

      Now I am waiting to read your post, Zephyr!!! and it wasnt really traumatic.. we enjoyed it for a while, actually,. it was only that we were really tired after a long day and it eventually caught up with us! and besides, we had to break our resolution to avoid hiring a cab!

      Delete
  4. SudhageeOctober 30, 2012 at 9:52 PM

    (With a look of absolute horror) An auto from Udipi to Sringeri? Are you serious? You are really brave or adventurous or both.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 30, 2012 at 10:50 PM

      :D thats us!!! call us mad or adventurous or both! so now u know why samhith is the way he is!

      Delete
  5. Vishal RathodOctober 31, 2012 at 7:36 AM

    That was too much "An Auto from Udupi to Sringeri" , This is an example of what they say in hindi pakki ghumakkari . The place and the post both were refreshing to me and my memories in Udupi and rainbow was the cherry on the cake .

    Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  6. RenuNovember 3, 2012 at 10:02 AM

    awesome pitcures!

    ReplyDelete
  7. BikramNovember 5, 2012 at 5:53 PM

    oh wow I loved the video and the little girl performing Awesome..

    but then sad too that such a little girl has to work to earn a living ..


    lovely pics

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 5, 2012 at 6:04 PM

      Thanks Bikram.. and thats the sad part of it.. the reason we dont really enjoy these performances as much these days...

      Delete

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