Tempels of Belur and Halebid
Ok, my sight-seeing tour around Mysore is not finished yet. Now we visited the famous temples of Belur and Halebid. Their sculptures can be compared with the temples of Khajuraho and Konark (both I did visit in later years). They were all built around 900 years ago by the Hoysalas, who ruled this part of India between the 11th and 13th century. The sculptures around some of the temples were so intricate that it took almost hundred years to build them. Take a look at the following pictures.
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| Riding not by elephant but by bus
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| to one of the nicest temple areas
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| Is this a warrior pig?
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| Isn't this a beautiful chick?
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| Aren't the sculptures really fantastic?
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| Embedded in the walls so intricate
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| It's tall
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| It's small
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| Another one of the many temples
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| and not carved with only ornamentals
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| They carved something in every available spot
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| They built such beautiful temples. But for what?
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| This temple has balconies on many stories
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| The reliefs are telling a lot of stories
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You do not have to travel to Khujarao to admire voluptuous sculptures. They are all over India, like the ones below. They were carved around thousand years ago. Today, the Indians are not openly displaying anything like this in any media, not to mention the prudent way Indians, especially females, are dressed. I have seen Indian men coming in droves to the beaches of Kovolam or Goa to watch white foreign women in their small and tight bikinis, even if they don't like the skinny type.
| One of the stories are not so difficult to comprehend
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| Why are the Indians so prudish today, I don't understand
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| But Indians still believe in all these old gods up to now
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| And still worship Ganesh, the elephant, or Nandi, the cow
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| Are women still keeping up more their religion?
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| Has this Jain statue become out of fashion?
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| The cobra snake seemed to be more revered
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| This figure must have even more endeared
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| To Nandi I pay my last respect
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| Then we had to set off before sunset
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From Mysore I went to Bangalore, where I stayed one night. Not much to see in this high-tech center of India. I was roaming around to find the official Air Lanka office where I made reservation for my flight from Bombay to Colombo, but that did get lost in the process somehow by the time I did get there.
| I would have liked to go with steam to Goa
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| Instead of getting into this kind of a stopover
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Goa
I didn't want to stay one more night in Bangalore so I took the night bus leaving late afternoon to Goa. Early morning I arrived with tortured bones and was happy to walk along the beach and look for an accommodation until I found something cheap.
| Finally Goa I safely reach
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| This is the famous Ajuntha beach
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The Ajuntha beach is also called the hippy beach and there were still many hippies around. These good old days seemed to be gone, though, when hippies shuttled between Nepal (buying cheap ganja) to Goa (smoking that stuff).
| Not only for relaxation
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| It's also for exploration
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| Would have been nice to stay in a privat house
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| But I rather settled down at Francisco's guesthouse
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And this was the Calangute Beach, a very long nice stretch of a sandy beach. Not much crowded at that time but now it's listed as a package tour spot, not to be recommended anymore. I more like the Colva Beach in the south, where I stayed in later years.
| The beach with cows in front of me
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| The beach was as long as you can see
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There also were times, when travelers could travel all the way overland from Europe to India. It might have already been difficult in 1989 but one German did it with his mobile home. This is definitely more dangerous and probably impossible today.
| This is another way to stay
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| With a lot of coconut supply
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Goa has the best beaches in India. Maybe that was the reason why India has occupied it. And maybe the Portuguese made it their colony before for the same reason. Just joking. Anyway, the Portuguese didn't build their capital of Goa along the beach but inland, where many old historical buildings of that time are still standing. There is nothing left from Indian settlements before the Portuguese.
| Old Goa with many iglesias
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| And old convents of the portuguesas
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| Mostly Christian buildings are left
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| And the interior of them is well kept
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| Many monuments are of Christian heritage
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| Many buildings are still in good shape
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| Some buildings are real old beauties
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| It's also a history lesson for pupils
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Goa was a highlight, but I couldn't stay forever like the hippies. I left Goa by bus early in the morning and arrived in Bombay in the late afternoon. The roads were very well maintained, but still the archaic way and harder way for women.
| Back to old India where men are a clever gender: thinking with their heads?
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| Women are using their heads to carry heavy loads and thus must have only stronger backs
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My final destination: Bombay. I had a nice hotel in the center and could explore many interesting sites by foot. At first the magnificent buildings from the colonial times. In order to learn more I joined a daily tour leaving from a plaza close to the Taj Mahal. And I learned to like this bustling city. The following mix of photos will give you a small impression.
| Arriving in the old city of Bombay
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| The Gate to India is now in Mumbay
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| Didn't stay at the Taj Mahal, Mogul style
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| Many old buildings are Victorian style
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| Still the Prince of Wales building from the colonial times
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| Hope the Indians will not change all the old buildings' names
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| This is the famous Victoria Railway Station in Bombay
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| But an ancient ox cart is still roaming the streets today
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| Everywhere new buildings are being erected
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| And old squatters will someday be eradicated
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| But these old houses should be put under protection
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| because this one still has some more flair than a modern construction
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| Many Indians are living on the streets
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| How can they still make kids
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| Some ladies working with snakes for a living
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| And mammies working with girls for a living
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| For these prostitutes it's the last chance to survive
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| For many Indian men it's the only chance to have a "wife"
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| That poor girl "works" under a very bad condition
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| And the pimp also gets a portion as commission
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| Getting back to nicer things: encountering a nice park by chance
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| Or even leisurely walk along the Chowpatty Beach for instance
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| A must is also visiting a temple to worship all the deities
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| But you have to leave your shoes guarded by the ladies
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| A fakir is dancing on burning coals without getting one blister
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| This guy with a gun is my last impression of incredible India
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Ok, that was southern India, though only a very small part of it. I could have seen and done a lot more. Also I could have written more. If you want to know more about all the places I have visited, then just look up any of the many guidebooks or in the internet.
From Bombay I hopped on my next leg, i.e. the flight with Air Lanka to Colombo. I was lucky to get a seat, because the reservation I made in Bangalore was not updated in their system.
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