Echoes of the Ramayana discovered in Hampi
Posted On: Jun 28th, 2015 at 20:08
India
Hampi, my most favourite place on earth, is still revealing its secrets.
The vast area – the centre and capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from the 13th to the 17th Century – contains hundreds of temples scattered far and wide.
It is also the place where parts of the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, took place, in a much earlier time period, probably at least five thousand years ago, and I have visited many of the sites where some of the events supposedly happened.
One must stress the word “supposedly” since we are actually talking about flying monkeys, shape-shifting demon kings, and magical powers that put Chinese sorcery to shame. On the contrary, Hampi is such a magical area it’s not hard to envisage these amazing events taking place. Certainly the energy of Hampi leaves one thinking the people, at least during Vijayanagara times, lived in relative harmony. That was until the Deccan Sultanates arrived and the Vijayanagar were defeated at the battle of Talikota in 1565, causing a destabilisation of the empire which saw its final demise a hundred years later… but that’s another story.
In this particular discovery, an image of Rama himself has been discovered, hidden behind foliage outside a cave, somewhere in Hampi. But where in Hampi? Hampi is huge, almost the Indian version of the Nazca Pampa
