The old man and the sea...

The old man in his boat as a speck on the ocean

An old man in a small canoe... A tattered sail made of discarded plastic sacks sewn together... The ocean with its relentless heaving... An indomitable spirit as he takes on the elements, not to proclaim victory over Nature, but just to earn his meagre livelihood... A tribute to the spirit of the Old Man who takes on The Sea!

The old man and the sea

The humble vessel

The old man in his craft among larger vessels

A tribute to Prof. Achyutha Rao

The late Prof. D. S. Achyutha Rao

It has been more than 2 years since I was awarded the Prof. D. S. Achyutha Rao Memorial History Research Fellowship for the year 2007 to conduct research on the megalithic monuments of south India. Prof. Achyutha Rao was an eminent Professor of History at the graduate and post-graduate level at Maharaja's College, Mysore and later at "Manasa Gangotri", University of Mysore till his unfortunate demise in 1965. I applied for this fellowship with a fascination for the enigmatic structures called megaliths found all over southern India. Of course, megaliths are found all over the world and India is no exception. From my college days, I was enamored of these strange looking structures and enjoyed reading about the possible connection of these with astronomy. Books such as "In search of Ancient Astronomies" by E. C. Krupp whetted my appetite and I wanted to know if such connections were true for Indian megaliths as well. Was there a Stonehenge somewhere in the wide expanse of our motherland, waiting to be discovered..?

The Fellowship gave me the opportunity to follow my heart and I set off on megalith-hunting jaunts from my base in lovely Manipal. Of course, I concentrated mainly on Karnataka, with the occasional foray into neighbouring Kerala and one trip to Burzahoma in Kashmir. I travelled hallowed terrain like that of Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal, Hanamsagar and Vibhutihalli, marvelled at the dolmens and rock art of Hire Benkal and stood in awe at the menhir site of Nilaskal, Baise... In the course of my travels, I passed the wonderful architecture of Hampi, Aihole, Badami etc. and, though they were not the immediate focus of my study, could not help being moved deep down inside by the sheer magnificence of these sites.

I made progress on the megaliths, too. I found that most of the sepulchral megaliths (mostly burials) were oriented to face sunrise or sunset at some day of the year, though there were sites like Meguti Hill at Aihole where all the megaliths faced all points of the compass with no preferred orientation towards any point of celestial interest on the horizon. As for the non-sepulchral sites, I found that many of the stone avenue sites (where a large number of stones are arranged in rough grids) like the ones at Vibhutihalli and Hanamsagar were roughly oriented to the cardinal directions.

The dolmens of Hire Benkal

But it was at the menhir sites of Nilaskal and Baise (also nearby are 2 more sites - Hergal and Mumbaru) that I found definite astronomical purpose in the layout of the stones. Many pairs of stones align up to dramatically frame the sunset on winter solstice day (the shortest day of the year). These same stones team up with other stones to frame the winter solstice sunrise and summer solstice sunrise and sunset. The apparently haphazard distribution of these stones seem to follow a sort of distorted solstitial grid.

The menhirs of Nilaskal

Sunset on midwinter day at Nilaskal

I have a lot of people to thank for the enormous support that I have received for this project. I thank Dr. Prasanna and Dr. (Mrs.) Rajani Prasanna from the botton of my heart for taking personal interest in this project. I also wish to thank Manipal University for seconding the grant. Dr. Vinod Bhat- Registrar, International Programs, Manipal University has been a source of strength throughout this project and instrumental in guiding me and keeping me on track. Prof. S. Settar of NIAS has given me valuable advice. My guide Prof. M. N. Vahia and co-guide Prof. Sudhakara G. have given me invaluable guidance and support. Stalwarts from the field of megalithic research have helped me in innumerable ways - Prof. A. Sundara, Dr. U. S. Moorti, Dr. Ganapaiah Bhat, Dr. Ravi Korisettar are some of the people who have helped me a lot. Kailash Rao has been a co-traveller on many of my site visits and surveys. And lack of space prevents me from naming innumerable persons at these scattered sites who have offered hospitality and guided me to several of these monuments.

Mrs. Chitre, Prof. S. M. Chitre, my team of young surveyors, Mayank and me on location at Baise

During these travels, I believe I have seen the Karnataka that few tourists see. Near Aihole and Badami, Hampi and Shahpur, I have been chasing monuments that are not remarkable for their architectural splendor. But these few stones hobbled together in innovative ways mark the true beginnings of architecture - when man started expressing his belief systems through the medium of architecture. And in following this trail of ancient architecture, I have passed through beautiful country and made friends with the rural folk of Karnataka. In the process, I have come to love this part of the world with a passion I didn't know I was capable of... Thank you, Prof. Achyutha Rao, for the entire experience; but most of all, for opening my eyes to the beauty and splendour of this magnificent part of India.

Clouds over Kodachadri!

On the trail back from Kodachadri

Last time I wrote about The Astronomy Club, Manipal's trek to Kodachadri, it was called "Stars over Kodachadri", but this time, at the peak of the monsoon, it was the turn of the clouds and the rain... It has become a routine practice of the Club to repair to this amazing hillock (all of 1350m altitude)that is a backdrop for the famed Sri Mookambika Temple at Kollur quoting any excuse ranging from stargazing to nature retreat ("While we reach for the stars, we do not ignore the flowers at our feet!"). This time too was no different - we set off for Kollur one evening, with hostel "perms" and frantic calls to wardens and all the resultant delays. Once in Kollur, free of all the worries that Manipal inflicts on us and mostly free from the constant harassment of our mobile phones, we soaked in the atmosphere of the quaint little temple town, before retiring to our rooms at the Lalithambika Guest House.

Next day, early in the morning, our vehicle deposited us at Karanakatte - the starting point of the trek. The first part of the trek is a long walk over flat and gently sloping forest tracks, and the newcomers were "blooded" to the Cult of the Leeches! The usual pit stop at Hotel Rajesh - the tea shop run by Madhavan in the forest, facilitated de-leeching and allowed the tea-addicts amongst us to tank up.

Ankit, Arushi, Pramit and Parth during the trek

The next part of the trek is the most strenuous and the most rewarding part. We trekked through mist and rain over steep paths and grassy slopes and stands of trees to ultimately reach the temples atop Kodachadri. Here there are temples run by Brahmin priests as well as other temples where worship is in the Sakteya tradition. It is at this latter place that we stopped to refresh ourselves. There is a tall iron pillar which is believed to be the haft of the trisul with which Mookambika killed Mookasura - the terrible demon.

Refreshed, we pressed on to the hilltop, with precipitous slopes to the left of us and ultimately reached the top, with the Sarvajnya Mantapa - where Adi Shankaracharya is supposed to have meditated. We spent time at the top and, after the customary Club photo in front of the Mantapa, reluctantly returned...

The customary Club snap with the Sarvajnya Mantapa as backdrop

Chasing elephants near Coimbatore...

Well, this is about a trip I took in February this year with my younger sister Priya who works for Times of India, Chennai. She had got a fellowship to study and report on man-elephant conflict in the Coimbatore region. So after a long long while, bro and sis got to spend some quality time together. We visited several areas of conflict in the region, including commercial farms and tribal villages. (Priya in action at a tribal village - pic above)

It was interesting to see that, while the tribals were well-adjusted to the idea that elephants would take a share of their crops and were happy with the harvest that remained, the commercial farmers were indignant and wanted the problem elephants removed/eliminated. Some of the more imaginative amongst them even alerted us about their pet theory that these elephants come from Kerala and are trained and sent in by the cunning Mallus from across the border who want to destroy Tamil crops! Also, the tribals tried to grow crops that were not attractive to the elephants while the farmers were growing cash crops that the elephants loved.

Priya's study also showed a lot of encroachments in the elephant corridors used by these behemoths to move around in their extended range. Since elephants are mega-herbivores that pretty much devastate the area they feed in, it is important that they move to other areas and give time to their former feeding grounds to recover from the effects of their foraging.

But the best part of our trip was the visit to the elephant training camp at the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary at Anamalai and the contiguous Parambikulam National Park in Kerala. Apart from meeting up with a lot of wildlife experts like the famous Dr. Easa (formerly with Kerala Forest Research Institute) and the legendary vet Dr. Cherian, we got to see the keepers of the law in the elephant world - the kumki elephants of Anamalai!

The kumkis are the trained elephants that are used to drive back invading herds and tackle rogue elephants. They have to be strong in body and mind and must obey the commands of their mahout at all times. The most revered among them is Kaleem (in pic above) - at all of 45 years (older than me!), in his prime and the dominant male at the camp. He is a large-hearted soldier who is fearless in his encounters with wild elephants. However, he has also killed several of the other kumkis in the camp, including IG - the earlier alpha male.

As Kaleem's mahout Palanisamy narrated his great deeds and misdeeds to us and as we photographed him in the fading light, Kaleem struck several poses to impress us. He had a devilish twinkle in his eye and it was quite clear that he reveled in all the attention he was getting! And the enduring memory of this trip is just that - Kaleem, the Terrible, performing schoolboy pranks to get our attention, while the sun gradually set in the beautiful forested valley that is the location of the elephant training camp.

Musings on Dholavira...

This is a trip I'd not even dared to dream about..! All thanks to Mayank - my PhD guide, for making it happen. Dholavira - one of the bustling port cities of the enigmatic Harappan civilization, the ruins of which still evoke awe in contemporary architects and planners, with the kind of perfection achieved in their city layout.

Mayank was leading a team of scientists and students from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (CBS), Mumbai, to see the site, which features prominently in his landmark study of the growth of astronomy in the Indian subcontinent. I was asked to go along as a surveyor!

We travelled from Mumbai to Bhuj by train and then took a bus to Dholavira. It was a lovely journey, right from the fafdas (have I spelt it right???) and jalebis we had for breakfast to the bus ride through the surrealist landscapes of the Rann of Kutchh to reach the little village that exists near the protohistoric site.

There is a Gujarat Tourism resort at Dholavira where we stayed and over the next couple of days we explored the site under the able guidance of J. B. Makwana, who had assisted R. S. Bisht in the excavations there and is a veritable treasure trove of information on Dholavira. The ruins have a citadel area - which consists of the castle and the bailey, and a middle and lower town. There are several large reservoirs for water (what could be the reason for this obsession with water for the Dholavirans - reservoirs, tanks, baths...?) and a cemetery beyond the town area.

I spent most of my time surveying the various features of the site with Jithin - the TIFR photographer and Mayank, notably an enigmatic circular structure that doesn't seem to belong to the general rectilinear structures that characterized the rest of the Harappan city. We have a few findings to report - we believe we have discovered the baseline to which the city has been laid out and a few (wild?) archaeoastronomical conjectures - but I will write about those separately!

The pic shows me in action at Dholavira, near the east gate of the citadel . Thank you, Mayank, for this lovely experience.

Opportunity to blog for TFN..!

The Tour of Nilgiris - an opportunity to accompany bikers through some wonderful country and write about the experience would be something of a dream come true for a person like me. An architect by calling, my first job was to help design an observatory for an astronomy research institute at Pune, which involved trekking up potential observatory sites and reconnoitering several hillsides. After a few years of architectural practice at Bangalore, I chose to settle in this quaint little university town of Manipal in a teaching job so that I could follow my passions in travel, ecology, astronomy and history.

So in this decade that I have spent here, I have founded The Astronomy Club, Manipal, kept wickets for my college team, studied peafowl and hornbills in the area, trekked extensively in the Western Ghats and a bit in the Himalaya, got fascinated with the prehistoric landscape of the subcontinent (I have been awarded the Prof. Achyutha Rao Memorial History Research Fellowship to study the Iron Age megalithic monuments of Karnataka) and even flirted a bit with the ocean... And taught architecture to rather unwilling pupils, of course! While taking up only the few architectural projects that appealed to me like designing cottages for researchers at Rom Whitaker's Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS) at Agumbe, or facilities for the Kollur Mookambika Temple located near the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary, and a few other projects that enabled me to "build green".

It is the study of megaliths that has given me some of the most memorable moments of my life. I have been to some really off-beat locations in Karnataka and Kerala to search out stones that were erected maybe 3500 years ago by our ancestors in rituals that we can scarcely guess about today. Some of these sites are in magnificent settings and it is difficult to express in words the awe one felt when beholding two menhirs framing the setting sun on midwinter day at Nilaskal.

Overall, it has been one big adventure wandering through all these places and trying to piece together the ecological and the cultural landscape of these regions so that one might glimpse a close approximation of the big picture. And it is this background that excites me about a possible opportunity to blog for TFN and makes me, confident about my abilities to do so. And living in a campus where motorised vehicles are discouraged and students and faculty alike are supplied with bicycles free of charge to encourage cycling, biking through mountainous country is something that holds appeal for me!

My flickr site can be accessed here.

A new beginning...

Well, the monsoon has come, overstayed and gone, letting the sticky heat regain control of this little bubble of abnormality in the sylvan countryside of Udupi called Manipal. But my blog, restarted so hopefully quite a while ago, hasn't really been thriving on the rains. (Sigh! I used to blog more often - check out my earlier blog.) So this contest that has come up for a blogging opportunity for TFN may be just the right thing to get me started again...

Thing is, there has been too many things happening for me to get time to type them up. First was the trek to Gaumukh and Tapovan in the Himalaya. It was an amazing experience to cross the famous Gangotri glacier and then live in the solitude of Tapovan for a few days. Very basic accommodation and food courtesy the caring Bengali Mataji who lives there, herds of bharal or the beautiful Himalayan blue sheep grazing around us within touching distance and a trek to ABC (Advanced Base Camp) of Mount Shivling marked this period spent in the beautiful country explored and described by Eric Shipton in his classic book Nanda Devi.


The return to Manipal and the renewal of hostilities (!) with the current brood of budding architects did not deter me from continuing the activities that have kept me going here for a bit more than a decade now. Took the new board members of my Astronomy Club to Kodachadri for a trek, though the overstaying monsoon meant that the only stars visible were in the kids' eyes. As we reach for the stars, we do not neglect the flowers at our feet!

(The picture shows a lone bharal on the skyline at Tapovan.)