Vignasante - 8th Jan 2013

 Vignasante

8th Jan 2013

The road to Vignasante was strictly for rural transportation. Narrow, not surfaced and even when the sun was climbing up, the coconut trees on either side provided ample shade. There were no road signs and not a soul to help. I followed the instinctual guide and Google and trudged on.  Soon I forgot about the discomfort and found I was walking normally. I wished I knew when fear has to be respected and when ignored. As they say, expectation shapes experience and my expectations were high.

As I walked past a village, informing all and the sundry on the way, where I come from, whereto I am headed, if I am married and such matters of public curiosity, I passed two people under the coconut tree shade. When one of them, apparently a well to do gentry, given his ownership of a bike, began asking me questions, I realized that he had already had one too many of the local brew. I just smiled and shrugged off his questions. He offered to give me a ride and I refused it as politely as possible, still appearing firm.

I moved on and after I covered a couple of hundred meters, the inebriated caught up with me on his bike and pestered me again. I shooed him away and he rode on. I could see a village where the road turned right and when I reached the turn, the same pest was there, barely able to stand, fighting the gravitational pull. He asked me to go with him to his house for breaking bread. I was getting worried and the situation can turn ugly as the pestering started turning aggressive.  I knew if I yield a bit now, soon I will be sitting with him drinking toddy. I moved on, turning to the men who had gathered to watch the making of a scene, urging them to restrain the drunkard.

Vignasante - Under renovation

Within a few minutes I was passing couple of more houses and paused to ask a man who was working on a crude bamboo gate, the direction to ‘Vignasante’. He was sitting in a small patch next to a small hut, apparently his house. His assistant was hanging around and a woman, his wife, was washing vessels. He told me the direction and asked me the usual questions and I answered. He asked me to rest and have lunch with him. I refused and told him a good lunch is not a great idea given my plan to walk long distance. He offered a tender coconut instead and the deal was sealed. He shouted for people to get a stick. A coconut was brought down, and top sliced and I started drinking. We all sat down and his wife told she is a post graduate and spoke in smattering English. She asked if I am doing a-la ‘Anna Hazare’, asked where my wife is and what am I doing alone? Conversation started and we chatted for about 30 minutes or so, jesting in light vein and laughing at each other.  Soon, there were about 6 people and they wanted to know what I ate for lunch, do I like Mudde and other questions. It was a refreshingly friendly encounter compared to what happened a few minutes earlier.

I moved on to ‘Vignasante’ along the lake whose north bank start at Nonavinekere. The Temple in ‘Vignasante’ was being renovated. ASI had engaged contractors, as the first step, to pull down the temple, piece by piece. Each piece was numbered and there was a crane lowering the sculptures one by one, using a soft sling. The sculptures so removed were spread out in the open space by the side of the temple. I noticed that it could have been handled with more care to reduce damage while removing and lowering the soft soap stone sculptures.  

I finished my photographs in Vignasante, and sat down the steps to wear my shoes when the caretaker of the temple, an old man of about 60 came rushing and asked usual questions. I told my interest in Hoysala temples and asked if there is a road to Didaga, where I had heard, there was one. He told that it is about 10 plus Kilometers and advised me to take a bus but I told him my preference to walk. This was quiet a change of heart given the same morning I was limping. He understood and showed the way. He insisted that I should have lunch with him which I refused but asked if there is any tea shop. He walked me to a nearby tea shop where I had a tea and then walked across to another to buy two bananas and resumed my walk. The road was narrow but covered one. But there was next-to-no bus service. I started walking, reminiscing the events of the day and was very happy the way things turned out.