Temples and gurus

I have spent the past two days in the ancient town of Hampi. The town used to be the center of an empire over half of southern india, until it came to an abrupt end after being ransacked by a confederacy of deccan sultans. This is evident by the number of temples from the 14 or 1500's which are no longer functioning because they were desecrated (i.e. the shrine's statues were broken) by the (muslim) invaders. Hampi is also important as the birthplace of hanuman, the monkey god, and the site where Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, spent 4 months while in search of his wife Sita, who had been stolen by the demon Ravana. Hanuman, along with a monkey army aid in this conquest. After befriending a french traveler named Aurore at the rail station in Hospet, we set out together by Auto for Hampi. Staying on the other side of the Tungabhadra river, in the village of Virupapur Gaddi, we had a fantastic view of rice paddies and grazing bulls. After resting, we set forth to visit the temple of Hanuman. On the way up the hill, we came across two Sanyasas (hindu ascetics) from delhi, and were welcomed into the small temple by two sanyasas from utter pradesh. The guru of the math (hindu monastery) in Dehli devoted to Hanuman was there too, and the monk next to me explained that he will not speak, unless he wishes. Well, later, as I explained my project, the guru did in fact speak, explaining in hindi and with gestures that relationships between catholics and hindus were good, between hindus and protestants so-so and between hindus and muslims, it wasn't possible! He is the 1008^th guru of his math, according to a well spoken airman visiting the temple with them. After visiting the temple, the monks insisted that aurore and I stay for lunch. It was a true show of indian hospitality. They wouldn't even accept cash from us for "temple upkeep."

The following day, leaving our little island, we did a bike tour of the larger region, visiting many of the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th century structures. We saw the giant monolithic imposing Ganesh (Elephant/man God of luck, health, prosperity, etc), a giant man-lion avatar of Vishnu (protector God) and a giant Phallic representation of Shiva (God of destruction). We biked to the lotus mahal, a luxury summer palace built for the queen of the time, and hiked to Vittala Temple, an 15^th century, never consecrated temple complex complete with a stone chariot.