This time, I went to my native place, Harihara to celebrate the New Year. Well, I didn't go there for that reason, but to attend a pooja! Since many cousins had also come there, we celebrated the New Year there itself! It is an unlikely place to have a new year bash, for the simple reason that it is a small, conservative town! But when your loved ones are with you, the place just doesn't matter and so I'd great fun!!
Harihara is one place which is really very close to my heart! I spent almost all my school vacations in that li'l town. It is situated in Central karnataka and comes within the jurisdictional limits of Davanagere district. It is on the banks of the river Tungabhadra.
The place got it's name due to the Harihareshwara Temple located therein. This temple was built during the reign of Hoysalas and it has very striking features of the Hoysala Architecture. The temple is a sight to behold. Very beautiful and vast. The "Rangasthala" of the temple is very spacious and every pillar is cylindrical in shape and very wide. Through out the temple there is place to sit, although at a higher pedestal. So, in order to sit there, one has to literally jump. But the intricate carvings below that give a place to keep your foot and then climb on to the bench! It's quite a fun adventure! :D The lord in this temple is "Harihara" - a fusion of Lord Shiva(Hara) and Lord Vishnu(Hari). The statue of the lord is quite tall, infact taller than the statue of Lord Tirumala (Tirupati). The Right half of the body is Lord Shiva's and the left half of the body is Lord Vishnu's. And to the left of the main temple is a small temple of Goddess Lakshmi. (Because, the left half of the body is Lord Vishnu's who is the husband of Goddess Lakshmi). It is said that, similarly, to the right of the main temple, there was a small temple of Goddess Parvati but the muslim invaders destroyed the temple. But this piece of information does not have much evidence to support it. The area around the temple is also quite vast. We call it the "gudi keri" (The temple area). During the reign of Mysore Wodeyars, Harihar was the last province within their territorial limits. The Tungabhadra river was the border of the Wodeyar's kingdom. Because of this, the statue of Lakshmi Devi in the Lakshmi Devi Temple resembles the statue of Goddess Chamundeshwari of Mysore. It is said that the previous statue of goddess Lakshmi was destroyed and hence the Wodeyars ordered for a new statue to be made and it replaced the old statue. It is a petite statue made of white marble. The face of the goddess is very serene and beautiful!
No amount of description would do justice to this beautiful temple. It has to be seen personally! I'm saying all this not because of the blind affection I have towards that temple and the town but because it is really magnificent! The town is not very beautiful and there is nothing noteworthy other than the temple I just described. But Harihara has many wonderful memories which, for me, makes it more special than the most exotic places in the world. :) When my bro and I were kids, we would go there every summer and dasara vacation. For us, Harihara was the first place that came to mind as soon as someone would talk about vacation!! For us, it was the "Mayanagari":) :) Everytime, just the day after exams, we would be sent off to Harihara, coz if we weren't sent there, we would make our parents' lives hell! Luckily, there would be someone going to Harihara every time during April and October, and even if we didn't know them quite well and were just acquainted, we would go anyway. Coz, it was the destination and not the journey that mattered!! We always stayed in our maternal uncle's home. From the moment we set foot in Harihara, it was sheer magic and pleasure!! All we would do for two whole months was just play play and play!!! There was a LARGE group of kids our age and so, there wasn't one boring or sad moment there. We would have standing instructions that we should leave home only after taking bath and having breakfast and so, everyday I would follow all that religiously coz I didn't want anything to come in between me and the awesome fun I'd have for the whole day!!
The whole of the morning, all the girls would play Hopscotch (Kuntapilli as we call it) and the boys would play cricket. And we had different levels in the Hopscotch game. We would make different teams and have tournaments!! We would have the most bitter fights due to all the rules we had made which when I think of now, feel like laughing coz they were so silly! But those silly rules are the ones which made all those beautiful memories and bring that smile on my face everytime I remember those days!! But all those fights would be forgotten that very evening! We had the instructions to go home at sharp One O' Clock in the noon for lunch and HAD to sleep for 1 hour and were not allowed to go out. Again at 4 O' Clock, we would get fresh and venture out! All of us would play Donkey-Monkey, Lagori, Joot-moot and all those local games. And the moment it started getting darker, we would play I-spy. We called it "Stuck-up!" All kids put together, were around 20 and we would play that game till 9 in the night till all the elders would call us home to have dinner. The main attraction of the day was playing "stuck-up". I had the MOST fun playing that game and even now when I remember those incidents, I laugh till my belly hurts!!
Harihara is one place which is really very close to my heart! I spent almost all my school vacations in that li'l town. It is situated in Central karnataka and comes within the jurisdictional limits of Davanagere district. It is on the banks of the river Tungabhadra.
The place got it's name due to the Harihareshwara Temple located therein. This temple was built during the reign of Hoysalas and it has very striking features of the Hoysala Architecture. The temple is a sight to behold. Very beautiful and vast. The "Rangasthala" of the temple is very spacious and every pillar is cylindrical in shape and very wide. Through out the temple there is place to sit, although at a higher pedestal. So, in order to sit there, one has to literally jump. But the intricate carvings below that give a place to keep your foot and then climb on to the bench! It's quite a fun adventure! :D The lord in this temple is "Harihara" - a fusion of Lord Shiva(Hara) and Lord Vishnu(Hari). The statue of the lord is quite tall, infact taller than the statue of Lord Tirumala (Tirupati). The Right half of the body is Lord Shiva's and the left half of the body is Lord Vishnu's. And to the left of the main temple is a small temple of Goddess Lakshmi. (Because, the left half of the body is Lord Vishnu's who is the husband of Goddess Lakshmi). It is said that, similarly, to the right of the main temple, there was a small temple of Goddess Parvati but the muslim invaders destroyed the temple. But this piece of information does not have much evidence to support it. The area around the temple is also quite vast. We call it the "gudi keri" (The temple area). During the reign of Mysore Wodeyars, Harihar was the last province within their territorial limits. The Tungabhadra river was the border of the Wodeyar's kingdom. Because of this, the statue of Lakshmi Devi in the Lakshmi Devi Temple resembles the statue of Goddess Chamundeshwari of Mysore. It is said that the previous statue of goddess Lakshmi was destroyed and hence the Wodeyars ordered for a new statue to be made and it replaced the old statue. It is a petite statue made of white marble. The face of the goddess is very serene and beautiful!
No amount of description would do justice to this beautiful temple. It has to be seen personally! I'm saying all this not because of the blind affection I have towards that temple and the town but because it is really magnificent! The town is not very beautiful and there is nothing noteworthy other than the temple I just described. But Harihara has many wonderful memories which, for me, makes it more special than the most exotic places in the world. :) When my bro and I were kids, we would go there every summer and dasara vacation. For us, Harihara was the first place that came to mind as soon as someone would talk about vacation!! For us, it was the "Mayanagari":) :) Everytime, just the day after exams, we would be sent off to Harihara, coz if we weren't sent there, we would make our parents' lives hell! Luckily, there would be someone going to Harihara every time during April and October, and even if we didn't know them quite well and were just acquainted, we would go anyway. Coz, it was the destination and not the journey that mattered!! We always stayed in our maternal uncle's home. From the moment we set foot in Harihara, it was sheer magic and pleasure!! All we would do for two whole months was just play play and play!!! There was a LARGE group of kids our age and so, there wasn't one boring or sad moment there. We would have standing instructions that we should leave home only after taking bath and having breakfast and so, everyday I would follow all that religiously coz I didn't want anything to come in between me and the awesome fun I'd have for the whole day!!
The whole of the morning, all the girls would play Hopscotch (Kuntapilli as we call it) and the boys would play cricket. And we had different levels in the Hopscotch game. We would make different teams and have tournaments!! We would have the most bitter fights due to all the rules we had made which when I think of now, feel like laughing coz they were so silly! But those silly rules are the ones which made all those beautiful memories and bring that smile on my face everytime I remember those days!! But all those fights would be forgotten that very evening! We had the instructions to go home at sharp One O' Clock in the noon for lunch and HAD to sleep for 1 hour and were not allowed to go out. Again at 4 O' Clock, we would get fresh and venture out! All of us would play Donkey-Monkey, Lagori, Joot-moot and all those local games. And the moment it started getting darker, we would play I-spy. We called it "Stuck-up!" All kids put together, were around 20 and we would play that game till 9 in the night till all the elders would call us home to have dinner. The main attraction of the day was playing "stuck-up". I had the MOST fun playing that game and even now when I remember those incidents, I laugh till my belly hurts!!
And of course, how can I forget “Bhavani Ice Creams”? It was the Corner House of Harihara!! The sinful Gudbud ice cream was my favourite. We would get a big gudbud Ice Cream for just Rs. 15/-!! But we’d the privilege of having gudbud only on special occasions. For eg., if it was someone’s birthday, or we were good and did not trouble anyone! And once I’d got it for giving a good foot massage to my mama (uncle)!! Hehehe....
The other reason why I loved my native was because; everyone knew everyone and they were all related either by blood or through matrimonial alliance. There was no stranger. And whenever I would go to someone's house, they would treat me with so much affection and warmth that it felt so nice and endearing. This was not just for me. Everyone was treated like this. In today's impersonal world, the atmosphere in my native place feels like a pleasant change and makes me feel so happy.
But as they say, everything has to come to an end someday. During my 7th std vacations, when I went to Harihara I saw that things had changed drastically. That was the year when Kirloskar Factory pulled down its shutters for good and half the populace of Harihara became unemployed. The closing of Kirloskar factory was a huge blow to the economy of this li'l town. 90% of the people who were employees of this factory, quit Harihara after this unfortunate incident and migrated to other cities in search of jobs. So, that year most of the kids that I played with weren't to be found. The once buzzing town had become a sad lonely place. I just could not stand to see my favourite town fall apart like that. After that vacation, I never returned to Harihara as I didn't want to take that new image with me. I still wanted my old Harihara and I wanted to keep it alive atleast in my memories. Many relatives started complaining that since I'd grown up I'd stopped going there, but I had my reasons not to go there. Even to this day when I think about that particular vacation, I'm filled with sadness. All the familiar faces went missing and it was such a heart-wrenching picture. After that, I visited Harihara a handful of times only when I'd to attend some important family functions. So, I'd be there only for a day or two.
Just a few days ago, I heard that the state government has decided to make Harihara a tourist spot because of the beautiful temple and so, all the houses within hundred metre radius of the temple would be demolished in order to beautify the area around the temple. And for the same reason, the government has also taken steps to widen the road that leads to the temple and so, the main entrances of every house on either side of the street have been torn down(for now. But later, the houses shall also be torn down. The inhabitants will be given compensation and sites at another place within the town itself) It looks like a city that has been invaded by outsiders. The whole town is a mess. When I saw all this, it felt as if someone was trying to play a cruel joke and hurt me. I hated everything I saw there. Almost everyone has vacated their houses and has moved to the cities where their children are working. Because of all this, the whole town had grown so silent. Not one person to be found on the streets after 7 in the evening. Even in the morning, there weren't much people.
The other reason why I loved my native was because; everyone knew everyone and they were all related either by blood or through matrimonial alliance. There was no stranger. And whenever I would go to someone's house, they would treat me with so much affection and warmth that it felt so nice and endearing. This was not just for me. Everyone was treated like this. In today's impersonal world, the atmosphere in my native place feels like a pleasant change and makes me feel so happy.
But as they say, everything has to come to an end someday. During my 7th std vacations, when I went to Harihara I saw that things had changed drastically. That was the year when Kirloskar Factory pulled down its shutters for good and half the populace of Harihara became unemployed. The closing of Kirloskar factory was a huge blow to the economy of this li'l town. 90% of the people who were employees of this factory, quit Harihara after this unfortunate incident and migrated to other cities in search of jobs. So, that year most of the kids that I played with weren't to be found. The once buzzing town had become a sad lonely place. I just could not stand to see my favourite town fall apart like that. After that vacation, I never returned to Harihara as I didn't want to take that new image with me. I still wanted my old Harihara and I wanted to keep it alive atleast in my memories. Many relatives started complaining that since I'd grown up I'd stopped going there, but I had my reasons not to go there. Even to this day when I think about that particular vacation, I'm filled with sadness. All the familiar faces went missing and it was such a heart-wrenching picture. After that, I visited Harihara a handful of times only when I'd to attend some important family functions. So, I'd be there only for a day or two.
Just a few days ago, I heard that the state government has decided to make Harihara a tourist spot because of the beautiful temple and so, all the houses within hundred metre radius of the temple would be demolished in order to beautify the area around the temple. And for the same reason, the government has also taken steps to widen the road that leads to the temple and so, the main entrances of every house on either side of the street have been torn down(for now. But later, the houses shall also be torn down. The inhabitants will be given compensation and sites at another place within the town itself) It looks like a city that has been invaded by outsiders. The whole town is a mess. When I saw all this, it felt as if someone was trying to play a cruel joke and hurt me. I hated everything I saw there. Almost everyone has vacated their houses and has moved to the cities where their children are working. Because of all this, the whole town had grown so silent. Not one person to be found on the streets after 7 in the evening. Even in the morning, there weren't much people.
On One hand I'm happy that my native place would get recognition and become a tourist spot. But on the other hand, I'm really really sad for all the things that will just vanish because of this. But as they say, inorder to gain something, you have to lose something. Call me selfish, I want my Harihara the way I saw it in my childhood. I want that happy, bumbling town again!! I don't know if that will ever happen again, but I sincerely hope so...
A few pics of the Harihareshwara Temple:
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| The Main Entrance |
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| Side Profile |
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| Lateral View |
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| The cylindrical Pillars |
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| Path leading to the Garbhagudi |
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