An Indian Bureaucrat's Diary

A Lost Empire

Hampi is today a small hamlet in Karnataka (South India) with a population of about two thousand.
It is difficult to visualise that once upon a time, this was the glorious city of Vijayanagar (meaning City of Victory) – the capital of South India’s largest, prosperous and most beautiful empire.

History

The story of Vijayanagar takes us back to the 14th Century.
Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (9)

Gol Gumbaj – 2nd largest dome in the world

Bijapur is famous for two things:
· Its acoustic wonder Gol Gumbaj – with its 2nd largest dome in the world, and the
· Malik-e-Maidan (Monarch of the Fields) – one of the largest bell metal guns in the world.
A single visit to Bijapur was not enough.

I had to visit Bijapur a second time to really soak in the sights and sounds of Bijapur.
Moreover, about two hours drive from Bijapur are the fabulous rock cut temples of Aihole, Pattadakal and Badami representing the best of Chalukyan architecture.
Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (5)

The Pink City
Prince amongst the cities of India

Jaipur, or the Pink City, is the undisputed prince amongst the cities of India.

Status of Royalty in India – Pathetic

Someone wrote to me enquiring about the present status of the Royalty in India.

There were 547 kings and rulers in India before 1947.

After India attained independence, all these kingdoms seamlessly merged into India.

But the rulers were given privy purse, annual sums of money, as compensation.

They were also allowed to keep their palaces, jewelley, etc. and certain other privileges.
In 1969, Indira Gandhi abolished the privy purse – indirectly snatching away all their rights and privileges.

Overnight, the kings became commoners.
Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (8)

Home of the Indian, or Great
One horned, Rhinoceros
(Rhinoceros unicornis)

It was midsummer time.
The grass was sparse.
We were travelling in a jeep because all the elephants were already booked.

We sighted the first Rhinoceros.
It was a magnificent male.
He looked more like an armoured tank, or a fossil age left over, rather than a living mammal of the present era.
He looked up at us and smiled (but honestly speaking, I am not too sure), as we passed him and continued munching grass.

We were inside the fabulous Kaziranga National Park – a national park in Assam, India.

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (5)