It was a trip done around two years ago. We had to meet a cousin in Daman. He was insisting us to come by our own vehicle. As Daman was 1300 KM from Bangalore, we thought of breaking our journey in two days. After much fervor discussion we settled for Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
Route was Bangalore-Tumkur-Sira-Hiriyur-Chitradurga-Davangere-Harihara-Ranibennur-Haveri-Hubballi-Dharwad-Belagavi-Sankeshwara-Nippani-Kagal-Kaneriwadi-Kolhapur.
Bangalore-Mumbai highway is excellent. It is one of our favourite roads to drive. We left Bangalore at 4:30 in the morning. Weather was beautiful so was the drive. We reached the destination around 12 o'clock. Though we booked a hotel in advance, we were unable to locate it after circling the mentioned locality for a good 30 minutes. Now hungry and tired we left with no other option but to search for another hotel for accomodation. Leaving bags in the hotel reception we left in search of food. We satiated our hungry self with spicy Kolhapuri misal pav. After a siesta we opted to visit the temple in auto that is merely 2 km from our place of stay.
Located on the banks of Panchaganga, Kolhapur is nestled in the beautiful Sahyadri mountain range. The place is known as one of the Shakti Peethas and fondly called as Ambha Bai by the locals. There is a belief that one can obtain salvation from desires or have them fulfilled. First mention of Godess Mahalakshmi was found in 250 B.C. Built in Chalukya architecture style in 6th century by King Mangalesh, but said to be destroyed by an earthquake in the 9th century. Later it was reconstructed and renovated. The temple received royal patronage of Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, Shilahara, and Yadava dynasties.
Legend has it that Mahalakshmi leaves Vaikunta angrily witnessing humiliation to her beloved husband, Lord Vishnu in the hands of Sage Bhrigu and her husband's failure in taking stern action against Bhrigu for his terrible behavior and settles in Kolhapura. She observed atonement for several years until upon hearing the news of her husband getting maried to Tirumala Padmaathi, another incarnation of Mahalakshmi. It is said the holy piligrim to Lord Tirupati Balaji is not complete if not followed by a visit to the Mahalakshmi temple.
Another legend is that demon Kolhasura was defeated and killed by Mahalakshmi in the same location.
A huge crowd was gathered because of Makara Sankranthi as it was celebrated with great zeal in Maharashtra. There was a seperate queue for men and women. There was limited time to appreciate the intricate carvings inside the temple as we were pushed ahead by the herd. After a quick darshana we meandered around the temple premises marveling at the wonder of architecture. After sunset slowly we bid farewell hoping to devour on delicious Kolhapuri cuisine.
We had to deposit our cameras, phones, and electronic gadgets in a locker. Photography is strictly prohibited inside the temple. So we were unable to click any photos.
Tip: Better to hire an auto to avoid trouble parking your own vehicle.
We stumbled upon this movie while researching for Cambodia trip last year. We opted to stay in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia to visit the real gory site and museum. Until then I was totally ignorant of this genocide which wiped off 1/4 part of Cambodian population. The movies was released in 1984, winning three Academy awards.
Based on true story of an American journalist, Sydney Schanberg of New York Times "The Life and Death of Dith Pran." Sydney was deployed in Phnom Penh in the early 70s to cover the civil war in Cambodia between Cambodian National Army and Khmer Rouge, a result of Vietnam war. Here he collaborates with Dith Pran, a Cambodian journalist and interpreter who also works for New York Times. As Khmer Rouge (barbarians at their best) closes in, international embassies decide to evacuate their personnel and Dith sends off his family to USA, but stays back with Sydney. The situation gets worse as Khmer Rouge orders all the Cambodian citizens to be turned in. Sydney and others manage to flee, but Pran is unable due to his passport.
Khmer Rouge ordered cities to be evacuated in an attempt create isolation. He is now caught in Pol Pot's "Year Zero" program. All educated people are killed including doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists. He fakes of being illiterate. He somehow manages to survive in the prison camp where he was starved and tortured. Eventually he escapes and reaches Red Cross Camp near the border of Thailand.
Sidney wins the Pultizer prize for his coverage of the Cambodian conflict, however, is accused by Rockoff (a friend who was there in Cambodia) of not doing enough to rescue Pran.
It is impossible not to be disturbed by the movie. Now overridden with guilt Sydney reaches the Red Cross Camp, reunites with Pran, and asks for forgiveness. And Pran's reply was "nothing to forgive Sydney" tells volume about the character. It depicts the darkest period of history where 2 million people were died due to starvation, brutality, torture, and pure hatred.
Pran's determination to overcome all odds and survive is a lesson to all human kind. A scene where he make a small cut on a cow to drink blood is the most heart wrenching. Pran played by Dr. Haing Ngor is a surviver of Khmer Rouge is the perfect cast. His performance is brilliant and natural for a nonactor. It is sad to know he was shot dead in 1996 in Los Angeles.
I have watched it after 31 years of its release and I say this is one of those timeless movies. It captures atrocities of Cambodian civil war, Khmer Rouge, and genocide distinctly. Despite this it tells the compassion and friendship grows even during the hardest time.
It is an intense journey of adventure and tragedy. And after seeing the real Killing Fields, I can vouch this film is well researched and superbly made. It stands testimonial to savagery of human race. Make time for it.
The most important thing to be seen in Cambodia is Angkor Wat. We came across another must see place entirely in a different context. We planned to stay in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia for two days. Cheoung Ek Genocide Center is at distance of 15 KM from Phnom Penh. We hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day for 10 USD. He picked us from our hotel at 8 0'clock sharp. The road was in pretty bad shape, but being Indians it really didn't matter to us much as we have seen much more worse than this.
Cheoung Ek Genocide Center is only one among thousands other Killing Field sites spread across the length and breadth of the country in late 70s and early 80s. We did our research and had pretty good idea about what it holds for us. Until then we were ignorant about the country's genocide. The death toll was estimated to be between 1.7 to 2 millions in a time span of four years.
Cheoung Ek Genocide Center has a entry fee of 5 USD per person. They offer audio guides for free at the ticket counter.
Cambodia gained its independence in 1953 from France after being under the rule of colonization for nearly a century. During the Vietnam War, Cambodia’s King, Norodom Sihanouk adopted neutrality as a policy. However, Sihanouk was toppled in 1970 by a military coup led by Cambodian General Lon Nol, backed by US. Now ousted king joined hands with his enemies, Khmer Rouge. An army led by Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge emerged as the super power taking Phnom Penh in 1975. People actually cheered for Khmer Rouge blissfully unaware of what to be followed for the next four years. Now renamed Kampuchea, Pol Pot implemented "Year Zero Policy". It means to wipe out everything from culture, tradition, work, ethics, habit, education, life style, all the nitty gritties only to start afresh from a scratch. Mass evacuation was carried out in cities beginning from Phnom Penh. People were told not to take any belongings as the move is only for 2 to 3 days. They were even told the move is important to evade the US bombing.
Thus begins one of the heinous genocides in the world history. People were forced to work in agricultural fields where they were starved, tortured, and executed. Khmer Rouge targeted intellectuals; city residents; ethnic Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Buddhist monks; civil servants; and religious leaders. They even went to the extent of killing people who wore glasses thinking they were nerdy. They stripped off possessions of professionals like doctors, lawyers, teachers, musicians and made them to work in field claiming to reeducate them.
Children were forcefully taken from home to join military. Money, private property, reading material, religion, each and every aspect of a person's life is controlled by the state. Schools and banks were closed down. People suffering from medical ailments were not allowed to seek treatments. The tools used to torture and kill were shackles, leg irons, hatchet, knives, hoes, digging hoes. Children were smashed against tree and adults were bludgeoned to death to avoid wasting precious bullets. Just looking at the piles of skulls are enough to tell how sickening this whole massacre was.
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| Mass Grave |
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| Clothes of Victims |
Very bitter and unfortunate history of Cambodia only supported our belief of world is not a safe place to live in. At the same time we had to admit perseverance of Cambodians is awe-inspiring. Our final thought was "those who forget the past may be doomed to repeat it".
It was golden hour by the time we reached the temple premises. Located in the Mehsana district of Gujarat, Modhera Sun Temple is dedicated to Sun god. Pushapavathi river meanders quietly nearby. Bhima I of Solanki dynasty built the temple in the year of 1026 A.D. The Solankis considered themselves to be Suryavamshis (descendants) of Sun god. His wife Udayamati was the one who built Rani Ka Vav.
The architecture is structured according to the planet position of the sun. Temple is designed in such a way that during equinox sun rays falls directly on the sanctum at the time of sunrise and sunset. Interesting thing to note is on the way to reservoir (Kunda) there are numerous small shrines, precisely 108. Our guide told 52 pillars inside the assembly hall represents the 52 weeks in the calendar. Amazing isn't it? The carvings on the wall depict the story of epic Ramayana and Mahabharata.
It is said Mahmud Ghazni destroyed the temple taking away the original bejeweled idol of Sun god in chariot driven by Aruna, his chauffeur on seven horse. However, the time of Ghazni's time in India and construction of this temple differs. It is true the temple was ransacked by Alauddin Khilji.
We were fortunate to bag the passes to annual dance festival at Modhera Sun Temple. Thanks to cousin K. Uttarardh Mahotsava is held every year during the third week of January exclusively for three days after the end of Uttarayana festival. Uttarayana is the day when Sun starts his journey towards north. It is the end of Dakshinayana or winter days.
The holy alliance of Indian classical dances and temple architecture dates back to centuries. Most of the kings were patrons of art, music, and dance. And Solanki empire was not different.
Classical dancers and musicians from different states participate in this extravaganza event. Dance troupes from Maharashtra, Oriya, and Gujarat performed Bharatanatyam, Odissi, and fusion dance respectively on the night we were lucky to be audience. Being the art lover we are, we witnessed a splendid performance. Terrible winter of January became unbearable and forced us to leave the event 30 minutes earlier.
Though partially ruined the temple stands tall exuding its grandeur and glory of bygone era.
