He had probably just run the entire way back. I gave him a meaning-ful glance, hoping he understood my you-really-should-have-left-earlier look.
On the way to Hampi, we stopped at a fruit stand and got a smoothie, called a lassi, and a grainy breakfast bar for each of us. When I was halfway done with my drink, I offered it to Ren. He stuck his head between the front seats and lapped up the rest of my smoothie. His long tongue slurped out what was left of my shake and he also made sure to lick my hand ‘accidentally’ every other lick.
I laughed. ‘Ren! Thanks a lot. Now my hands are all sticky.’
He leaned over and started licking my hands with more enthusiasm, swirling his pink tongue between my fingers.
‘Okay! Okay! That tickles. Thanks, but that’s enough.’
Mr. Kadam laughed heartily, then reached over to open the glove box and handed me a travel pack of antibacterial hand wipes.
As I wiped the tiger saliva off my hands, I threatened, ‘See if I ever share a milkshake with you again.’
I heard a harrumph come from the back seat. When I looked back at him a moment later, he was the picture of an innocent tiger, but I knew better.
Mr. Kadam indicated that we were nearing Hampi and pointed to a large structure in the distance. He explained, ‘That tall, conical structure you see ahead is called the Virupaksha Temple. It’s the most prominent building in Hampi, which was originally settled two thousand years ago. We’ll be passing Sugriva’s cave soon, where it is said the jewels of Sita were hidden.’
‘Are the jewels still there?’
‘The jewels were never discovered, which is also one of the reasons the city has been sacked so often by treasure hunters,’ Mr. Kadam stated, pulled off to the side of the road, and let Ren out. ‘There will be too many tourists on the site during the day, so Ren can wait here while we walk the grounds and look for clues. We will return for him in the early evening.’
We parked in front of the gate. Mr. Kadam led me to the first and largest structure, the Virupaksha Temple. It was about ten stories tall and resembled a giant upside-down waffle cone. Pointing ahead, he illustrated its architecture.
‘This temple has courtyards, shrines, and gateways in all of those side buildings. Inside, there is an inner sanctum with pillared halls and cloisters, which are long, arched corridors open to a central courtyard. Come, I will show you.’
As we wandered the temple, Mr. Kadam reminded me that we were looking for a passageway to Kishkindha, a world ruled by monkeys.
‘I’m not sure what it will look like, but perhaps there will be another handprint marking. Durga’s prophecy also mentioned snakes.’
More snakes, I thought, cringing. A doorway to a myth-ical world? Things just kept getting stranger and stranger the deeper I get into this adventure.
As the day progressed, I became so dazzled by the ruins that I completely forgot our purpose in being there. Every-thing I saw was amazing. We stopped at another structure called the Stone Chariot. It was a stonework carving of a miniaturized temple set on wheels. The chariot’s wheels were shaped to look like lotus flowers and could even rotate like normal tires.
Another building, called the Vithala Temple, had beautiful statues of women dancing. We listened in on a tour guide who explained the significance of the temple’s fifty-six pillars. He said, ‘When struck, the pillars vibrate and produce sounds exactly like musical notes. A truly skilled musician could even play a song on them.’
We stood still for a moment to listen to the columns hum and vibrate as he softly tapped the stone. The magical mu---sical tones thrummed through us, lifted into the air, and slowly faded into nothing. The sound disappeared long before the vibrations stopped.
We stopped at another building called the Queen’s Bath. Mr. Kadam pointed out its features. ‘The Queen’s Bath was a place the king and his wives could relax. There used to be apartments surrounding the center. Balconies jutted out from the rectangular buildings, and the women would sit, look over the bathing pool, and relax. An aqueduct pumped water into the brick pool, and there used to be a small flower garden off to the side, over here, where the women could lounge and have picnics.
‘The pool was about fifty feet long and six feet deep. Perfume was poured into the water to make it more fragrant, and flower petals were strewn across the surface. Lotus-shaped fountains surrounded the pool as well. You can still see a few of them. A canal surrounded the entire structure and the building was heavily guarded so that only the king could enter and frolic with the women. All other would-be suitors were kept out.’
I frowned at him. ‘Umm, if the king was the only man to enter, then how is it that you know so many details about the ladies’ pool?’
He stroked his beard and grinned.
Shocked, I whispered, ‘Mr. Kadam! You didn’t break into the king’s harem, did you?’
He shrugged his shoulders lightly. ‘It was a rite of passage for a young man to try to break into the Queen’s Bath, and several died trying. I happen to be one of the brave few who lived through the experience.’
I laughed. ‘Well, I have to say, my whole opinion of you has changed. Breaking into a harem! Who would’ve thought?’ I walked a few more steps and then spun around. ‘Wait a minute. A rite of passage, did you say? Did Ren and Kishan— ?’
He paused and raised his hands. ‘It might be better if you asked them yourself. I wouldn’t want to say the wrong thing.’
I grunted, ‘Hmm. That question has definitely moved to the top of my list for Ren.’
We moved on to tour the House of Victory, the Lotus Mahal, and the Mahanavami Dibba, but we didn’t see anything particularly interesting or outstanding there. The Noblemen’s Palace was a place for diplomatic meetings and high-ranking officials to be wined and dined. The King’s Balance was a building used by the kings to weigh gold, money, and grains in trade, and was also used to distribute goods to the poor.
My favorite place was the Elephant Stables. A long, cavernous structure, it had housed eleven elephants in its heyday. Mr. Kadam explained that those elephants were not used for battle, but for ritual. They were the king’s private stock – highly trained and used for various ceremonies. Often, they were dressed in golden cloth and jewels, and their skin was painted. The building had ten domes of different sizes and shapes that rested on the top of each elephant’s apartment. He explained that other elephants were kept also to do menial labor and construction, but that the private stock would have been special.
A large statue of Ugra Narasimha was the last thing that we saw. When I asked Mr. Kadam what he represented, he didn’t respond. He walked around the structure, looking at it from many different angles while thinking and mumbling quietly to himself.
I shaded my eyes and studied the top of it. Trying to get Mr. Kadam’s attention, I repeated, ‘Who is he? He’s a pretty ugly fellow.’
This time, Mr. Kadam replied, ‘Ugra Narasimha is a half-man, half-lion god, though he can assume other forms as well. He was supposed to look frightening and impressive. He is most famous for slaying a powerful demon king. What’s interesting is the demon king could not be killed either on earth or in space, during day or night, not inside or outside, by neither human nor animal, nor by any object that was dead or alive.’
‘You sure seem to have a lot of unslayable demons running around in India. So how did he kill the demon king?’
‘Ah, Ugra Narasimha was very clever. He picked up the demon king, placed him on his lap, and then killed him at twilight, on a door-step, with his claws.’
I laughed. ‘Sounds like Miss Scarlett, in the conservatory, with a candlestick.’
Mr. Kadam chuckled. ‘Indeed, it does.’