India is such an amazing country. It is on a different continent, with a totally different culture. It is a place that amazes your senses and lets you discover your surroundings as if you were just born. The food is amazing, the sarees are gorgeous, and the people are so generous that it melts your heart. I was so lucky that I got a chance to visit Bangalore, India in June. I went there for a conference but I chose to stay for a few extra days to explore the culture. It was a great decision to take the “Heritage of Karnataka” tour. I got to visit Hospet, Hampi, Hasan, and Belur. What impressed me the most are the mythical landscape at Hampi and the Temples at Belur.
Below are some pictures of the mythical landscape. For most visitors to Hampi, whether pilgrims or tourists, the first thing to be noticed is the remarkable scenery in this part of central Karnataka. Granite boulders of varying tones of grey, ochre and pink dominate the landscape, distributed either as hills and long ridges or as piles of rock that seem to have been thrown down by some primeval cataclysm. The terrain is one of the most ancient and stable surfaces to be found anywhere on earth , its unique rocky appearance caused not by earthquake and upheaval, but by some three thousand millions years of erosion.
The following pictures are taken at Belur where you can find the most magnificent specimens of South Indian temples. The facade of the Temple is filled with intricate sculptures and friezes rising one above the other.
Indian people love flowers. They use fresh flowers to decorate their homes and for rituals activities. I went to a local flower market and saw piles of fresh flowers on sale everywhere.
One last very important thing to talk about is the Indian food. It is lauded for its curries, mouth-burning spices and complex flavor pairings. With its use of cardamom, cayenne, tamarind and other pungent ingredients, the resulting taste combinations are unlike anything found elsewhere around the world.
