I will always be a city girl at heart. I have never doubted that, and I confirmed that fact during my medical posting in a village for 2 months. While one gets used to the hard pace of life in a city, it is a distinct contrast to the slow and meandering lifestyle in the rural areas. Life slows done like one of those old black-and-white movies. People actually live and believe “early to bed, early to rise.” The crisp, fresh air will soothe your hardened, cynical self.

First day of our village life was rather unsettling to say the least. Once the clinic shut its door at 5, there wasn’t much to do. Our dormitories were nothing beyond a group of huts. The local market didn’t have anything beyond fresh farm products and local goods. So you won’t be surprised to hear that the decision was taken mutually by a group of college students to explore more of rural India and take lot of pictures.  Trying to find our own source of entertainment to becoming part of cultural processions of rural Karnataka, rural India is quite giving when it comes to its nuggets of wisdom.

I still don’t know what they are called, but looking at the whole them of the parade it appeared to be a parade of folk narration of Indian mythology Ramayana. The diversity of India truly gets reflected when you see the folk art. I may have disliked Karnataka for multitude of reasons, but it definitely did provide me with good memories and the start of my travel craze.

We roam around this world, looking for experiences of world-renowned heritage sites, but we often forget to pay visit and marvel the beauty of the local momenuments. The Jain temple Chandranatha Basadi, locally known as the Temple of Thousand Pillars located in the heart of Moodbidri is a true architectural marvel. The uniqueness of this basadi, is that no two pillars are identical. Each pillar possesses unique rock carving. Built in 1430 AD during the reign of Vijaynagara dynasty, the temple complex has 3 storeys and Seven Mantapas (porch-like structure). The ground floor is built in stones while the first and second floor are wooden structures. The Garbhagriha (inner sanctum) of the temple features an 8 foot tall idol of the 8th Jain Thirthankara Chandranatha Swamy, which is known to be made of the 5 different elements (Pancha Dhatu). I would have shared more pictures tonprove my point, unfortunately the temple follows a strict policy of no photography, and the ones that has been shared with you are the ones that I was able to sneak before the temple guard actually started to follow us around. 

On the way to the famous Sri Sharadamba Temple, a 8th century temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, founded by Sri Adi Shankaracharya, we also happened across Shrimani Falls.

I will never opt to live in a village, that’s for sure. But I’ll never regret the experiences that I have learnt while staying  there. If you are willing to learn more, you can take a peep at the adventures that I had in Agumbe and Konaje Kallu.

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Karnataka