"Prosperity cannot be sustained in isolation. To remain truly great, a country must be powerful. It is a historic fact that financially rich, but militarily weak nations are tempting targets; just as India was in the past."
— Rajiv Dogra, Former Ambassadorin, The New Indian Express
On Jan. 26, I set out on an odyssey of 476 kms by SUV on the State Highways and also on National Highway No. 13 to Hospet along with my friends to attend the 500th anniversary of the Coronation of legendary King of Vijayanagar Empire Sri Krishnadevaraya. Fortunately the State Highways and also the National Highway are motorable but cannot be called good compared to the roads and highways we have seen in developed countries.
Since the famous Chitradurga fort of Madakari Nayaka fame comes on our route, we decided to visit it. Known for its legendary woman defender Onake Obavva when it was attacked by Muslim invaders, this fort is worth a visit.
Like the majority of forts of the ancient and medieval India, this one too was built on a hill with meandering stone walls and passages, some of which are labyrinthine. It is a very popular tourist destination and the place is comparatively clean and orderly.
By 2.30 in the afternoon, we were in Hospet and one would think the city being just 12 kms from Hampi, the happening place, the authorities would have taken care to spruce up the city by clearing the garbage, sweeping the roads and with well - regulated traffic. True to our official tradition, the city was dusty, dirty and with erratic vehicular movement. It was shocking to know that the city is without UGD and proper drainage system except in a few localities.
Hospet and Hampi are in Bellary district, the home district of Reddy brothers — Janardhana Reddy, Karunakar Reddy and Somashekar Reddy — the Triumvirate of BJP Government in the State. There is also Sriramulu, the Health Minister, in this camp. It is the district known for Iron ore mines. Anyone who visits Hampi is bound to be overawed by gigantic stones and boulders spread all over the place. The gargantuan trucks carrying iron ore crawling on the highways in endless line is a common sight. And, the names of Reddy brothers are on everybody's lips. Any visitor to Hospet cannot miss the sight of these lorries. Their contents, iron ore, turn the trucks and roads pink with the dust. Fortunately, the lorries carry iron ores fully covered with tarpaulin. Earlier, I was told, the iron ore used to be carried in open lorries.
In Hospet, we could see some of the mountains already swallowed by Mine owners with many more hillocks waiting to face the same fate. With so much wealth of mine owners, one would think Hospet and Bellary would turn into booming cities of proper planning and prosperity. But No. What Sri Krishnadevaraya could achieve in 20 years of his rule, the government could not achieve 60 years after Independence.
I saw people still squirming in poverty. One would think the great political and commercial success of mine owners of Bellary, especially Reddy Bros, would transform these neglected cities and lead its people from dire poverty to moderate prosperity. Sadly, nothing of the kind has happened.
What has happened instead is the big celebration of Sri Krishnadevaraya's 500th year of coronation. We Indians seem to have an obsession with festivals and celebrations of this kind, but not about working to improve the living conditions of our people by providing them their daily necessities like water, light, food grains, housing etc. and infrastructure like roads, UGD and other civic amenities. While we are ready to sing and dance about a king, who ruled for just 20 years out of which he spent 11 years waging wars, why can't we spend some money to improve the lot of these cities and its people? After all, Bellary district is a “gold mine” what with crores of rupees it generates from its iron ore deposits. Even if the government spends a fraction of the money earned from the iron ore itself, these cities and towns can be developed on modern lines.
It does not mean the celebration was not needed. It was important to remind our people the glory that was Vijayanagar Empire, which had indeed acted as a bulwark against the Muslim invasion of South India at the given period. The point is, along with the celebrations, money should have also been spent on these two towns as they are our country's one of the most important tourist destinations. Moreover, the National Highway No. 13 as also National Highway No. 63 converge at this point with heavy traffic.
The Vijayanagar Empire was ruled by four Hindu dynasties. It was established in 1336 AD by Hakka and Bukka, also known as Harihara and Bukkaraya. This was known as Sangam dynasty (1336 AD to 1486 AD). The second dynasty to rule the empire was Salva dynasty lasting from 1486 to 1503 AD. Sri Krishnadevaraya ruled under Tulu dynasty which lasted from 1503 to 1569 AD. Among the four Kings who ruled under this dynasty, Krishnadevaraya ruled for just 20 years, but achieved great success in expanding the empire as never before, which was why his rule was unique in the history of South India. After his death, there was a steady decline in military strength and administration of the empire.
It is said, the last of the Tulu dynasty King Sadashivaraya was only a nominal King. The power rested with one Ramaraya, the son – in - law, who recruited a large number of Muslims in his army hoping they would be better fighters in war. It was in 1565 AD the neighbouring Muslim kings got together and attacked the Vijayanagar Empire. Ramaraya's Muslim soldiers turned renegade at a critical point of the war when victory was almost of Ramaraya's. As a result, Vijayanagar fell to Muslims. It was looted for 6 months and what we see today is ruins as a result of this war. The fourth and the last dynasty, Aravidu dynasty, ruled over Vijayanagar Empire from 1572 to 1680 AD.
Looking at the ruins, nearly 500 years after its glorious days, one is left wondering why did they build all those spectacular structures and those innumerable temples, when they were not able to protect what they had built from their enemies. [See Rajiv Dogra's remarks above]
Prof. A. V. Narasimhamurthy, retired Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, Mysore University, who is familiar to our readers with his weekly column “Pages from History”, says 14th century AD was the most unlucky period for South India. Allauddin Khilji of Delhi Sultanate [1296 - 1316] heard of South Indian temples being very rich with lot of gold and jewellery and became covetous.
He ordered his Generals to launch a military campaign to South India and bring all the riches to Delhi. The campaign became easy for the Sultan because of the mutual animosity of South Indian Hindu kings of various dynasties like Hoysala, Kakatiya (Andhra), Yadava and Pandya (Tamil) who were busy fighting among themselves. Not surprisingly, the Muslim Generals of Alauddin Khilji defeated all the South Indian kings, looted their temples and palaces, carrying all the wealth to Delhi. Thus the whole of South India presented a picture of utter political chaos, posing a threat to the culture and religious beliefs of the people.
South India was thus exposed to the danger of future Muslim invasions and conquests. It was at this moment that a Sanskrit scholar by name Vidyaranya (1296 - 1386 AD) of Sringeri Mutt (Chikkamagalur), 300 kms southwest of Hampi, which was established by Adishankaracharya, saw the need to establish a militarily strong empire to ward off any future Muslim invasion of the kind led by Alauddin Khilji.
An opportunity to realise this wish presented itself before Sri Vidyaranya when two brothers Harihara and Bukka (ruled during 1336 - 1356 and 1356 - 1377 respectively) were planning to found an empire for the same reason that Sri Vidyaranya had thought of. He guided the two brothers in establishing the Vijayanagar Empire and thus became its chief architect. The rest is history, a part of which was remembered by a grateful people of Karnataka on the 27th of last month for three days by way of celebrating the 500th anniversary of the coronation of the greatest King of Vijayanagar Empire Sri Krishnadevaraya.
It is interesting to know that Krishnadevaraya's army defeated the local chiefs of Shivanasamudra and Srirangapatna near Mysore and made them provinces of Vijayanagar Empire. The famous Dasara festival being observed by the Wadiyar dynasty is also the continuation of what the Vijayanagar kings were observing at Hampi.
Since Krishnadevaraya is in focus, it might be interesting to know the physical characteristics and appearance of the king. Domingo Paes, a Portugese visitor to Krishnadevaraya's Palace around 1520, who had the good fortune of meeting Krishnadevaraya, has recorded thus: "The king is of medium height and of fair complexion. He has on his face signs of smallpox. He is of cheerful disposition and very merry. He is a man of great justice but subject to sudden fits of rage. He kept his bodily strength by hard physical exercise; he was a fine horse rider. He took great care of his army and visited the wounded after each war and arranged for proper care."
Indeed it is revealing to know the cause of death of all great men. For example, it is believed that Buddha died at the old age of 80 after consuming stale pork preparation offered to him when he went out for Bhiksha. Here in the case of Krishnadevaraya, said to be a health freak, he used to drink half a litre of gingely oil daily while doing physical exercises. It is believed he died as a result of consuming too much of gingely oil in 1529 AD at a young age of 42.
Well, the year - long celebrations of his 500th year of coronation may be a great inspiration for people to emulate his military prowess, administrative acumen and concern for maintaining good health. But they should not emulate him in the matter of consuming a daily dose of gingely oil if they want to live longer.
On the inaugural day, the 27th Jan. 2010, some functions were held at Hampi in the morning and the official inauguration took place in the evening at 5 pm. Shankar Prakash, with his booming voice and fluent Kannada compered the programme along with TV star Aparna in a most competent manner. Singer Muddumohan rendered Kuvempu's famous poem and the State Anthem Jaya Bharatha Jananiya Tanujathe. At the end of the song, the audience, which was rather thin for that huge open air theatre, was asked to hail “Bharatha Matha” with the chorus of Jai. It was too feeble to rouse any patriotic sentiment, if it was intended for that purpose.
The response from the audience was again indifferent when Shankar Prakash crooned aloud Karnataka Mathege Jai and finally when he hailed aloud Sri Krishnadevarayarige Jai..., the response was almost nil. So much for the enthusiasm of our people. On the stage, nearly six VIP chairs were vacant. Sri Ravishankar Guruji, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa, along with Reddy brothers, were present. Surprisingly, the function began punctually on dot!
Janardhan Reddy welcomed the gathering. But before he could do that, he asked the audience to observe a minute's silence to offer condolences to those who died in the building collapse accident that had happened the previous day in Bellary. The celebrations were inaugurated by lighting of the lamp by VIPs. Some books were also released on the occasion by P. Chidambaram.
Mercifully, Chidambaram did not fall prey to the gimmick of addressing the audience with a few words of Kannada except when he addressed Yeddyurappa as "Yeddyurappanavare." There was a crude discordant note from some miscreants who shouted "Kannada Mathadayya...", which was, however, rightly ignored by all.
After the Chief Minister spoke, the VIPs left the stage as P. Chidambaram was to leave for Delhi urgently leaving Ravishankar Guruji and the Swamiji of Viroopaksha Vidyaranya Peeta all alone on the stage. Soon they also vacated the stage for the cultural programme to start. However, once again VIPs came on the stage with Sushma Swaraj and Yeddyurappa as if for the second inauguration. Thereafter, cultural programmes continued with high profile artistes like Sonal Man Singh, Jasraj and Hema Malini. The next day we left Hospet on our onward journey to Bijapur and Badami.
Tailpiece:
Here is some hope for Siddharamaiah of Congress and Eshwarappa of BJP. The Vijayanagara Empire founded by two brothers Hakka and Bukka belonged to Kuruba caste. When the brothers became kings, in keeping with their status, the names were made respectable by changing them to Harihara Raya and Bukka Raya.
