Close on the heels of completing the post production on the Chettinad Feature that is all set to run as a virtual tour on Monument Universe shortly, here we are… set for the next production on Hampi, Karnataka, India.
The interesting thing is, when we set out on something new, we don’t know how it’s gonna lead us through it all. Making a planned move doesn’t make much sense either, ’cause, we don’t have a clue about the terrain we are setting our foot on.
It was the same with me as well, when the Executive Director (and my long-time friend) Venky Natarajan suggested Hampi for the next feature.
Apart from knowing Hampi as a UNESCO site, I knew nothing else about the place. So started my adventure in getting to know about its history. And, wow! What a revelation! ‘A Forgotten Empire‘ by Robert Sewell, ‘Hampi Vijayanagara‘ by John M Fritz and George Michell and ‘Hampi – Discover the Splendours of Vijayanagar‘ by Subhadra Sen Gupta opened my mind-eye to a vast and dramatic canvas that unfolded nine hundred years ago. The strife-induced advent followed by a dizzying zenith followed by an ignominious fall of the Vijayanagara Kingdom… all in a span of 250 years!
And, my subsequent recce to the historic land only spread open the land of destruction right in front of my eyes. I stood there dazed, seeing the past in the present!
Now was the next question! How do I go about finding the right people – read content experts – in producing the feature?
God helps those who help themselves!
Never have these golden words come true for me as how they did during this historical adventure.
Abhijeet, the God-send, literally materialized out of thin air for me!
Mind you, I didn’t know anyone in this alien land! But, here he was, promising me he’ll do everything he can to help the project.
And, so started the next phase of my adventure.
No way could I have, all by myself, reached the 20th descendant of the famous Krishna Deva Raya of the Vijayanagara Kingdom… Thirumala Deva Raya! No way could I have had the thrill of having him on the feature… but for the angel Abhijeet!
But, there he was… Thirumala Deva Raya… happily talking about the Vijayanagara Kingdom!
Almost simultaneously happened Mrs. Ashrafi Bhagat, the senior art historian and an expert in art and architecture of Hampi.
What pleasure it was to work with Mrs. Bhagat… one of those deeply committed souls!
The next phase of adventure on the Hampi feature is gonna be my meeting with the content experts on the Vijayanagara Kingdom’s irrigation networks and prehistoric sites of Hampi on the 9th and 10th June 2024… courtesy, Jeet, the angel.
How exciting life can be, only if we want it to be!
Saint Maverick
SAINT MAVERICK 