Skip to main content

Help Hampi


Hampi is the site of many Hindu temples and is a beautiful spot set amongst hot rocks in a valley that makes you sigh with perspiration. It is here and now that the government has issued a 7 day notice to the residents of Hampi Bizaar closest to the famed Virupaksha Temple to vacate their premises. They have offered land some 6km from the township to the villagers on a rock with no running water or fertile land, away from the river that runs alongside Hampi and its famed temples.

Its biblical to build on a rock but the proposal to relocate these folks away from the river they currently frolic in doing their daily chores and enjoy relaxing beside seems baffling. If you are going to displace people (rehousing is not an option they are literally told they can move to the rock or make their own arrangements), shouldn’t you offer an equal alternative. Somewhere sewage systems can be made, electricity implemented to all homes, oh and how about some of that precious resource WATER. (I have downed 4litres a day since being here in the stifling heat so this is no truck in option!). Why make it more difficult for the everyday people who live in relative poverty already who now have to start again because of some decision from a group of folk in the capital. They have broad smiles and strong wills which would make you think otherwise but life is simple here and that is the charm of this community.

It seems against everything UNESCO should be working towards. I thought they were about the preservation of united nations environments not the complete disregard for human rights. I appreciate the need to preserve the temples, the relocation, all accept to be inevitable but if it is to be done, do it once and do it with respect and compassion for those who have to start again.

The people of Hampi have found an alternative piece of land to construct their village and with the support of the international community and pressure on the UNESCO committee this could become the more collectively acceptable answer to the relocation of the ‘New Hampi’. Please take the time to sign and share the petition to fight for the community’s relocation to fertile land and their future.

http://www.change.org/petitions/help-hampi-2

As the great Mahatma Gandhi said “Be the change in the world you want to see”

For all those planning a trip to India in the coming year/s keep abreast of the news of Hampi (LP will be very outdated in a year!) and where you can stay as all the lodgings will be relocated along with the locals. The new town will be where the heart and soul of the temples will be, not in their towering conical stone works of carefully carved gods and amongst the greedy monkeys. Make sure you support the people and visit the new town. 

Labels

Labels:
Location: Hampi, Karnataka, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Breath Taking Everest

I have always wanted to go to Everest Base Camp to see what the closest to the top of the world must be like. My big sister Fiona made it there some 14 years ago on her way to London. She had run into Ants (her old school friend and now my brother-in-law) in the streets of Kathmandu and later met Simon (her husband) after her trek in Chitwan National Park. She had also bought a painting of the beautiful Ama Dablam  (mother mountain for Mum) with Tengboche Monastery in the foreground and it sits pride of place in our family lounge. As a result Nepal and the Everest region screams family adventure to me.     After a couple of days in Kathmandu during a strike (the country is in massive flux as it does not have a constitution or a governing majority) I met Dustin and Elan near my hostel telling them I was keen to do the Everest Base Camp trek. I had been recommended the Anapurna circuit time and time again but with recent deaths due to slips and the coming m...
6 comments
Read more

Blog Catchup Links....

Because I have written my blog in chronological order I have updated a few gaps whilst I am procrastinating from job hunting! Hope you enjoy the stories as much I have enjoyed the experiences and if you have any questions or comments I welcome them..... India  - I had a few items to catch up on so here goes Mumbai/Bombay  -  Hello Mumbai! Bye Bye Bombay! Chandigarh, Punjab -  A Modernist Experiment 60 years on Taj Mahal, Agra  -  Taj Mahal Unvisited Thailand - I have not writen anything for my time in Thailand because my dear Mum says "if you can't say something nice so nothing at all" but here is a great cooking school I attended in Koh Chang of the South East Coast I am desperately trying to write about  Myanmar  for my friend Matthias. Promise its coming, I just need to put some final research into it my dear x I am working on some overview items for you too....joys of having some spare time on my hands "between job" Sensual ...
Post a Comment
Read more

All Creatures Great and Small

Running my first half marathon in 2010 What always strikes me when I attend a race of any distance, is how it takes all shapes and sizes, creatures great and small. And I am no exception. There are people who are young and old, of every race and religion, men in turbans, women in headscarves, topless and toned, slim and leggy, rotund and rouge red, bouncing, compact and flailing. But like all things in life, if You put your mind to goal then it doesn't matter what your genetic code you're going to do your best to complete that challenge. I had lunch yesterday with a dear friend and we discussed how we describe our body shapes on dating websites. She is a completely different shape to me exceeding 5'11 and with a booty I think JLo would covet. I am 5'6 with all the right curves in all of their respective places (I wish I had the confidence to say all the right places !). We both described ourselves as curvy....yet she thinks I'm skinny, sporty skinny but ski...
Post a Comment
Read more