Return of the Protector

A Story by Anand Maralad

A guide describes to the tourist visiting Hampi, in South India, about a belief that founders of Vijaynagara Kingdom Hakka and Bukka pay visit to Hampi whenever it is in danger.

It is historical town of Hampi, situated in South India. It was home to a forgotten kingdom. Historians called it India’s Rome. But unlike Rome, residents of this town had deserted this place soon after their king was killed in the fateful war. It remained uninhabited for centuries since then. It had only visitors. People came to offer prayers in the temple. Tourists in big numbers visited this place attracted by its glory. But at the night all travelers and guides would return to their respective hotels and houses in the nearby town named Hospet, which meant “A New Town”, leaving Hampi to its darkness and ridiculous quietness.

In this town which found a permanent place in Indian history, one man earned his living working as a Guide. He is a guide with a precise knowledge of history and deep insights into the lives of those who lived an ordinary life as well as those ruled as kings during the times of Vijayanagara kingdom. His tall and healthy physique gave him a commanding presence. He was able to read people with ease and had the ability to take people along with him, more like a leader than a guide. His dramatic gestures, vivid expressions on face coupled with pitched tone would make it easier for even the least creative human being to imagine the sequence enacted by him. The details he provided seemed to be more realistic for those tourists who had done their reading before visiting the place. His poetic exclamations would make the places of Hampi more interesting and human. The travelers who came from different corners of the world were in a treat if they got hooked up with this Guide and they returned with a sense of satisfaction of knowing the place better.

All travelers won’t be done in a day and some stay back as they think a day won’t be enough for a place like this. On the second and the successive days of their stay, who else can guide them well than the one they had on their first day? They naturally turned to him. And they would ask now, what is his name, by the way? On the first day, it never mattered. A guide is a guide, what name he has should not matter much as long as he does his job well. But the second day, it makes sense to know the name of the person who is guiding them. But this Guide would tell some name and he would not respond to it when the tourists called him by that name. The next day, he would say a different name for himself. When the tourists ask how come it is different, he would say in return

“What is wrong with that? We have different names for different seasons, why should I stick to one name forever?”

It made no sense to the tourists but they would smile and rather focus on their purpose of visit. When someone else raised the same question again, the Guide would argue

“People change things. Few husbands find new wives and few wives will get better husbands. When people change their life partners with ease, I changing name is not a serious matter”.

Though not pleased with this answer, tourists would stop arguing with him. They understood it is none of their business and they would simply call him ‘Guide’ and get on with their business.

This Guide was always to be found at the foothills of Hemakuta if he is found nowhere else. So tourists had no issues in locating him. From there the Guide would take them for exploration of the town. On the walking trails, the Guide would narrate how the caves in the surrounding mountains served as temporary residences for those visiting capital of Vijayanagara kingdom during 13th century and how the kings learnt the hard way that, it was strong horses which gave an upper hand to their enemies during wars and the resolution Vijayanagara Kings took to strengthen their cavalry but yet how their failure to breed horses was causing them troubles. Such details were making the walks of tourists less tiresome. Few tourists wondered how he has more details than the book of Robert Sewell. Some thought this Guide belonged more to past than the present. Others thought he just makes up the stories to make the tour interesting.

He would take them to numerous temples and demonstrate how they did not just serve religious purposes but doubled up as the stage to showcase the talents in music and dance by the evening. They were the places to bring cultural transformation in the society which had suffered from multiple attacks and suppressed from its natural expression. He would emphasize the efforts of Vijayanagara kings to popularize the festival of Vijayadashami also known as Dasara, celebration of the win of good over evil. On the way to their next spot, he would show tall watch towers and explain to tourists how the multi layered defense system of the town worked. He would detail out the preparations the kings made before the wars and how a war fought wrongly would reduce the army size to a miniscule which would push out the next war by at least a decade as they had to wait for the natural population to go up. He would also take them to water feeding canals running from the river which aided agriculture and also filled up multiple Pushkarani in the town to provide drinking water, then to neatly laid out streets and rows of houses of those serving the royal family explaining how the subject of “Town Planning” was put to good use.

By the evening tourists along with the Guide would return to Lord Virupaksha temple or sit on the banks of Tungabhadra River and the Guide would tell them some more stories. On one such evening he said it is his opinion that founders of Vijayanagara kingdom, Hakka and Bukka with the help of sage Vidyaranya were able to locate the hidden treasury of Anegondi kingdom which helped them to build this city of Vijayanagara, now known as Hampi and establish a new kingdom. From there it flourished and gained glory. Their success was phenomenal. The small state born on the banks of Tungabhadra River expanded its horizons to the basins of River Krishna towards north and River Kaveri in the south.

A tourist asked “How Hakka and Bukka did look like?”

Guide said “Hakka was tall, lean but strong and Bukka was short and fat”

Guide went on to say that locals believed that ghosts of these two brothers visit the town whenever it was in danger. Their appearance served as a warning to the people to become cautious. One of the tourists mentioned he had read about this in a novel and he felt it was a good fiction. Nodding his approval Guide continued, though their appearance was taken seriously initially, it lost importance in the continued glory, unquestioned supremacy of the later kings of Vijayanagara and their arrogance proved costly for them in the fifteenth century war.

“It would have been a bad day for the ghosts of Hakka-Bukka” said one of the tourists.

“A terrible one” said the Guide with pain visible on his face. He pointed his finger towards the tower of Virupaksha temple which was coming off in the corners losing its originality and said:

“Hakka-Bukka would not have tolerated it”.

It was not just that tower but many of the structures in Hampi were in sorry state and badly needed a revival.

One of the tourists joked “What would ghosts of Hakka-Bukka do now? Will they cry on the boulders of Hampi at night?”

Guide did not respond but looked at the infinite sky in silence.

Soon came the rainy season. Travelers left Hampi. Some of them wrote to the local Govt. and to UNESCO seeking their attention to the issues at Hampi. Few in authority had met the concerned personnel demanding them to take necessary actions. Some change was about to happen. Local Govt. had decided to revive Hampi and make it a top tourist attraction. They pooled the funds more than they would spend regularly and began their work. Many of the structures got face lift including the tower of temple. It appeared like whole town of Hampi had got a fresh lease of life.

Then came the summer and the tourists returned. But the Guide was nowhere to find. What is his name, he had several of them. And at the usual place he was available to tourists; there stood a brand new information center to help them.