Hesaraghatta

Breaking the bird’s eye view- Hesaraghatta

-Aastha Mehta

Away from the city life of Bengaluru, a peaceful place to visit is Hesaraghatta, just some miles away.The society is agrarian, which makes the landscape full of fields, small settlements and lakes. But people often come to visit places as a tourist, seeing things from above- the bird’s eye view,as I’d like to call it, and not looking closely. I try to assimilate myself in this beautiful place called Hesaraghatta, observing things closely rather than a view from the top.

An important lake is the Hesaraghatta Lake itself. A man made reservoir created in 1894 across Arkavati river. It was built by K. Seshadri Iyer, the then Diwan of Mysore and M.C. Hutchins, the then Chief Engineer of Mysore. It was planned to store a three- years’s water supply to the city.

The lake is huge and feels like it has the potential to supply water to bangalore. But when you see it there is not much water. The lake has been drying up in the recent years. This is mainly due to erosion and silting. Another reason is the increased vehicles near the lake which have damaged it. More construction of roads and developmental projects will lead to eventual drying up of the lake.

 I look at the people and realise that when they visit a lake, they go with an intention of looking at it as a tourist spot. Camera’s out the second they step in, trying to capture the exhilarating moment, of  the wind blowing in your hair, a vast open space, birds and animals around and the two blues of sky and water coming together at the horizon to form a natural gradient of blue, pure bliss. Little do they realise that the feeling is registered in the mind and when you recall little things about the place, they do not come from the camera.

I look around and i see birds coming to the lake. Some, from short distances and others coming after a long journey. The birds add on to the scenic beauty, gliding across water, quenching their thirst. I look around and see cows grazing near the lake. They are spotted there due to the Indo Danish dairy project to provide good quality milk. I wonder if their grazing leads to lesser vegetation and subsequent erosion of the soil.

Along the hesaraghatta lake you find Sri Durgambha Devi temple, a very old temple of goddess durga  carved in stone and is deep pink in colour. Many pilgrims especially from the local villages in the area consider cutting a cock just outside the temple for grant of a wish. Consequently, the stone outside the temple is red in blood. Behind the temple is a areca plantation which also has coconut trees. The whole atmosphere is very serene and the weather is pleasant for most times of the day.

 
Another significant temple in hesaraghatta is Sri Basaweshwara temple. Constructed in granite, it is considered to be very ancient and has  witnessed many rituals. There is a mechanism in one corner of the temple which beats drums and rings bells simultaneously when started. This creates an environment for worship of the deity.The place gives a feeling of temple towns, with people settling around the temples and the rest of the area either barren or having agricultural plantations.

I take a walk around realising how the rural landscape is slowly changing- more shops opening up, work being done on machines, sturdy houses being constructed etc. There is a presence of sugarcane crops, mostly sold to the locals in the form of sugarcane juice. The best ‘tourist attraction’ are the Hesaraghatta rocks in the area. But if you walk down the bylanes beside it you come across two huge rocks placed on one another, a tiny stone pillar standing on top of it.

The significance of the pillar remains a mystery, probably dedicated to a god or goddess with some cultural significance. The way the rocks are placed, one on top of the another, looking as if they will topple, where one is triangular in shape and the other is oval resting on top of it. The structure tells us about Balance, how one thing supports the other, looking fragile but extremely sturdy and strong. Just like the culture of hesaraghatta, seeming fragile, like it would vanish after urbanisation but in reality the values and culture have been strongly held since centuries.

 

A very good example of this is Nritya Gram, an abode of dancers. The gurukul teaches Indian Classical dance, especially odissi. Created by Protima devi, this place is an entirely different experience in itself.

Sustainable lifestyle and practices are followed and the place gives a rustic feel. Earthenware pots, sculpture and traditional paintings are embedded in the area. The classes go on throughout the day, with dancers telling a different story through their performance.

There is art wherever you look- in physical form and through body movements.You feel connected to nature and your senses are open as you take a walk around, with grasslands behind. These grasslands might be the last ones surviving in south east asia. The biodiversity is slowly decreasing but places like Nrityagram put an effort to assimilate with the ecology and preserve it.

The beauty of Hesaraghatta is that even though it seems like it has nothing interesting with a bird’s eye view, there is a lot going on in terms of the practices people follow and the way they carry their culture forward, if we look closely.