Shiva

A Day with Shiva

It took us a day to recover from our huge overland excursion to Udupi but true to our word as soon as we were suitably recovered we headed back to the bus stop to find the majestic statue that had been spied from the train.

The men at the bus stop knew exactly where we were going, even if we were still unsure and amid much arm waving the correct bus was located. We climbed aboard and headed for the very front seat.

We have discovered, mainly through trial and error, that the comfiest place on an Indian bus is as near to the driver as you can get!

During our many trips we have noticed a common theme amongst the various drivers. They seems to value their own comfort over or around the bumps and holes, much more than they value the rest of bus.

Once the front wheels have been eased over a speed bump with a sort of reverence, the driver is inclined to throw his full weight onto the accelerator to positively hurtle the back wheels into airborne supremacy !

The road travelled was familiar as we had followed the same route to go to Udupi without realising Shiva had been along our path.

An hour later we were set down by a large golden arch that straddled a sandy tarmac road stretching into the distance. “2k that way” our helpful bus man informed us as he and the rest of the bus sped off in a cloud of dust.

We drank the last of the water, put our hats firmly on our heads, shouldered the small bag and camera and headed off along the dusty sun scorched road.

School children walked past nodding politely, they briefly practised their English, giggled loudly and walked on. Faces in the tiny stalls peered out as we strode along, vehicles hooted their horns as they rushed past, yet the many cows that crossed our path barely acknowledged us as they ambled on their way.

We reached the edge of a small town, souvenir shops and cafés becoming more prominent than the homes and school we had passed so far.

In the middle of town, lying to one side of the road, lay a beautifully decorated temple tank, its waters full of life and crystal clear.



Dragon flys hovered above the silent waters.

Terrapins swum in the shallows, diving deep to hide amongst the weeds each time some of the huge fish circled past in their patrolling packs.

Valuable fluids, lost during the walk through the mid day heat, were replemished in one of the side street restaurants.


The breeze swept shade appreciated nearly as much as the cold stone floor of the café terrace which calmed the burning hot soles of our flip-flops.

Toes were eased out of dust covered shoes and stretched on the cooling marble base of the table, ice cold liquids and even colder ice-cream were slid down dry dusty throats.

Revived we continued our search for the statue.

Two more corners and the sight we had been awaiting opened up before us. Flanked on either side by long sweeping beaches stood a temple entrance tower of magnificent proportions. Twenty stories reached up into the clear blue sky, each level decorated with finely carved life size statues, each one different, each one with a story of its own.

Coach loads of Indian tourists were deposited in the large parking area to the right as eager as us to pay homage to this magnificent place. Behind the tower a hill rose to give an elevated view over the town and beaches, green grass and flowered borders flowed down from decorated walls and sculptures.

Removing our shoes in the outer courtyard, we raced across the hot floor to the coolness of the tunnel running through the entrance tower. Feet were washed in foot 'sinks', the cold running water washing away not only the dust but the heat of the day. Wet footprints, shimering on the marble floor, evaporated rapidly in the mid day sun as we walked with the others into the inner courtyard.

Gold decorations filled the sky-line, horns blew while three drummers hit out a beat totally unrecognisable to my ear, repeating it over and over again until a sort of rhythm could be found.

We looked up beyond the tall domes of the temple to the hill, we looked past the walls and flowers to the huge statue seated atop the large mound.

 There sat Shiva, blue and gold, ablaze in the sun.

We walked the floors of the temple, walking quickly over the sun heated tiles in our bare feet, lingering longer in the cool shade than was strictly necessary.

We entered the inner sanctum, paid our respects and returned to the courtyard to look once more at the imposing tower.

Reclaiming our foot ware, that was now baked as hot as the floor, we walked on heading for the mound.

One hundred steps led up a steep staircase to the top, one hundred steps of highly polished black heat absorbing tiles.

Our shoes were once more removed and added to the pile at the base of the steps before we raced up the edge of the stairs, trying to keep to the 1 inch of shadow caused by the wall as best we could. Indian people bounced past us with “ouch” and “oh”s of their own.

By the time we reached the top all sensitivities from the soles of our feet had been burnt away, a painful tingling and partial numbness replacing the usual feeling of floor texture and comfort.

The smooth black blistering tiles were replaced with a pathway of roughened concrete at the very top, allowing one to walk around the back of the imposing statue and gazed out across the Arabian sea.

A cooling breeze blew inland as we stood in the tiny bit of floor shadow caused by the surrounding wall looking out at the horizon and at the vast empty beaches.

Although there are no signs preventing swimming, no body was in the sea. Two or three boats bobbed in the shallows offering rides along the coast, a dozen fishing vessels were pulled up onto the shore, their nets neatly piled under sheets of blowing tarpaulin.

 Small tourist oriented stalls were scattered around the sandy entrance to the beach selling plastic buckets, bright European shorts and T-shirts, inflatable rings and sea-side hats, in the same styles we find back home.

Under Shiva's right knee lies a doorway beside a tiny kiosk, a sign declares that 10 rupees, 5 for a child, allows access. Handing over our money to a uniformed man, we entered the cold inside of the rock cave. Like the tunnelled fairground rides of old, large brightly decorated scenes were painted and carved into the walls telling the story of …. well to be honest I do not know exactly, but it did involve a huge giant of a man, a small boy, a dwarf, a crying woman and some very beautiful back drops of sun sets and mountains.

We gazed and wondered, we made up stories of our own, we completed the circular circuit that wound its way slightly down wards inside the cave and departed through a second door into the blistering heat of the day.

Our journey to the statue had involved one bus ride of approximately one hour duration and a 2k walk. Our journey home started with a 1k walk before a small mini bus hailed us calling “Gokarna Gokarna!”.

Thinking our luck was in we climbed aboard and handed over our 90 rupees marvelling how cheep the fare was.

Our little bus raced along the road overtaking cars and people only to pull rapidly to a halt in front of them to pick up more customers.

People got on, others got off, all smiled, some chatted as we settled into the ride.

Suddenly we pulled into a large bus terminal where we were instructed to take our bags to another slightly larger bus. “This bus end here” our smiling host informed us.

We paid our 80 rupees to go as far as the next main bus stop where another bus awaited in the busy terminal to take us to Gokarna for 100 rupees

The resulting three hours of changing buses, waiting and travelling, on top of our blistering heat walk to the statue, had left its mark upon us once more.

We climbed wearily into a rickshaw to take us on the final leg to our home.

We gratefully climbed down the 128 steps to soak our dust covered feet in the cooling salt water lapping within the bay before working our way slowly along the beach to be greeted by our dogs.

We have now been here 12 days, we should be moving on. Instead of making plans we ordered lemon sodas as the sun set and booked ourselves in for anther two days.

Two more days won't hurt!