testmeat photoblog

after taking a scooter to explore the landscape around hampi i thought it was time i should take in some temples as well. i was a little overwhelmed by the choice on offer so with a little on and offline research i decided to go to shri krishna swamy temple, primarily because google maps showed it was connected to a pushkarani, a sacred tank with cool steps leading inside. the temple itself was great, but frustratingly i learned that the image on google maps was inaccurate and there were no steps anywhere to be found. i had driven past a few other spots in the hope of finding this stepped tank, so i retraced my steps to a place called the royal enclosure, which contained ruins of an area where an ancient royal family used to rule. it was large and sprawling with many different buildings and structures including mahanavami dibba, a huge pyramidal platform and hazara rama, a temple with ramayana carved onto the walls. to my delight in amongst all of these ruins and relics was the stepped tank i had been searching for. if i was being picky i would have liked there to be water in the centre of the tank, although that would have required so much rainfall that my hampi experience would have been markedly different - so on balance i was more than satisfied with how it was.

here's the same stepped tank from an alternate angle