January | 2016 | Badri's Blog

“One of you walk outside the room, and you will find the image inside the room, but upside down” said a boy in local language, when we were on a visit to Hampi more than 50 years ago.

This was at Virupaksha Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, at the historical rich, Hampi in Bellary District, Karnataka state. In this complex, there is an isolated room which had two doors. One of the two doors had a hole of about 2 inches in diameter. The opening is clear and had no glass or any other material. I could pass my fingers through and through.

The room is small and can accommodate only 2 persons. I stood inside the room with one of my friends. The room doors were closed. Some light was passing into the room through the small hole.

The other people from our group walked outside the room, at a distance of about 3-4 feet from the door. Their moving images could be seen inside the room on the wall opposite the doors. But it looked like the people walking outside were doing so on their head.

Another observation. This temple, like any other Hindu temple has a gopur (tower) and kalash (pinacle) at the entrance. This is a round pinnacle on the tower built at the entrance or over the central sanctum of a temple. There is a large room at the back end of the temple. The eastern wall of this room has a opening of about 6×6 inches. The image of the temple’s Kalash passed through this opening and reflected on the west side wall of the room. However, here again, the image is upside down.

                    Image picked from Google

I could clearly see that there was no material, whether glass, plastic or any thing else between the kalash and its image. Yet, the image appears upside down.

This place was constructed at the time King Krishna Deva Raya ruled the Vijay Nagar empire around 1400 AD. I checked with the priests and other staff of the temple, they didn’t know the reason behind this phenomenon. For a few it was the miracle of God and for a few it was an engineering wonder of the architects who constructed the temple.

Rationalists, however, find the phenomenon quite normal and that it is just the pinhole camera effect.

For me it was something abnormal then, nothing less than a miracle, till I discovered the explanation at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_camera

Do visit Hampi and discover this mystery! Rather the Pinhole Camera effect!

Written : Badri Baldawa

Edited : Meeta Kabra

In continuation of earlier blog DTI 10: Snow Mobile, James Bond Style

There were various beautiful lava rock formations. These rock formations also formed large caves, as large as an acre each. Asphalt pillars were also seen here. They were the by-product of lava flow during eruptions. Though they were natural, it looked as if they were carved out of a large rocks.

It was then time for us to visit the Skogar waterfall. It is known for the enormous force of the water. We climbed about half a kilometer on a steep mountain adjacent to the waterfall, to watch the source of waterfall. It was cold and raining, but it did not stop us from trekking.

We stayed over night in a guest house owned by Mr. Uxi who was a very popular chef in one of the five star hotels in the Capital. We enjoyed our stay there and so also the vegetarian breakfast he cooked specially for us.

Hberagardi Natural Hot Springs

More natural wonders were to follow. There is a specific hot spring belt running from Keflavik airport and it cuts across the country. Geysers and spots where boiling water bubbles out, is common on this belt. On the penultimate day, it was time for us to visit a small town Hveragerdi, a town with countless natural hot water springs. We could see smoke coming out of the hot springs all over the hill town. They were just a few yards away from each other. I guess some of the private houses had natural hot springs in their own backyard.

We climbed half the mountain to see the various hot springs. At the top of the mountain there was a natural hot spring lagoon. However the weather turned adverse with sub-zero temperatures, wind and rain, we did not go up to the lagoon.

We were in the coastal area which was created by lava flows.The lava had even extended to the coastal area of the country by 5 kilometers. We drove through volcano eruptions through the trip. While we were passing through the lava land, there were heavy dusty storms. The wind was so strong that I found it difficult to control the steering wheel. I guess the lighter vehicles would not have stood to that storm and would have flown away.

Lava fields, Iceland

Lava sand, lava eruptions and lava mountains – it is not an exaggeration to say that this is what makes Iceland.

These were completely isolated kachhaa roads. There were occasions when we felt we have lost the way. I started suspecting the accuracy of the GPS as we were left at a location surrounded by lava mountains and dusty winds with no one in sight. It was a great relief when we finally reached the main road leading us to Blue Lagoon, the last of our stops.

Blue Lagoon is the master of luxurious spas. It is a lagoon, a large, open water body flowing from natural hot springs. The pool water was a lovely, uniform marine blue. The water was warm and at some places, even warmer. We reserved this site as the last point of our tour. After a hectic week around Iceland, these were well-deserved relaxing few hours.

Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Nishi, our 8-year old granddaughter was an entertainer and inspiration in all the activities, whether it was trekking on rough terrains, climbing the mountains, entering hot water springs in freezing temperature, glacier walking or snow mobiling. It was good we had a child like her with us, to keep the child in us alive.

In earlier years, when I imagined about Iceland, I expected to see ice and snow all around; it was Iceland after all! However, that’s not the case. I wonder whether a few more eruptions would make ‘Iceland’ into ‘Lavaland’.

Our wonderful trip had come to a close. A rich, fulfilling week later, we returned the vehicle and were at the airport to catch our flight back.

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Monthly Archives: January 2016

Mystery Behind The Images

“One of you walk outside the room, and you will find the image inside the room, but upside down” said a boy in local language, when we were on a visit to Hampi more than 50 years ago.

The room is small and can accommodate only 2 persons. I stood inside the room with one of my friends. The room doors were closed. Some light was passing into the room through the small hole.

The other people from our group walked outside the room, at a distance of about 3-4 feet from the door. Their moving images could be seen inside the room on the wall opposite the doors. But it looked like the people walking outside were doing so on their head.

I could clearly see that there was no material, whether glass, plastic or any thing else between the kalash and its image. Yet, the image appears upside down.

Rationalists, however, find the phenomenon quite normal and that it is just the pinhole camera effect.

Do visit Hampi and discover this mystery! Rather the Pinhole Camera effect!

Drive Through Iceland 11: Natural Spas and Lagoons

Experienced and Written By: Badri Baldawa

Edited By : Meeta Kabra