Flautist on the hill

The yellow colour is almost blinding as I catch my first glimpse of the temple. The brightly colored statues lining the walls of the temple look freshly painted. I'm at the ancient Himavad Gopalaswamy betta temple near Bandipur in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. Built by the Chola king Ballala around 1315 AD, the temple sits on a hill (hence the term betta in Kannada) at nearly a height of 1400 metres, overlooking the Bandipur National Forest. I notice two flights of stairs as I get to the base of the hill on which the temple stands. The bright yellow singular gopuram draw me upwards and I try to keep up with my children who run up the stairs. At the end of the first flight, the stairs make a 90 degree turn. I pause to catch my breath before I climb up the remaining steps to the temple. A veil of mist wraps the area around the temple, like a gossamer blanket. It adds to the allure of the temple. The Himavad in the temple's name refers to this mist that surrounds the Gopalaswamy temple for most part of the year. I walk over to the short parapet wall that surrounds the area and find myself gasping at the panaromic view of rolling green hills. Breathtaking – the word pops into my head. I pull myself away to head into the temple. In the main courtyard, statues of the Dashavatara or ten incarnations of Vishnu – line the walls of the temple. My 11 year old furiously clicks away even as she gives a running commentary on how the statues make the stories come alive in her mind. A large, very old gnarled tree stands to the right of the courtyard. Numerous bits of colored cloth are tied all around the branches of the tree - remnants of special wish offerings by devotees. A reminder that the temple is a living part of daily lives even today. There's a small crowd gathering in front of the sanctum sanctorum in an inner courtyard. The idol of Lord Krishna (Gopalaswamy) playing the flute and flanked by his two consorts Rukmini and Satyabhama is arresting with the floral decorations. The pastoral motif is carried out on both sides of the idol with statues of cows and cowherds. After the partaking of prasadam, we walk around the temple leisurely absorbing the beauty of the natural surroundings. The scenic backdrop with meadows meandering over the hills is picture-postcard perfect. Suddenly the sound of a conch blowing startles me. It drags me to the present and we reluctantly move towards the jeep waiting for us in the parking lot below. "Wild elephants are spotted here", says our driver as he deftly maneuvers the hairpin bends on our way back. "Lord Vishnu appeared before sage Agastya at this temple after the latter did penance for many years," he continues in a firm tone that brooks no argument. As I look around the hill temple with its verdant greenery, I can easily believe why the place has been specially blessed by the Gods.