Wednesday, Mar 11th, Anegundi, India

Greetings!

Most tourists who visit Hampi will probably stay in the village of Anegundi.  There are several homestays, the best of which is reported to the one we're staying in, Uramma Heritage House.  What those who are here to see the temples and palaces often miss is the village itself, older that Hampi and providing current social narrative and historical continuity as important to understand as the ruins.

Our guide to the village (Ragu) is an amazing resource.  Living across the street from the village council office and the bamboo leaf crafts collective, he's also the social worker/recycling organizer and community education teacher.  Describing his years long strategy of changing the culture of village consumption and waste reduction, we were enormously impressed by how much impact his work has had.

He walked us around the village and nearby riverside, explaining ancient housing construction techniques, monsoon flood protection, religious variation, and community agricultural cooperation.  In addition, his tour-guiding and photography work has made him a valuable asset to the Indian film industry (even as an extra in a recent local movie as a journalist photographer).

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Wednesday, Mar 11t, Anegundi, India.