Off the beaten path at Hogenakkal Falls

Hogenakkal Falls
About180 km from Bangalore, the falls are a attractive tourist draw. Though the falls are not spectacular in themselves,  they have spawned an entire tourist industry around.  Of course as we are always wont to believe, the waters are holy, hence a dip in the falls is mandatory to cleanse one of accumulated sin.  Though a sceptic like me prefers sin to disease that the garbage in the water is likely to spread. The waters of the Cauvery, flow through two sets of falls here, a smaller one close to the touristy places and this gorge a little way in.

The Upper Falls
These falls are closer to Hogenakkal, here there is a complete tourist/religious township. The railing on the right is where religious are to wash off their sins.  Are those sins I see festooned on the railings?

The Coracle
This is the main form of water transport here.  A frame of split bamboo/cane covered by blue plastic and coated in black tar. Steered by a single oar it is also the only means of propulsion. Our boatman, very deftly rowed and steered up current, no mean feat. The coracle, about 7 feet in diameter, can carry 8 or 10 people; we went in this one to the lower falls in the gorge. 

Cooking al-fresco
Old coracles are re-purposed by using them as roofs of huts and outdoor cooking shelters.  Apart from the myriad tourist industries that such places have over here the Falls have engendered coracle boatmen, massage-men, fisher folk and fruit sellers.   Here a group of men and women cook a quick lunch while others carry on with the business of the day.

Fish Seller
There is a bustling fish market here,the speciality being fish fried in a masala unique to this place. Many people buy, the often live, fish and have it cleaned and marinated to take home.  From the variety and size of fish, it is obvious that the fish is not all from this river and much of it comes from elsewhere. The fact that the fish are fresh is evident from the many live fish,like the one here held by the seller.

Fried Fish
Some people buy fresh fish and take it home, and some like eating it hot and fried here itself. A couple doing brisk business selling various varieties of fresh fried fish.  Some of the fish are bony and some are not, the bony fish appear to be tastier but more difficult to eat.

Ladies Selling Cut Fruit and Pickled Mangoes
 All business activity is quite a social affair, as we see from the two friends here running a chat while selling cut fruit. Markets in India are actually very social affairs, where selling, bargaining and buying are part of an elaborate ritual  

Cut Fruit by the Glass A brisk business here, cut seasonal fruit are sold by the glass.Here is  a closer view of the cut fruit, pineapples, watermelons and mangoes. The mangoes appear to be pickled in a manner that they can be eaten as fruit rather than a condiment. 

Water pots by the village tap
Though a common sight, over here the traditional brass  has given way to bright coloured plastic as seen by these neon coloured pots by the village tap.

Aayenaar
These Aayenaars are said to be the  the guardians of the village, in some villages they are simple but in many, such as the one in Pennagaram here, they are huge, colourful and complex.  At one end of a cement platform, the entire Aayenaar has, for good measure a representative of many forces. Apart from the stern and martial deity in the centre, there are effigies of policemen, horses, a tribal male and not mistaking the graphic anatomy, a tribal female.

Rajarajeshwar  Temple
A huge edifice in Bangalore, the colourful temple towers over much of the surrounding trees and houses.  As with all temples here, it has elaborate and colourful  figures adorning the walls, very painstakingly made.