inhabitants of a lost city Photo

Photographer’s Note

This mother ape and her child have now replaced humans as inhabitants of the lost city of Vijayabagara.
The ruins of the city of Vijayanagara or Hampi lay amidst a strange and fascinating boulder strewn landscape. The ruined city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The name Vijayanagara translates as 'City of Victory', from vijaya (victory) and nagara (city). As the prosperous capital of the largest and most powerful kingdom of its time in all of India, Vijayanagara attracted people from all around the world. Pandit Nehru, in his book, "The Discovery of India" writes:

After Timur's sack of Delhi, North India remained weak and divided up. South India was better off, and the largest and most powerful of the southern kingdoms was Vijayanagar. This state and city attracted many of the Hindu refugees from the north. From contemporary accounts, it appears that the city was rich and very beautiful--The city is such that eye has not seen nor ear heard of any place resembling it upon earth", says Abdur-Razzak from Central Asia. There were arcades and magnificent galleries for the bazaars, and rising above them all was the palace of the king surrounded by "many rivulets and streams flowing through channels of cut stone, polished and even." The whole city was full of gardens, and because of them, as an Italian visitor in 1420, Nicolo Conti, writes, the circumference of the city was sixty miles. A later visitor was Paes, a Portuguese who came in 1522 after having visited the Italian cities of the Renaissance. The city of Vijayanagar, he says, is as "large as Rome and very beautiful to the sight"; it is full of charm and wonder with its innumerable lakes and waterways and fruit gardens. It is "the best-provided city in the world" and "everything abounds." The chambers of the palace were a mass of ivory, with roses and lotuses carved in ivory at the top--"it is so rich and beautiful that you would hardly find anywhere, another such."

It is widely believed that Vijaynagar was the largest city in India and the second largest city in the world at the end of 15th century with 500,000 inhabitants.

The city flourished between the 14th century and 16th century, during the height of the power of the Vijayanagar empire. During this time, the empire was often in conflict with the Muslim kingdoms which had become established in the northern Deccan, and which are often collectively termed the Deccan sultanates. In 1565, the empire's armies suffered a massive and catastrophic defeat at the hands of an alliance of the sultanates, and the capital was taken. The victorious armies then proceeded to raze, depopulate, and destroy the city over a period of several months. Despite the empire continuing to exist thereafter during a slow decline, the original capital was not reoccupied or rebuilt. It has not been occupied since.

BelCan75, tiobibi, guytoc, Vasa, gunbud, Budapestman, MarianneS, berek, Muse, leo61, Rosa, paura, axiotea has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

isabela_sor (42136) 2009-03-04 10:29 [Comment]

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BelCan75 (2418) 2009-03-04 10:39

Hello Paul,

Amazing shot of these two monkeys. I love how the little one is holding on to his mother. You have captured them in all the beautiful details, great colours and great contrast against the deep blue sky! Informative not as well! Schitterend werk!

Groetjes,
Ann

bukitgolfb301 (4606) 2009-03-04 12:59

Hello my dear Pual

Very interesting composition. Color contrast is very attractive too. As same as human being.

Best regards and thanks for sharing.
Takero

atha2pan (3363) 2009-03-04 13:04

I like those apes a lot. I once met them in Gibraltar. The lower pov is fine here.
well done
Sakis

totoamoto (2260) 2009-03-04 13:21

Salut
Géniale ce moment de tendresse..
Je crois reconnaître un de mes amis.. ):

Bien joué.

Cyril

guytoc (1408) 2009-03-04 14:18

Hello Paul,
I don't know what's the most interesting between your note and your picture. It woud be difficult to choose...
I almost appreciate the lovely attitude of those animals and the great sharpness of the pic. Job well done ...
TFS
Friendly yours.
Guy.

Vasa (5500) 2009-03-04 17:03

Bonsoir Paul,

elle est tres aimable cette prise. Ton idee et ta realisation sont superbes. je suis tres content d'avoir vu cette scene et de te revoir.

Amicalement a toi

Branko

gunbud (27833) 2009-03-04 18:10

Hi Paul,
The vivid cloudless blue sky makes the ideal backdrop for this mother and child to stand out against.
The golden tones of the apes blend perfectly with the blue sky while there dark facial features are seen in great sharp details.
Very informative note to go with this fine image.
Regards, Tom

Budapestman (41836) 2009-03-05 7:01

Hi Paul,
Beautiful double portrait with attractive close-up. The details are very lovely, splendid clarity and colours. The note is excellent likewise. Have a nice day!
George

darek1978 (11179) 2009-03-05 8:35

Hello Paul,
This is great picture for Mother's Day;). So lovely double portrait for this special day. Excellent light and colours. Congratulations!
Regards,
Darek

PiotrSk (826) 2009-03-06 0:09

Hello, nice portrait, good quality whole - I like this picture - greetings Piotrek

dumbo (4358) 2009-03-06 12:26

Hi Paul,
What a lovely shot of these cute little monkeys. I like this low angle and the expression on the child's face.
Good work!

Warm regards,
Eino

MarianneS (14264) 2009-03-06 13:22

Hello Paul,
A very interesting story, accompanying a lovely photo.
Your low pov is excellent, showing all the details of this tender moment.
Met vriendelijke groetjes,
Marianne

berek (28901) 2009-03-07 8:46

Hi Paul,
its so cute. I like your point of view and sharpness. clear picture my friend.
Have a Nice Weekend :-)
Burak

Muse (30973) 2009-03-07 10:16

Bonsoir Paul,
Un commentaire très intéressant illustré par une belle photo. Des regards superbes qui en disent long et une très belle capture de leurs attitudes.
Très beaux contrastes et jolies couleurs.
Excellente soirée
Denise

leo61 (43398) 2009-03-07 10:21

Hi Paul!
I like your low POV here and the view at these two against the perfect blue sky.Excellent sharpness!!!!
Regards,leo

mirarer (4343) 2009-03-07 15:04

Hi Paul,
Lovely capture.
Very good POV, sharpness and contrasts.
Regards,
Mirari

Rosa (4591) 2009-03-08 4:11

Bonjour Paul,
Très intéressant ce commentaire pour illustré cette belle photo. Une très belle capture , des regards magnifiques
jolies couleurs excellent POV.
Merci pour le partage
Amitiés,
Rosa

josdon (157) 2009-03-08 17:06

Terrific portrait. Excellent clarity and colors. Composed ideally

Flavia (10202) 2009-03-15 8:33

Hi Paul,

Wonderful! Their expression are so human. The quality of your picture is great their eyes are sharp and lit. A picture to be proud of. A tighter framing would also be nice option to have the attention directed right to their faces.
Regards,

Flavia

paura (38348) 2009-03-20 3:46

Paul,
Lindíssimo trabalho. Composição está muito boa e mostrada com claros detalhes e ricas cores. Muito boa.

Abraço

Paulo

clic (4063) 2009-04-22 6:20

Bonjour Paul
Une accolade qui forme une masse en Delta, symbole de solidité!
J'y vois la confiance illimitée du petit envers la sagesse de l'adulte dont la majesté est amplifiée par votre prise en contre-plongée.
Amicalement.
Robert

zmey (7250) 2009-06-22 6:49

this pair made me smile. TFS.

regards,
Kristaps

axiotea (16081) 2009-07-13 23:29

Hello Paul
What a fantastic capture! I love it ;) The way the little one is holding tightly his mother is touching!
The mother's attitude is also great...she seems to check around...
Very good sharpness as well showing superbly the fur and a beautiful blue sky on which the apes stand out perfectly.
Cheers
Marilyn

hardyuno (2197) 2009-08-02 8:08 [Comment]

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fserajian (4477) 2009-10-18 0:48

Hi Paul,
Truly an excellent shot, well timed with good details and sharpness, well composed and framed too. Well done Fara

fadingstar78 (402) 2009-11-30 5:45

Great, touching shot, with outstanding sharpness, colors and details. Maybe, as all wildlife pictures, it's a bit out of theme for trekearth (but your note gets it back in theme) and it would be better for treknature. But I can only thank you for sharing this.