Pattern Inspirations from Hampi

As you drive past wayside scenes as regular as small colorful houses, children playing on the streets, pigs and cows and dogs on the road, bullock carts, and old men sitting under the shade of trees, little would you think that this small village in North Karnataka was the capital of an Empire more than five hundred years ago.

A visit to Hampi, as any site of ancient ruins, evokes in you a strong feeling of awe of how prosperous the place must've been in its heydays. The temple stone carvings here are not as elaborate as you would see in other parts of India, but are awe-inspiring nevertheless. Now in ruins, they stand a reminder of the invasions by the Muslim-ruled Deccan Sultanates way back in the 1600s.

Apart from memories of the kingdom's past grandeur, I also brought back in my camera some of the simpler, easy-to-reproduce patterns from the ruins .... simplest among all the complex ones I spotted there.

As travel memories at home, I must try painting them onto fabric, paper, canvas, walls, urns, or tiles - to remind me of the place each time I walk by!

How about these as borders?

This string of elephants would make a happy border along the edge of a wall, or on a stole!

I got to try this one

Have to add in this pic of an elephant we spotted.

Love the frame - colors on his trunk, and the blue window behind.

On another note, let me proudly share this too ... that A Sunny Yellow Window has been added to the Directory of Best Indian Blogs in the Arts category, and I am Mighty pleased! :-) A big thank you to the IndianTopBlogs.com team. Do visit their website for a listing of several wonderful Indian blogs.

Coming back to topic, tell me which heritage site has inspired you to Create, Write, Paint, Stitch, Engrave, Decoupage or just Poster-it-up-on-your-wall.