Cruising a new city for the first time, Maya was anxious as well as intrigued to explore the monumental site.
Being an inner geek with shy personality, she came to survey a historical site having ancient history but instead got sucked in dimensional...
Stepping out of the bustling airport, Maya was sweating heavily. Experiencing the humid nature of the southern parts for the first time, Maya was uncomfortable but endured it as she was determined to complete this trip while grasping as much information as possible.
She toughened her resolve and reminded herself that this is not Delhi and no one of acquaintance is here to judge her or her looks. She can as be as herself and be anyway she wants to be.
Prepping to counter the coming trip with determination, Maya hailed a taxi to reach her hotel booked priorly by her parents.
Checking in the hotel and leaving her suitcase aside, Maya started preparing to go out at the assigned site and how to reach there since the site was in a rural area and so she had to travel quite a long way to reach there. After confirming the transportation and reconfirming the map location of the site from the hotel using GPS, Maya left the room with more excitement.
After the arduous one-hour travel while bearing the sweltering hot winds of southern region, Maya reached her destination at last that is at the village named, Shravanabelagola situated in the state of Karnataka, India.
This village was known for the historical temples that represented the ancient resting place for Jain monks and were now known converted to Jain temples.
Entering the site, Maya was awed to see the intricate designs etched on the walls of the Jain temple named, Chandragupta basadi.
Since the topic of her study was Chandragupta Maurya, whose reign lasted from 321 BCE to 229 BCE, this temple was known under his name, as the emperor lived his last days at these temples when he adopted Jainism and devoted his remaining life to monkhood.
Originally having three cells standing in a line that further opens into a narrow passage, the basadi was south facing having cells on either side and was bestowed with small towers over them that resembled the chole type.
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According to the data Maya analyzed, an additional ornamental doorway was later added in front with perforated stone screens at its sides.
The screens at the doorway had intricate square openings etched on it that were carved with minute sculptures, that depicted the scenes from the lives of the Chandragupta Maurya and other prominent Jain leaders.
Seeing the real thing in person is so much thrilling, thought Maya as she started taking notes of the designs and the meaning behind them.
Experiencing the art and ancient designs of the temple, Maya got overwhelmed and didn't notice her surroundings at all.
Seeing a new prey amidst the tourists, a purse snatcher saw Maya and after observing her a few times, decided to try his luck.
Sensing the distracted disposition of the owner, the snatcher got the required courage and went to her side inconspicuously. Grabbing her purse that was half out of her pocket, the snatcher saw the opportunity and snatched the purse while zooming out of the area as fast as he could.
Dumbfounded for second, Maya came to her senses at once and shouted for help. "Thief, Thief give my purse back!", shouted Maya.
Following the snatcher while going around in circles for a few times, Maya got tired and took deep breaths to calm down herself.
Checking around herself, she suddenly got aware to the fact that she had entered an unknown part of the site and moved around to spot any person within her sight.
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Not seeing an end to the maze, Maya decided to explore the area while checking out the various inscriptions etched on the walls as she saw a definite pattern symbolizing start of a new journey and the process it entails.
Enamored with the style of writing, she took out her notepad and started drawing the symbols to encrypt its meaning.
Engrossed in her own world, Maya stepped into the gates of the monument as she passed the pavilion and unknowingly discovered a huge wall inscribed with lot of imagery and engravings.
Noting down the inscriptions to decode their meaning, she came across an incantation in Kannada.
Praising herself to have some basic knowledge of Tamil, which she studied as an elective subject during her graduation, Maya tried to decipher the incantation.
Getting a hang of the language, Maya tried to vocalize the incantation in slow manner.
Wrecked with a sudden earthquake like feeling, Maya got a whirlpool like feeling as she got sucked in to a black abyss and lost consciousness.
