Once the Wellesley Bridge served the traveling public between Bengaluru
and Mysuru, however, a new and bigger bridge was built across the
Cauvery river in the 1960s. This bridge is now old and cannot handle heavy traffic and hence, a new bridge was constructed. Wild growth, lack of maintenance, strong water currents during monsoon, and water releases from the KRS dam have taken a heavy toll on the historical bridge.
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| A view of the new bridge |
Our trip to the island town of Srirangapatna was although a big
disappointment as we had gone in search of ancient temples and they all
had been renovated alas in the modern style. However, the existence of an
ancient bridge built during the British occupation using local engineering
skills came as a big surprise. After going around the Srirangapatna Fort
which was once the seat of Hoysalas, we hurried down towards the riverside
on which this bridge still stood mute but spoke of an interesting piece of
history.
It was early morning and still pleasant when I along with our group set
out to see Bayon, one of the last state-built temples at Angkor Thom
complex. From any of the hotels where you are staying, it is easy to
grab a Tuk Tuk and make most of the scenic surroundings as all the
temples are just 2-3 kilometres away. Our guide who was at our hotel at
5 am itself, motivated us to leave early to escape the scorching sun. He
informed us the temple complex was once the capital city of the great
King Jayavarman VII during late 12th and early 13 centuries.
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Angkor Thom with walls, moats
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Travelling across the world, I have come across many structures and monuments, however, the most impressive of these structures have been from the Khmer civilization which traces its roots to India. There are no words
to describe the Wat culture – I mean a temple in the Khmer language.
Hundreds of temples have been found and dug in the Royal Kingdom of
Cambodia over a period of 100 years. These temples had remained buried for many centuries with Cambodians not even aware of their own rich and glorious past.
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| Outside face of Bayon temple |
