Experiencing Hampi - the Lost City

                        Sitting on top of the hill enjoying the sunset, the ruins of the forgotten city down there in front of me shone gorgeously in golden color. ‘If the ruins that survived more than half a millennium has such charm, how would have it looked in its days of glory’, I wondered. The city I’m talking about is a UNESCO World Heritage Site; second most desirable place to visit in the world as declared by New York Times; one of the few surviving epitomes of ancient Indian architecture and glory... The adjectives for HAMPI are numerous. Let’s begin the journey to this exquisite place.

Reaching Hampi…

                        We left Trivandrum airport by 5 PM to Bangalore and took a train to Hosapete from there the same night. Hampi is about 30 kms away from Hosapete, the nearest railway station. After reaching Hosapete by 7.30 the next morning we hired an auto rickshaw to Hampi which cost us around Rs.200. After finding an accommodation near the Virupaksha Temple, we set out to explore the ancient city.

Let’s explore…

                        Being the peak season, the bike rental was a bit costly. However, we got a better deal from an auto rickshaw guy, so we decided to go for that instead of bikes.

Vijaya Vittala Temple

                         The first place for the day was the Vijaya Vittala Temple, built in the 15^th century which is quite an exemplar of the architectural brilliance of the Vijayanagar Empire. It is a must to hire a guide to completely know about this amazing temple complex with numerous Mantapas, Gateways and shrines, at least when you are visiting the place for the first time.

                         The notable structures here are, the Maha Mantapa with numerous pillars with intricate stone carvings, the Ranga Mantapa with its musical pillars, the Kalyana Mantapa and the famous Stone Chariot.

                         The detailed carvings even in the last available inch of every pillar, the same carving appearing as different objects when viewed from angles etc., were simply breath-taking. Tapping on the musical pillars were prohibited as continuous tapping on them over the years have damaged them a little.

                         The majestic Stone Chariot with innumerable carvings, at the temple courtyard is a trademark structure of this temple. After spending more than a couple of hours resting in the cool interiors of the Mantapas, taking countless number of pics, and more importantly eating the brain of our guide as much as possible, we left the place.

Bhim’s Gate

  

Queen’s Bath

                         This comparatively smaller structure located in the middle of a garden, when viewed from outside gives no clue of what it houses. Inside this building is a once-filled-with-fragrant-water but, now empty pond, with numerous balconies projecting towards it. Like any building in Hampi, this too has plenty of carved pillars and domes.

The Royal Enclosure

                         The Royal Enclosure contains a number of structures scattered across a vast area of land. The notable of them include but not limited to, the Mahanavami Dibba, Pushkarni and the Underground chamber. One can also spot a number of stone-made aqueducts running through this open area, which were once used to supply water to the different buildings located here.

Pushkarni

Mahanavami Dibba

Hazara Rama Temple

                         This temple got its name because of the numerous carvings of Rama and different episodes of the Ramayana depicted in its pillars and walls till the last inch of space available. This temple is believed to be the private temple of the kings.

Lotus Mahal

                         This two-storeyed symmetrical structure with identical facades on all four sides is believed to be a meeting place of the king and the people associated with him in ruling. This half-opened-lotus-shaped building carries Indo-Islamic architecture.

The Elephant Stables

                         This stunning long building with 11 chambers built just as a house for elephants, shows the prosperity and extravaganza prevailed in the Vijayanagar Empire. We spent some sitting back in the lawn in front of it simply admiring the charm of this domed structure.

Underground Siva Temple

                         This ancient temple situated below sea level is one of the neatly maintained structures in Hampi. The pillars of this temple are simple compared with the other densely engraved structures in Hampi.

Ugranarasimha Statue

                         This is the largest monolithic statue in Hampi.

Matanga Hill

                         We trekked for about 30 minutes all the way up the hill and the view it presented was mesmerizing. This hill offers an aerial view of the Achutharaya Temple Complex, the Tungabhadra River, the banana plantations on its banks and the far view of the Virupaksha Temple, all glowing in golden color in the light of the setting sun. After witnessing the sunset from this hill top sipping hot tea served on top of the hill, we left the place.

Wrapping-up Day 1
                         The night life in Hampi is also unique. There are a number of shacks and restaurants that serve varieties of food – Indian, Continental, Italian, Chinese and the list goes on. There are also a number of shops that sells casual off-beat dresses, antiques etc. 

                        It’s a global village where cultures from different parts of the world meet and enjoy each other’s presence. After having delicious food from one of the restaurants and visiting a few shops, we called it a day.

Virupaksha Temple

                         The second day of the trip began with a morning visit to the Virupaksha Temple, one of the oldest functioning temples in the world. While few of us went into the temple to offer prayers, I was capturing the entire temple and its surroundings in my camera.

Anjaneya Hills

                         After breakfast we visited the Anjaneya Hill, where we had to climb almost 600 steps to reach the top. The steps were so narrow at some places and we had to literally bend and get under the boulders to find our way forward. The panoramic view of the plantations, the Tungabhadra River and the ruins of the city from the top of the hill was simply breathtaking. Since it was getting noon and the sun getting hotter, we left the place without spending too much time. On our journey downhill we took an alternative trek path on the other side of the hill instead of the steps we'd  taken before.  

The Coracle Ride disaster

                         We went for a coracle ride in the Sanapur Lake that afternoon. We negotiated with the coracle guys and fixed a deal even without getting out of the taxi. That turned out to be a huge blunder. Only after coming out of the taxi we realized how small the area for the ride is and there is no shade from at least a single tree to protect us from the burning sun. Since we had made a deal we did the coracle ride for a few minutes, just for a namesake.

The Tungabhadra Dam

                         This dam was the last spot of our Hampi itinerary. There were buses operating plying people to various attractions there. We too got in to a bus, but the driver was adamant that he won’t move the bus without some fixed number of people gets in. So we visited the dam walking, covering almost 2 kms in the process. The place is an ideal spot for relaxing in the evening, nothing more than that.

Leaving Hampi…

                         We reached Hosapete railway station after 4 PM to catch our train to Hubli which was supposed to arrive at 5.30PM. A little was expected, but we never thought it would be about 3 hours.  All we could do for those hours was going through the countless number of photos we captured in the last two days in the lost city. The photos looked more beautiful the more it is looked at. That is what Hampi is. One can completely explore Hampi in a few days; but, the word more apt for Hampi would be 'Experience', rather than 'Explore', and for experiencing Hampi even months are not enough. Because, the more you experience it, the more it reveals the hidden marvels in front of you.

                         But, for people like us it's always a tight schedule and we have no option but to leave the place, at least for now. The train finally came after 8PM threatening to ruin our plan of catching our train from Hubli to the destination of the second part of our trip – Goa. What happened after that? Read it here…