Visited in June 2024
Hampi - After visiting this place, I wished I had a time machine to travel back in time to see and experience the beauty, charm, marvel and glory this magical city had, while it was Kishkinda during the Ramayana era and during the peak of its existence as the capital city of the great Vijayanagara Kingdom in the 14th century AD.
Let me board my time machine to go a few thousand years back, when this place was Kishkinda, the Mighty Monkey Kingdom. I would see the Lord Anjaneya, witness the fierce fights between Bali and Sugreeva, seek blessings of Lord Rama, witness the moment when Rama killed Bali. I would climb up the rocky boulders to get a glimpse of the entire kingdom with river Thungabhadra flowing and nourishing the landscape and realise how things evolved over thousands of years.
Next, I would get off my time machine a few hundred years back. Now the city is known as Hampi and is the capital city of Vijayanagara kingdom. I can only see prosperity all around. A visit to the grand palace of Krishnadevaraya, seek blessings from Tenali Rama possibly try to learn a few lessons of life from Him. Then, I would visit the great markets to fulfil my shopping spree by purchasing products from Portugal, Persia, China, Mongolia, Turkey. I would trade the gold and diamonds I have to buy carpets, silk, chinaware and what not... I would walk around the city's glorious temples and spend an evening on the top of a hill viewing the sunset that happened a few hundred years back!
Now, its time to travel back to the present, and I am truly heart broken as all that I saw has been destroyed! All I can see now are ruins... plundered and pillaged mansions, broken chariots, ruined and looted temples, destroyed idols! Unable to believe that a city which evolved in hundreds of years were destroyed to rubbles in a matter of a few months!
Well, now that I have realised the bitter truth of the present state of Hampi, let me take you through what we can see here. Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has several heritage monuments that dates back to the time it was the capital city of Vijayanagara kingdom.
We started our trip in the evening from Thrissur by train and reached Bengaluru next morning. This trip is quite special for us as it was with our dear friends Madhu, Megha and their son, Arjun. We started off at around 9 am from Bengaluru and reached Hospete at around 2pm.
The name Hampi, originally known as Pampa-kshetra, Kishkindha-kshetra is derived from Pampa, another name of the goddess Parvati. It is said that the Vijayanagara kingdom and Hampi was found by Hakka and Bukka in the 14th century.
Post lunch and check-in to hotel, we visited Hemkuta Hills for a scenic sunset surrounded by the monuments of Hampi. We got beautiful views of Virupaksha Temple, a functioning Shiva temple at Hampi, from the hill.
The next day, we hired a guide and this is highly recommended, in order to understand in depth about what we see in Hampi. Our plan was to visit Vijay Vittala Temple first and then the other iconic destinations.
Vijay Vittala Temple is an example of the unparallel artistic skill and craftsmanship we had centuries ago. The intrinsic carvings on the pillars around the temple narrates the stories of local lives, portrays not only Hindu mythological characters, but also moments from lives of locals, traders from all around the world etc. It is more like a canvas that captured the daily life at that time as carvings on stone pillars all around the temple premises. This depicts how much rich the city was then, not just economically, but culturally also.
Vehicles are not allowed closer to the temple complex, so one has to either hire a buggy or take a short walk to reach the monument. On our way, we get to see ruins of the markets which flourished with tradesmen from around the globe. I could just sit back and imagine the hustle bustle when those markets would have come to life. Most of the market buildings were 2 storeyed, the merchants and traders could trade on the ground floor, and take rest on the first.
We also get to see a large water reservoir on our way to temple. Hampi had immense network of aqua-ducts which were well connected and supplied water from the main reservoirs to all around the city. This shows how well planned the city was at that time.
As we walk further, we get to see the rustic gopura of the Vijay Vittala Temple. Its huge and splendid. Inside the temple is the famous Hampi Chariot, that is depicted on the Rs 50 currency of India. Several mandapas, shrines, pillars with musical rocks can be seen inside the temple complex. Very detailed and intrinsic rock carvings on the walls, pillars and ceilings make us truly proud of the skills Indians had centuries ago. The shrines inside the temple are all empty, idols either collapsed or looted by the invaders, and this is indeed a shame for the entire humanity. Many of the recovered idols and murtis are housed in the archaeological museum in Hampi, and I heard that many are outside Karnataka in museums of other states from where those were recovered later.
This firangipani tree is more than 100 years old
The elephant sculptures with broken tusks during the invasions by Deccan Sultans
Next, we decided to take a coracle ride across river Thungabhadra. During this ride, we visited a small temple on a rock, saw the tomb of Krishnadevaraya, temple built at the spot where Lord Rama pulled off his arrow to kill Bali etc.
Later in the evening, we visited the palace complex of Vijayanagara Kingdom. We started with the Queens' bath which was constructed in Indo-Islamic architecture. The huge swimming pool was filled with water and also had excellent mechanism to fill up and drain off the water after use.
Later, we walked to the ruins of the palace. Only the basement exists now for most of the mansions. The Lotus Mahal, Elephants stable etc are an exception.
Yet another iconic structure at Hampi is the step well. This was completely renovated by the archaeological department of India, and no one is allowed to enter the step well.
Later in the evening, we visited the Virupaksha Temple.
Next day morning, we woke up early to visit the Hippie Island of Hampi which is on the other side of River Thungabhadra. While Hampi is a very historical city to visit, with its high inflow of tourists from within and outside India, we have several shacks all around. Hippie Island has many such stay options where the guests can stay very close to nature and enjoy the local life.
We first visited the Anjaneya Hill, where it is believed to be the birth place of Lord Anjaneya. We climbed over 545 steps to reach the top of the hill from where we get nice views of the boulder city of Hampi.
After visiting the temple and climbing down the steps, we drove to Sanapur lake. We also drove across the rural sides of Hippie Island and enjoyed the morning charms.
Later in the day, we visited the Lord Narsimha statue, the huge Shiv Ling, Krishna Temple complex. Needless to say, all these monuments were ruined during invasions and what we see now is what was left behind and partially renovated.
This was the last destination for us in Hampi. We departed to Bengaluru and further to Thrissur later at night by an overnight sleeper bus. Lots of hugs to Madhu, Megha and Arjun who made this trip one of the most memorable ones for us.
We loved the restaurants here. Its a bit laid back with cushion seating on the floor and serves good food, just that the waiting time is quite a lot!
Overall, I loved my visit to Hampi. If you are someone who loves to explore and learn the glorious past of India and its History, then Hampi has a lot to offer. Coming to shopping, Hampi has a few nice bazaars where we can purchase fine fabrics and sarees made from local Banana fibre and silk, which is famous here. We can also shop various miniatures of the monuments of Hampi carved on granite stone by local craftsmen.
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