There are many ways to explore Hampi. The ideal way would be to take a guided tour and explore this medieval city to its fullest. Our first trip to Hampi was very much in this fashion. This time however there was no plan, no itinerary, no schedule. We walked till we were tired and rested as long as we needed. We skipped what we felt was unnecessary and overstayed places we liked. We didn’t have a guide but confidently made up our own history about every structure.
Starting from Hospet at around 10:30 AM, our first stop was a small restaurant near to Hampi. We grabbed some hot breakfast including some Poori, Dosas and Bhajis. We were surprised to hear the locals in the restaurant speaking Telugu. Apparently Hampi is pretty multilingual and Urdu and Telugu can also be heard frequently along with Kannada. We also found signages in Hebrew towards the Hippie side where there is a good crowd of Israeli tourists.
We reached Hampi soon afterwards. The sun was shining in all its glory and there weren’t any clouds to give us respite. We parked the car, bought a few hats and slipped on our shades to prepare ourselves for site seeing at the hottest time of the day. We started off with a Ganesha temple and followed a trail walking through ruins of a city that was undeniably a marvel at its peak. We could see the mighty Virupaksha temple rising into the clouds at a distance. We stopped here and there to take photos, volunteered as photographers for other tourists and kept walking up the boulders to reach a high ground with a broader view of the city.
After spending a good amount of time in this high ground, we decided to head to Vithala temple with the famous stone chariot and musical pillars. A short drive got us to a parking spot around 1 km away from the temple. Vehicles weren’t allowed beyond this point and there was a caddy service for those who couldn’t walk. We opted to walk. The walk was short and beautiful and there were some delicate ruins and ponds on the way. We spent some time in one such pond clicking away some good pictures for our feed and absorbing in some peaceful vibes for the mind. Apparently this road was once a thriving marketplace known as Vithala Bazar with shops on both sides of the road.
We entered the temple through the main Gopuram. With high compound walls and archways, the temple commanded a respect of its own. Originally constructed by the Vijayanagara kings, the temple was dedicated to the Vithala incarnation of Vishnu, the temple is the most sought after site in Hampi. At the centre of the courtyard we found the famous Stone Chariot, the most elaborate piece of art credited to the Vijayanagara Empire. We soon had our fifty rupee notes out and were searching for a good angle to get a merged photo with the illustration of the chariot on the note. Pro thought of it as a futile exercise and didn’t try. I tried for a good twenty minutes before admitting defeat. Nandakrishnan and Punya were however in no mood to give up. They spent a good amount of trying different and finally succeeded in clicking a perfectly aligned photo of the actual chariot along with the note illustration.
The musical pillars in the Range Mantapa were closed for public and could be seen only from a distance. It is said that each of the pillars are made of resonant stones and would emit a certain frequency of sound when struck. A group of talented musicians could surely make music out of them. Satisfied with the distant views, we decided to move on. We were also pretty hungry by now. We had some freshly cut watermelon with spices and some sugarcane juice from the parking site and headed out for proper lunch from a nearby restaurant.
At the restaurant Nandakrishnan and Punya went for meals while the rest of us went for Fried Rice, Naan and curries. The food took a long time to deliver which lead me to drink a lot of coke which in turn led to another case of over ordering and under delivering.
After eating to the brim, we had half a mind to call it a day. It was a tiring day and there was a lot of sleep to compensate. Thankfully we didn’t and decided to go and see the Queen’s Bath. The Queen’s Bath compound was somewhat midway between the initial temple complexes and Vithalla temple. How the queen commuted this far for her daily baths is beyond us. The queen’s bath was a fortress by itself, surrounded by a moat and everything. It was large enough for the entire village. We reached the complex around closing time, so had to contend with a rather quick exploration.
Next we moved on towards my favourite spot in the whole of Hampi, the elephant stables. The very concept of a stable for elephants might sound amusing, but such was the might of the Vijayanagara empire at its zenith. Massive in size, the stables contained eleven domes which probably housed one elephant each. While ten of these domes were similar, the central dome was slightly larger. We spent much of our time here sitting and chatting on the lush green lawns in front of the stable. By this time the sun was setting and the sky turned yellow. After clicking more pictures we decided to head back to our starting point to see Virupaksha temple.
The mighty pyramid like structure was a thriving temple where worship was still active. By the time we reached the temple it was dark and the temple was illuminated beautifully. As none of us were really interested in going inside the temple, we spent some time in the nearby shops eating some light snacks and decided to call it a day. Our stay for the night was at a home stay in the Hippie Island, known as Gravity cafe.
Reaching the Hippie side from Hampi involves only a five minute boat ride. However travelling via car it took us nearly an hour to reach our destination. Gravity cafe was everything that was promised in the photos. The rooms were made of straw but had every amenity one could ask for. With low height tables, decorative neon lights and trance music in the background, the place did have a Hippie vibe to it.
We settled in for the night with some delicious hot food and chilled beers. We played a few mind bending games and shared some life stories. It was a day well spent, a trip done right. We were tired but actively looking forward for the morrow.
Note: Photo of elephant stables is from my previous Hampi Trip during 2017.
Read.Reflect.Repeat 