After reading numerous blogs on Hampi and watching beautiful pictures of the monuments glistening in the golden sunset, I have been wanting to visit Hampi. Finally my wish was granted, after a couple of failed attempts. The lockdown had further added to the burden of planning carefully and hygienic places. To Travel or Not To Travel! Is not a simple choice any more but we just made the plunge.
I had imagined Hampi to be more of hippie village and few heritage monuments, but I had a different experience here more like a pilgrim to a sacred place. It wasn’t planned but I guess, just destined 🙂 So here, I take you on an experience that no land can offer:
As you near Kamlapur a beautiful landscape is in sight with banana plantations on both sides and hills with big boulders. There is also Kamalapur lake on the way.
Day 1 : Virupaksha Trail
With the blessings of Kadalekalu Ganesha we started the Virupaksha Trail. A tall and beautiful idol of Ganapati sits in silence as its not worshipped anymore after being destroyed. Up the Hemakuta hill gives the glimpses of the Hampi Bazaar under and the towering gopuras of the Virupaksha temple. The hill is full of small temples and carvings of Ram and Hanuman. Walk down the hill to visit Virupaksha temple, a beautiful Shiva temple still worshipped. It has multiple smaller temples within the premise.
Virupaksha Puram premises has its bazaar selling jewelry and gold, has its sabha mandap and a pushkarni (well providing water source)
After a quick lunch we walked through the Hampi bazaar to the Monolithic Bull pavilion, walking by the small trail from the left we came to Kampa Bupa’s path, Chakratirtha, we visited Kodandarama Temple and Yantrodhara Anjaneya Temple. [It would have been good to have a coracle ride here but the rides were closed down recently by the government.] Walking further we visited Rangatha Temple, Varaha Temple and reached Courtesan’s Street, the bazaar at Achyuta Raya’s Temple. This temple also has its pushkarni and sabha mandaps and other smaller temples in its premise.
The landscape in Hampi is associated with the Hindu epic Ramayana. Rishimukha Hills where Hanuman met Rama & Lakshmana, the Sugreeva cave, Matanga Hill (named after the sage Matanga and the highest spot in Hampi) can be viewed in this trail —- and with this unknowingly began our Ramayana Trail 🙂 The recent rerun of Ramayan on DD during the lockdown, alas came in handy and we were not completely blank when the guide explained the story/situations and characters 😀
Back to Hemakuta hill now for the sunset we visited the Sasivekalu Ganesha and enjoyed the views over the hill. Since it was cloudy we did not have a great sunset, but it was still worth it. Thus ended our long day and on this trail we walked almost 10 Kms 🙂
Day 2 : The Ramayana Trail continued.
We started our journey towards Anegundi, by crossing the bridge over beautiful Tungabhadra. Even though it was almost end of February, the landscape was lush green with paddy fields around.
Anjanadri Hill is believed to be the birth place of lord Hanuman. We started our little trek to visit this place. It was a steep climb of over 575 steps, but the peace and positivity at the top is worth it and needless to mention the views are spectacular.
We then proceeded to the Sanapur Lake, which gave us an opportunity to enjoy the coracle ride. There are also diving points here for people who would like a swim.
We then took a quick lunch break, but there were not many options available. The Hippi village is also apparently shut down leaving very limited options for lunch.
We then proceeded onto Pampa Sarovar, Shabree Ashram and Durga Devi Temple which is in the premise of Vali fort. A boat ride away to the island in Tumgabhadra, we also visited Navabrundaavana which contains the Brundaavanas of nine Hindu Madhva saints, who belong to the Sri Uttaradi Math, Sri Raghavendra Math, Sri Vyasaraja Math and the Sri SriPadaraja mutt and Other Various Prominent Madhwa Mutts. The last stop on this trail was Chintamani Ashram which is believed to be from where Ram killed Vali and then for penance meditated in the cave
(Visit only if you have an inclination, else you can give them a miss)
Sunsets in Hampi are a ritual, no matter where you are, you will find all the tourists in Hampi for sunset either at Hemakuta or Malyavanta Hill. Since we had our chance at Hemakuta yesterday we went to Malyavanta for the sunset. Luckily one can drive up the hill and walk a short distance to the temple and then view the sunset at the back of the temple. Malyavanta Hill has a temple dedicated to Rama at its summit. Rama and Lakshmana waited here during the rainy season before raiding Lanka. A well on top of the hill is believed to have caused by Lakshmana’s arrow.
Day 3 : The Royal Trail
We started the day with Krishna Temple. The Krishna Puram like other temple plans had its bazaar, pushkarni, small temples and sabha mandap. The designs were so detailed that one can only marvel at the creativity but a lot was destroyed.
We then visited the underground Shiva temple, Ugra Narshimha, Badavilinga shrine, Chandikesvara Temple and Uddana Veerabhadra Temple.
On our request our guide arranged a banana farm visit which was very refreshing. The farmers use Tungabhadra water canal system to water the farms all year round. It was simply amazing to see such vast expanse of little bananas.
We proceeded to cover the Royal Enclosure, Lotus Mahal, Elephants stable, Queens Bath and Hazara Ram Mandir. Hazara Ram Mandir stole our heart with its detailed stone art across all walls. Some walls depict many scenes from Ramayana in great details.
After a quick break for lunch we proceeded onto our last stop the Vijaya Vithala temple. The last was reserved for the best. We visited Kings Balance, Purandradasa Mantapa, Vittala Bazaar and Vittala Temple housing the famous Stone Chariot.
The archeological department is putting in great efforts to preserve these monuments but the work takes time and thus appears slow.
Lasting Impressions
Wandering through the streets of Hampi few things will be etched in our memory.
- Monkeys were our constant company, in the kingdom of the monkeys, Khiskinda. Sometimes fighting, sometimes simply staring in blank, or sometimes just playing their mischievous self.
- The balancing act of the boulders!! Often reminds of how we balance with multitasking in life. The hilly terrain is like no other and you will see numerous boulders, big and small in a balancing act of life. Its a fun game to imagine that the shape of these boulders resembles sometimes an elephant or a wicked witch.
- The locals here are very humble and devoted and they consider Hampi a place of pilgrimage. They are very down to earth and modest.
- The artwork in the kind of stone available in Hampi is one of the most difficult kind and I just wonder of the sheer talent that these artists had and wonder why was it not passed down in future generations. Not just the talent their scientific knowledge was great and Virupakshya Temple as an early pinhole camera. All their temples are carefully planned with insights into irrigation canals etc
Trip Details AND TIPS
Our trip was arranged by : Jyotsna Badade [Elite tours: 9689899169] and she did a splendid job and left us wanting for nothing more.
Guide: Hanumat Reddy.[9448719144] He is very knowledgeable and friendly. Can speak English, Hindi, Kanada.
Travel : We took an overnight bus : SRE travels [Pune-Hospet-Pune] These were nice and comfortable. (We initially thought of driving but the 11 hour journey put us off as it would make 2 whole days used just in travel)
Stay : We stayed at Clarks Inn. This is the best option in terms of amenities, location, food and budget. http://www.clarksinn.in/
Food: Just a couple of weeks before we landed in Hampi some of the popular food joints in the vicinity of Virupaksha temple were closed by government and also Hippi island was closed. The lunch options mostly include South Indian Thali system and are more or less same at most of the joints. Just choose one close to your location.
Internal Travel : Autos, Bikes and Cars are available. Would be good to use Auto or car as it can be really hot in the afternoons. I saw few who had rented bicycles but were struggling with them. Please hire bicycles only if you are used to them. The terrain here is hilly and it gets sunny in the afternoon. Better to stick to Auto or an AC car.
Coracle rides in Tungabhadra near Kodandarama temple are cheaper than the Sanapur lake.
Be ready to walk as lot, climb up and down the hilly terrain. Each day Strava counted atleast 7.5Kms for our trails.
Request to all the fellow travelers not to litter at these sites. It is such a disgrace to see so much effort of archeological department and government in waste when people litter in such places.
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