Between December 24-26, 2004 I visited Hampi in northern Karnataka. The place was so fascinating that not only did I take heaps of pictures, I also managed to drum up a rather long piece.
Do read on (at leisure, might I add, since it’s rather wordy).
And the snapshots from the trip are here.
In Hampi, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve been taken back in time. The whole town has such an old world feel. Everything seems like it is tumbling down (and yet everything is actually quite well preserved by the government now). When you take a walk down the main street in Hampi (and it’s a rather short walk), you realize how small the place really is. All the small restaurants and eateries are concentrated in this area. And they all boast of being recommended by either the Rough Guide or the Lonely Planet, as each of them will scream out when you pass them! From Banana Pillars (go figure!) to Greek Salad – you get it all! At one end of the Hampi Bazaar is the town’s largest structure – the 11 storey Virupaksha Temple. In the courtyard is an elephant chewing on his (or her) grass. I get quite a few kids all wanting their pictures taken. And an old woman who insisted I take her picture along with her grandson. Elsewhere, a man blows on a conch shell and just for Rs 10! At about 6.00 pm, we head towards Hemkuta Hill, where we’ve been told one an catch a beautiful sunset – if you’re lucky. We’re not that lucky – it’s a rather cloudless day and the sun sinks beyond the horizon without much drama. Still there’s quite a crowd at the top, perched on the rocks and walking around. It’s so silent, sometimes it’s eerie. As you look around, all you can see for miles around you are just rocks of all shapes and sizes. And the horizon turning a shade of purplish pink and blue. And then there’s the moon too making an appearance. At the bottom of the hill is a temple with a large Ganesh statue inside. It looks beautiful lit up in the night. That’s the last monument for the day. We make our way back to the hotel. The Rough Guide says in Hampi you can catch “arguably” the best sunrises in the world. Our plan is to trek up to sunrise point on Matanga Hill, which is to the east of Hampi Bazaar. At 5.30 am in the morning, it is totally dark. And since the guide book talks about muggers and thieves who take advantage of the dark I have a lot of second thoughts when I see the dark outline of the hill before us.
I can see the light breaking from across the horizon as the sky turns purplish blue with streaks of orange. I perch myself on a rock and watch nature’s spectacle unfold. There’s another guy who has braved his way to the top. A while later, 3 foreigners give us company.
We are joined by three visitors who perch themselves on the edge to catch a better view. It’s beautiful and not to be missed if you ever visit Hampi. Probably one of the best moments of the whole trip as the sun gives a dazzling display of its imagery and magic. I was glad I climbed the hill after all. An enterprising chaiwallah is at the top, and I have, what I can describe best as probably one of the most tepid cups of tea (stiff competition to the one I had earlier on the road!) I have ever tasted! And of course, he didn’t have change, so after having paid for everyone on top of the hill, we made our way back to the town, stopping once in a while to click a picture or two as the morning mist has cleared and we caught a glimpse of the view for miles around. Hampi, is also a birder’s delight. As we descend the hill, we caught sight of pretty spotted doves, a coucal, parakeets, hoopoes and even an enthusiastic and curious peacock!
We head back to Hampi Bazaar for a hearty breakfast at a place called Venkateswara (also mentioned in Lonely Planet!). From there we move on to a temple on Hemkuta Hill. The morning is turning out to be quite pleasant. Unlike the day before, there are even some clouds in the sky. My car had gotten mobbed in the meanwhile with curious kids, who are all posing in front of it. Ma Cherie, I must say, has gotten more than her share of attention during this trip, and I think it had something to do with her colour.
Lots of religious (and bathing, which could be related) activity is going on in this area. There’s also coracle rides one can take here for 50 bucks per person (both ways). We take the coracle back to where we started. It’s a pleasant ride along the river (especially so since someone else is rowing). And a coracle is surely a fun way to travel. It feels like you’re in a huge salad bowl. Thankfully, you’re not the salad. From there we enter the main Vithala temple complex and I come across artists sketching inside. I am tempted to just sit there and watch. Or better still, join them! But I take a few pictures of the artists at work instead. Some of them are really good. The temple also houses a Stone Chariot in its front courtyard. The rest of the structure is very similar to the others. A main structure in the centre. And longish structures with lots of pillars on the side. These guys sure loved their pillars. After roaming around for a bit, I sight a very interesting tree. And take a few photographs from inside and outside. It looks as old as the buildings. Rather tired by now (it’s about 12 noon) and we’ve packed in quite a few temples! We go back for lunch, freshen up and then set out again at about 4pm. Today we are determined to catch the sunset. We head for the Queen’s Bath area where there are some more interesting structures we hadn’t had time for yesterday. After a brief stop at the Mahavahana Dibba and another temple, we head to the Lotus Mahal. Pink coloured walls and a lot of arches. From the distance, this one looks truly beautiful. Squirrels dart in and out of the corridor. From here we head to the imposing Elephant Stables. Of course, they look nothing like the stables that you and I might keep our horses, if we could afford them. One can almost imagine a procession of grandly dressed elephants being paraded around the lawns and housed in this rather grand structure.
Once the evening set in, we walked across to the Hanuman Temple, which was looking really pretty in the evening light. A gaggle of school boys wanted to touch my camera and know my name etc. The kids, by the way, are really friendly around here. At about 7.30 or so we decided to call it a day. Referring to the Rough Guide, we tried to find a place called Mango Tree for dinner. But after taking a wrong road, all we could see were banana trees all around. The Mango Tree eluded us so we went back to the really slow service of Mayura Bhuvaneshwari.
This is the Patabhirama Temple. And the final one for us as we bid goodbye to Hampi.
The more interesting sight of the dam, however is outside from the roadside. I catch sight of these trucks getting an early morning bath by the side of the dam! What a novel way to clean a truck. I think I should try this with my car sometime. At the lake beside my house. On the way, just after we reach Tumkur, we make our last pit stop to catch the sunset by the highway. It’s hard to resist watching the sun going down on yet another day! |
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