Hampi Diaries

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Hampi


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Hampi

Our Hampi Diaries

Puru


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Dedicated to the artists of Ancient India who created such beautiful

monuments like Hampi


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Preface

Presenting Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and awonder of Indian Architecture. This small book consists of a

mini guide too which will help you plan your Hampi trip better.

Puru

2-Feb-2013

Hope you enjoy it.


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Contents

Hampi A Travel Guide 1

Hampi Diaries First Days Explorations 6

Hampi Diaries The Coracle Ride AcrossTungabhadra

Hampi Diaries The Early Morning Trek 15

Hampi Diaries A Guided Tour of the Sacred Center 21

Hampi Diaries The Royal Center 26

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Hampi Diaries Hemakuta Hill 53

Hampi Diaries Vitthala Temple 43


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Hampi A Travel Guide

December 27, 2012

Time to visit

Hampi has hot summers and warm to cool winters. The best time tovisit is from November to February. However, the sun can be harsh

even during winters so come prepared with umbrellas, hats and sun

tan.

Erstwhile capital of the mighty Vijayanagara Empire, Hampi once

home to half a million people lies in ruins today. However, the

beauty of these ruins have enthralled archaeologists and travelers

for centuries now. The old city, around 25 sq km in area, has

hundreds of temples, shrines, palaces,

fortifications, magnificent examples of city planning, bazaars

and even aqueducts. Such is the beauty and importance of the

royal city

of Hampi that it has been included in the list of World Heritage Sitesby UNESCO. If the man made structures were not enough, Hampi

has millions of unique geological formations surrounding it, known

simply as the Hampi boulders.

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Hospet, which is around 15 km away from Hampi, is the nearest

railway station and is connected to different parts of the country by

rail network. The station code is HPT. Overnight trains run to

Hospet from Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa etc.

Frequent buses of KSRTC ply to Hospet from different parts of

Karnataka. Other than this, there are private bus services from

Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad etc to Hospet.

Getting Around

As Hampi is spread in a large area, it may not be irascible to cover

all the places on foot. However rental bicycles

and gear-less mopeds are available for hire. Bicycles comes for INR

100/- for a day whereas Mopeds will cost INR 200/- . A point to

notice here is that there is no petrol pump in Hampi, the nearest

being in Kamalapura, and the local shops sell petrol at a premium

often at INR 100/- a litre.

Another way of commuting is through three wheeler auto rickshaws.

An auto-rickshaw can be hired for a day at INR 600-700 /- .

Although it is more comfortable, it takes away a lot of fun from the

trips. Be prepared to bargain.

The nearest airport to Hampi is Hubli and a major international

airport is Bangalore. It is advisable to make the travel bookings atwell inadvance.

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Since most of the resorts and guest houses are located on the other

side of the Tungabhadra river, one has to take boats to cross the

river. The last boat plies at 5:30 PM. The tickets cost INR 10/- per

passenger and INR 15/- with luggage.

You might also want to take a coracle (round boat made of bamboo)

to reach Vitthala temple from Chakratirtha. This will cost you INR

150/- per person.

Stay

The places to stay in Hampi can be categorized in two groups, theguest houses and home-stays in the Hampi village and the resorts

and guest houses on the other side of the river. The ones on the

other side are bigger and more comfortable, more suited to families

and tourists who want all the comforts. However, they have two

drawback a) They are far from the place of action b) You need to

return at 5:30 PM when the last boat leaves. If you miss this boat,

its a 40 km long drive to reach the other side.

The residents of Hampi have converted some houses into

guesthouses and have also started renting their rooms

as home-stays While these places are not very comfortable, they

give you the real taste of the place. Hampi bazaar is just 2 minutes

walk from these accommodations.

To Do in Hampi

A visit to Hampi will include a lot of walking, hiking, climbing over

stone steps and rock boulders, boating, bathing in the river and

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anything else which you can imagine. For convenience, am listing a

few of them here.

3. Take a coracle to Vitthala temple. Have the time of your lifewhile your boat navigates through the Tungabhadra river flowing

between rocky mountains.

4. Go on a bicycle / moped trip to the Royal enclosures.

5. Take a hike to the Hemakuta hill in the evening and stand at the

Sunset point marveling at the scenery.

6. Walk aimlessly. Imagine you are an explorer set out to discover

the mysteries of the past. There are chances that you might

stumble upon something hidden previously.

7. Shop for small souvenirs at the Hampi bazaar. Bargain like there

was no tomorrow.

8. Have a relaxed lunch at the Mango Tree. It is really wonderful.

1. Climb the Matanga Hill in the morning; and morning means early

morning, before sunrise. You will not only see a

360 degree panoramic view of Hampi and surrounding

mountains,but this will also warm you up for the rest of the trip.

2. Visit the Hampi Bazaar, Pan Supari Bazaar, Virupaksha Temple,

Achutaraya Temple, Balakrishna Temple and the surroundings.

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Hampi is a place with religious significance, hence non vegetarianfoods and alcoholic drinks are not allowed in the area. This is a

good time to try different kind of fruit punches, lassis, mango shakes

etc. The restaurants in the area serve great continental food. Make

sure you try some of the Israeli food there.

Some restaurants which we tried and found to be good are Mango

Tree, Garden Paradise and Mowgli.

The post Hampi A Travel Guide appeared first on Shadows

Galore.

Eat and Drink

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Hampi Diaries First Days Explorations

December 28, 2012

Ever since I read the funny tales of Tenaliram and Krishnadevaraya

in the childrens magazine Nandan years back, Vijayanagar has

held its place in my to visit lists. So this Christmas vacation, whenEkta made me an offer, that we visit Hampi the once mighty

capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, I could not refuse.

So on the morning of 22 Dec 2012, after a 10 hour bus journey, we

were in Hospet, the town nearest to Hampi. The journey was rather

uneventful except that I hardly got any sleep and Ekta slept

throughout the journey. We reached Hospet at around 9 AM andtook an auto to reach Hampi which is around 15 km away.

On reaching the Hampi village, the first sight that greets you is of

the Tungabhadra River running parallel to the serpentine road

flanked by a vast sea of mighty boulders in the background. Boats

run across the river to go to the other side. It is a tranquil little place

and we had no problem in finding our guest house and renting a

bike. Interestingly we came to know that Liquor or Non Vegetarian

food is not allowed within the boundaries of Hampi. Ekta was elated

and I, heartbroken.

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Since we were famished, after some rest we immediately set out to

find some food in the direction of the famous Mango Tree

Restaurant. Its a beautiful place on the banks of Tungabhadra, set

under the shade of a giant mango tree. The path to the restaurant

winds through a banana plantation and one needs to remove the

footwear to enter the restaurant. It is a place where you can sit on

mats in the open and enjoy the view of the Hampi boulders and the

riverfront with trees all around while having your meal.I had been

craving for South Indian food ever since coming from Chennai and

settled for a Thali while Ekta tried the Israeli Humus and Falafel

with Chapati. Served on Banana leaves, the food was delicious.

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Ducks swimming in the Tungabhadra waters, as we saw them from the

Mango Tree


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After the lunch, we were ready to do some exploration of our own.

So we set out on the path suggested by locals and soon found

ourselves in the middle of the Hampi Bazaar. On both sides of the

main street were lines of stone structures which once made the

main bazaar of Hampi. Ironically it was a living market till the

beginning of this year but was the shops running in these structures

were demolished by the government to return the place to its

original condition. Seems Tughlaq still lives in the corridors of

power of our republic.

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Israeli Food served on Banana leaves. A delicious fusion of Indiaand the

World at the Mango Tree Restaurant


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A view of the Hampi Bazaar with the Virupaksha Temple in thebackground

and Hemakuta hill on the left.

The Mighty Boulders of Hampi

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At the far end of the bazaar were a big monolithic Nandi and a giant

flight of stone steps going up. As we climbed up those stairs, we

could see a panoramic view of The Hampi Market and the shikhara

of the Virupaksha temple at a distance. This was the view of the

city center of one of the mightiest Hindu empires in Indian history.


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Once we were on the top of the steps, we were able to finally

appreciate the beauty of these famed rock formations, known as the

Hampi boulders. Huge rocks shaped by winds over millenniums

flanked us from every direction and I felt so insignificant in front of

them. Maybe this is why ancient sages went to mountains in search

of peace. Ones ego melts away when confronted by these mighty

rocks which have seen empires rising and falling, countless humans

passing by

There was a small Hanuman temple on the top and there was a one

old lady sitting there who after seeing us, went inside the temple

and came out with tilak to put on our foreheads. On the horizon, we

could see more mountains and as I went to the edge, was taken by

surprise. The ruins of a large temple emerged in the valley beneath

like the Flying Dutchman. Even from this height we could tell that

Achutaraya Temple, as we first saw it down in the valley

this was something magnificent. We scurried downwards towards it.

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The temple we accidently found was the Achutaraya temple built in

the 15th century and we had stumbled upon it from the wrongdirection. The outer structures of the temple were in a rundown

condition but the inner sanctum was quite well preserved. There

were intricate carvings on the walls and throughout the base of the

temple were bold reliefs depicting scenes from battle, with

elephants, camels, horses and infantry. I noticed that there were

two distinct campuses and while the bases of the Gopurams were

Carvings on the walls

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made of stone, the superstructure was made of brick and lime. I

was not sure that this was the same architecture I had seen in the

temples of Kanchipuram and Madurai. Later, while I was reading the

ASI guidebook on Hampi, came to know that this was a distinct style

of Vijayanagar. In front of the temple was another line of ancient

shops, which I later learnt was known as the courtesans street. But

in ignorance, we did not pay much attention to it.

After spending some time in the Achutaraya temple, we decided to

go along a trail in the rocks which we believed went to the top

Matanga Hills. This trail was actually another flight of stone steps,

but was in a rundown condition with many of the steps having fallendown. We kept climbing in the hot sun till we were almost under the

peak of the mountain.

A decapitated figurine found in a corner in the Achutaraya Temple

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However, at this point, the path became very dangerous and the

probability of us slipping and falling down became disproportionately

high. Being a married man now, I did not risk the lives of myself and

my brand new wife and forced her to turn back. The descent was

more difficult than the climb but we managed somehow. We would

never know how close we were to success before we quit, but we

will try it from a more proper route tomorrow.

Achutaraya Temple

are going back with one.

This was a short day, and after a dinner again at Mango Tree we

are back at the guest house to rest and plan the rest of the trip.

By this time, the hot sun and physical exercise had taken its toll and

we were very tired. So we came back to our guest house to take

rest for an hour. That an hour became four hours and by the time

we woke up, it was dark. So we visited the local market. The market

is as small as the village but sells quite a few curiosities. Ekta

got enamored with some camel and yak leather bags. Dunno howgenuine they are but they were colorful and rather expensive.

Although she did not buy them today, I have a gut feeling that we

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Hampi Diaries The Early Morning Trek

December 30, 2012

Day 2 started early. Ekta woke me up at 6:30 AM shouting that thesun will be up. Well it turned out that sun was already up by that

time. Anyway, we got ready in a hurry and got out for our morning

photography trip. Our first stop was the bank of Tungabhadra. Since

it was a Sunday morning, the ghats of Hampi were packed with

tourists, school kids etc who had just arrived on an excursion. While

we stood there staring at the people, I looked at Ektas face. She did

not look in a very good mood; I asked why and she replied,Because there is nothing interesting here! So we chucked the idea

of taking photos of the river and set out for our next target, which we

had missed the day before the Matanga hills.

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So we reached the foothills again and then started climbing. The

weather was quite cool and it was definitely better than before. We

got lost at a couple of points but some helpful soul had made arrow

marks leading to the hill. After a point it was another flight of steep

stone steps going up, but this time it was in a better shape and did

not appear life threatening. As we went up, we could see the

panoramic view of the valley below. We could see a temple below

us which I incorrectly identified as the Achutaraya Temple. It turned

out to be the Balakrishna temple. More about it later

The Ascent

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Balakrishna Temple and the market, as we saw it from the MatangaHill

View of the valley from other side, shows Pushkarani, a part ofCourtesan

street, Varaha Temple, Ancient bridge and theTungabhadra river

winding around the boulders

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We climbed and climbed and did not stop till we were completely

out of breath. Either age is catching up with me or IT has made me

completely useless. It took us another 30 minutes for us to scale the

500 odd steps and reach the top. It turned out that the hike was

worth the effort. The 360 degree view of the Hampi town and

various sites around it was fabulous in the rays of the morning sun.

To add to it, we were getting good mobile signal and we were able

to check emails, sms, Facebook updates etc.

Matanga Rishis Ashram

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A Mandapa glows in morning sun at the top of the Matanga Hill

Ancient Watchtower on a distant Hill, stands alone, still guarding itsKingdom

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On the top, there was a big building marked as the ashrama of the

Matanga Rishi. There were three stone mandapas under one of

which we sat down to rest. Then we ventured into the ashrama; it

was a spooky place with lots of pillars and rooms, galleries leading

to the abyss below and a temple of Kali in the middle. The place

looked deserted but there were signs that someone had lived there

till recent. There were view points from where one could get a

panoramic view of what lied beneath a photographers delight! We

spent a lot of time taking photographs and then started our descent.

At the foothills, a path led to the river but we had no time for it as we

were getting late for an appointment. More about that appointment

and rest of our day in the next post..

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Hampi Diaries A Guided Tour of the Sacred Center

January 05, 2013

Our appointment was at 9:30 AM with our tour guide Krishna, who

we had met the evening before. So at 9:30 AM sharp, we reached

Virupaksha Temple where we were supposed to meet him. We

were a total of six, us, a Swedish couple and two guys from

Hyderabad. One of the Hyderabadis turned out to be a friend who I

used to know during my engineering days in Chennai; its a smallworld indeed.

Virupaksha Temple, from where the Guided tours usually start

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Our tour started with the Royal Ganesha, a seven meter high giant

idol of Lord Ganesha carved out of a single rock. The temple was

built around the idol. However, it was not a temple anymore, as the

guide explained, Hindus do not worship broken idols.

Temple of the Royal Ganesha

The Royal Ganesha

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After the Royal Ganesha, we went to see what is interestingly called

the Mustard Ganesha. Since the Royal Ganesha was reserved only

for the royalty, a mustard merchant got this Ganesha made so that

common people could visit it and have darshan. This Ganesha was

unique in a way, if you behind the idol, you can see the figure of a

woman at the back. The son Ganehsa actually sits on the lap of his

mother Parvati in this depiction.

A view of the Spice Market from the Balakrishna Temple

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The Inner sanctum of the Balakrishna Temple

Beautiful Carvings inside the Balakrishna Temple

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From the Mustard Ganesha, we went to the Balakrishna Temple, an

exquisitely carved temple which dedicated to Baby Krishna which

was constructed to commemorate Krishnadevarayas victory over

Odissa in 1513 AD. The temple had beautiful mandapas supported

on intricately carved pillars depicting flowers, mythical animals and

scenes from Krishnas life. The gopura had reliefs of Vijayanagara

armies chasing the vanquished enemy.

Lakshmi Narasimha

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The Lakshmi Narasimha and Badavalinga Shiva were the next twostops we took before starting off to the Royal enclosure. Narasimha

was another giant and impressive idol of Vishnu in his Narasimha

avatar. Sheltered under the giant Sheshanag, Narasimha looked

very fierce. It is said that a figure of Lakshmi was originally sitting on

the lap of Narasimha, but now it was almost completely gone with

just a beautifully sculptured hand around Narasimhas waist leftintact. The Siva was a huge lingam said to be commissioned by a

poor old woman with her lifes savings. The lingam was intact with

its base permanently under water.

Badavalinga

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From here we started towards the Royal Enclosure which lies

around 3-4 km away. But in the way, there was another thing to be

seen Musical pillar. We passed by many ruined temples and

buildings in various states of disrepair and stopped at a roadside

temple. The sanctum was locked up and was almost tumbling down

and only the front porch was open for visitors. Here the guideshowed us stone columns which gave musical sounds of tabla and

ghatakam when tapped. It indeed worked and we were left amazed

at this little piece of master-craftsmanship from ancient India!

Our guide giving a demonstration of the Musical pillars

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The last stop before we entered the Royal Enclosure was the

Underground Temple. Well, it is not an Underground Temple as per

se. Just that, the surrounding ground level has risen, sinking thetemple below and hence the name. The temple was good in the

middle of a lush green lawn. But a bigger part of it was under not so

clean water so we did not venture much inside. There is another

temple in the vicinity called the Hazaar Rama Temple but for some

strange reasons, the guide decided to give it a miss.

Next in our Hampi Diaries The Royal Enclosure

You can find the map of the sacred center here.

For more and better resolution photographs, please go to Hampi

Diaries A Guided Tour of the Sacred Area, a set on Flickr.

Underground Shiva Temple

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Hampi Diaries The Royal Center

January 12, 2013

Our visit to the Royal Center started after we left the Underground

Shiva Temple. We passed through a narrow and dusty path and a

building with a lone window which looked so out of places, for

a accessorized with a Palm Tree, it looked more a part of an

Arabian Sultanate than a kingdom in Southern India.

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We reached a huge parking lot at one end of which was a ticket

counter, INR 10 tickets for Royal Center and Vitthala Temple (INR

250 for foreigners!). There was a hole in a huge wall from which we

were supposed to enter and so did we. It was a different world on

the other side

This was the building straight out of Arabian Nights

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There were no cars, buses, bikes, toilets, litter .. instead there was aquiet, sprawling manicured lawn which seemed to spread across.

The wall we just breached was actually a part of a fairly large

fortification, square in size surrounding what our guard described as

the Zenaana Enclosure or the Ladies Enclosure. There were just

two buildings in this area; the first was actually a richly carved base

of what has been left of a Royal Palace, but it was the second

building which took our breath away!

Zenana Enclosure and the Palace

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Lotus Mahal

The Beautiful arches of Lotus Mahal

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Lotus Mahal is a beautiful little specimen of the Indo-Islamic

Architecture. Named the Lotus Mahal because of the Lotus relief on

its arches, this two storied building is built in brick and mortar as

opposed to the stone structure of most of Hampi and stand almost

unblemished except for the vandalism done on its walls by stupid

lovebirds. Our Guide told that this palace used to be a summer

retreat for the royal ladies when their men would leave for war

campaigns. He also pointed that this was an Air conditioned

building; there were actually terracotta tiles running through the

walls which carried cold water to cool off the building !

From another hole in the wall we came out and stood in front of a

huge building. Was it a palace, was it a castle, it was a stable !

What we were looking at was the stable of the Royal elephants of

the Vijayanagara empire. Adorned with 11 domes for 11 elephants,

the magnificent building was another unique mixture of the South

The Elephant Stable

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Indian and Islamic schools of architecture and was quite well

preserved. Adjacent to it was another building which served as the

quarters of the guards of the elephants. Well, this guard quarter of

the past was big enough to be a museum in present

The seat of power of Vijayanagara was a grand monument.

Although, only the bases of almost all the buildings were left, yet

there was a clear indication of how it would have been in the 15thcentury. The Kings audience hall was a 100 pillared one, each pillar

said to be carved from Sandalwood. We even went down to the

underground chamber where the King used to have secret meetings

with his nobles and foreign diplomats.

The Seat of Power of Vijayanagar

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Adjacent to the Audience hall is a beautiful stepped pond, made insimple yet ascetic geometrical patterns. It used to be the ceremonial

pond of the Royalty for their annual Dussera and Diwali festival. A

The Stepped Pond, simple yet beautiful

The Aqueducts of Hampi

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nice serene place ideal to sit by and get photographed. The pond

was flanked by a seemingly unimportant but in reality, an

architectural feat of Hampi the aqueducts. Carved in stoned, these

aqueducts used to carry water to different parts of the Royal Center.

A 500 year old water supply pipeline ! Romans would have been

proud to see this.

Mahanavami Dibba

The carving on the walls

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The tallest structure of the Royal Center which is visible from a

great distance is the Mahanavami Dibba. From the distance it looks

just like an elevated platform, you are aware of its richness onlywhen you go near it. This platform, which was used during the

festival for the King to make public appearances is built in three

layers, perhaps during different periods. Carved extraordinarily, the

sides of the Dibba are a living photo gallery about the life and times

of Vijayanagara, showing scenes from daily lives of the people,

dances, sports, festivals, massive armies marching to battle, wars

an archaeologists delight! There are rich flowered motifs, scenes

from Ramayana and other Hindu epics. I have never seen anything

like this before ..

Dancers just look at how their dresses have been carved.

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While narrating the stories our guide never made an attempt to hide

his hatred towards the Islamic invaders who destroyed Hampi. He

said This used to be one of the most beautiful palaces in the

world, would make foreign travelers stands in awe when they wouldfirst see it. This city 500 years ago was inhabited by half million

people, now there are just 5000. From a bustling city, Hampi is just

an open air museum now. So, this is what they did to Hampi, looted

and burnt it for six months and laid it waste. I cannot say that at that

moment, I did not share his feelings. Just looking at the ruins, one

could imagine how beautiful this city would have been in its gloriousdays. How can someone have the heart to destroy something which

has taken centuries to be built?

The sun was getting brutal by this time and we were tired, hungry

and dehydrated. So we decided to call it a day and come back later

for what was left The Hazara Rama Temple and Queens Bath.

You can find the map of the Royal Center here

Hampi Diaries The Royal Enclosure, a set on Flickr for more

photographs in better resolution.

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Hampi Diaries The Coracle Ride Across Tungabhadra

January 16, 2013

Day 3 started early again. By 7:30 AM we were ready to start our

day. Targets of today: Vitthala Temple and Queens bath, both of

which wont be covered in this post. Lets just talk aboutour coracle ride.

Chakratirtha as seen from the river Tungabhadra

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There are two ways of reaching Vitthala Temple without a vehicle;

you can either walk along the river Tungabhadra or you can take a

coracle which will ferry you to there. Naturally, we chucked the idea

of walking and decided to go the water way.

We started walking along the Hampi Bazaar and took a left turn

where the signboard said Kampa Bupas path. This path was a trail

along rocky boulders which goes parallel to the river and needed to

A priest going for his bath at Chakratirtha

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be covered on foot. At the end of it, we found ourselves at the

Chakratirtha. Flanked by an old stone temple with large pavilions,

this place is the valley point of two mountains, the Matanga Hill and

the Rishyamukha Hill. The river Tungabhadra takes a turn to the left

from this point and so this place gives a spectacular view of the

turning river as well as the boulder hills in the front and ancient ruins

on the rocks in a distance. The ghat is a flat sheet of rock which

gradually descends into the water. This spot is considered as the

holiest bathing spot in Hampi, and even at early morning, was

abuzz with priests taking a dip in the river.

From Chakratirtha, we took a coracle with a boy-boatman and

started. Coracle is a unique boat, shaped like an inverted bowl and

made of bamboo. It goes pretty fast in a spinning motion. The small

trip to the other side was beautiful. We passed through mighty

boulders and our boat-boy showed us various old ruins and stone

idols of Nandi on the rocks. The currents were high and at one

The sight of the Rishyamukha hill (where Hanuman first met Ramand Lakshman) and the boulders in the front, the swiftly flowing river

and the ghat with people and coracles is any photographers delight.

On the rocks are carved many Shiva Lingas which are

still worshiped after centuries. Just sitting at Chakratirtha is

a spiritual experience, especially at a clam early morning.

The pavilion at the back was apparently built fortheuse of Pilgrims who used to come for taking bath in theriver. There were not many people around, only a few artists

preparing paintings and sketches of the place. I went there andinteracted with a few,some of the paintings were really amazing.

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place, we even saw a whirlpool at a distance. It was only when we

got down; we saw a signboard cautioning people about crocodiles in

the river!

It was time to go and meet Lord Vitthala

Hampi Diaries The Coracle Ride Across Tungabhadra, a set

on Flickr.

From a Coracle

The post Hampi Diaries The Coracle Ride Across Tungabhadra

appeared first on Shadows Galore.

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Hampi Diaries Vitthala Temple

January 20, 2013

I am bored of writing and by this time, you might have been bored

reading all my monologues on Hampi. So this post will be lesswords and more photographs.

Vitthala Temple is the most splendid among the temples of Hampi

and is famous for its rich and ornate design and beautiful carvings.

Dedicate to Lord Vishnu, this temple was built in the 15th Century

AD.

The Mahamandapa

The Mahamandapa of Vitthala is majestic. It occurred to me that its

design resembled a Sri Yantra. Richly carved with ornate motifs,

beautiful pillars and richly carved monolithic pillars. It had a lot of

Musical pillars which are said to produce the sounds of manymusical instruments when tapped. The roof of the Mahamandapa

had collapsed centuries back and is being restored.

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The Mahamandapam Main Sanctum

Beautifully carved motifs

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Beautiful carved pillars in the Southern hall with figures ofNarasimha

and Yali

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Musical Pillars

Vishnu

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Carved Base adorned with horses, elephants and horses

The Stone Chariot

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The Stone Chariot is the most famous structure inside the Vitthala

Temple and happens to be the symbol of Hampi. This happens to

be a temple chariot drawn by elephants and dedicated to Garuda-

the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. It is placed on a rectangular platformwith battle scenes engraved at the base and four richly carved and

giant wheels attached to it. The wheels were actually free to move

on the axis ! The Stone happens to be a great draw for people who

wished to be photographed infront of it. It took me a lot of time to

finally find the chariot empty so that I could capture it in peace.

One point, some people out of their ignorance or apathy, wereclimbing over the elephants for getting photographs. While the

elephants are made of stone, they should keep it in mind that for

one photograph, they can inadvertently damage this monument.

The Indian tourist needs to be a little more sensitive about

protecting our heritage. These monuments will never be built again.

The Stone Chariot

The Chariot

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Another view of the Chariot

A view of the chariot from the front

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The Inner Sanctum

The inner sanctum of the temple lies underground. You have to go

down a flight of stairs to a dark Pradakshina hall. It was kindda

spooky but I did manage to get a few good photographs withouteven using a tripod. Am getting more comfortable with my

photographic skills these days..

Under the Garbhagriha

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The Final Take- Chinese Dragon

While I understand that Black and White photography has been

converted into Kitsche these days, but could not resist the

temptation of taking the one below sans color. It was my gut feeling

that no color would suit its theme. The animal on the sides of the

steps in this photograph was explained as a mixture of six animalsto us, lions mane, horses legs, rabbits ears , elephants trunk etc.

Just a few minutes later, another guide while explaining it to some

foreign tourists said that it was a Chinese Dragon and they were left

The Pradakshina path around the Garbhagriha

wondering what the Chinese were doing in Vijayanagara ..

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Details

Vitthala temple can either be reached through the Tungabhadra

river by a coracle ferry, or one can walk along the river. The

monument opens at 8:30 in the morning and stays open till 5:30

PM. The entry ticket is INR 10.00 for Indians and INR 250.00 and is

can be used for the Royal Center also. Camera fee is INR 25 for

Video camera. Still camera is free. Use of tripods is not allowed.

Hampi Diaries Vitthala Temple, a set on Flickr.

An attempt at black and white

The post Hampi Diaries Vitthala Temple appeared first on

Shadows Galore.

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Hampi Diaries Hemakuta Hill

January 26, 2013

Hemakuta Hill happened by chance. On our last afternoon in

Hampi, we had packed our bags and stopped by at a restaurant to

grabs some refreshments. While sitting there waiting for mylemonade, we were leafing through a Coffe book table about Hampi.

It was then that we noticed some remarkable monuments atop a

hill. We asked the restaurant owner where these buildings were

and he said it was the Hemakuta hill, just besides the Virupaksha

Temple. So we were going to miss what was nearest to us, have

been to that area at least 10 times during the past 4 days but never

bothered to check !

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According to Hindu Mythology, Lord Shiva did penance on

Hemakuta before marrying Pampa. To help Pampa in winning over

Shiva, the god of love, Kama distracted him and was in turn burnt

by his Third eye. Later Rati pleaded with Shiva to bring Kama back

to life so he agreed to bring him but only in character and not aphysical form. The day Shiva consented to marry Pampa, it rained

gold on this hill and thus it was named Hema (gold) Kuta (hill).

One of the many shrines scattered on the hill

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So, it was natural that most of the temples and shrines on the

Hemakuta are dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is more of a huge sheet of

rocks than an actual hill and is pretty easy to climb, as opposed to

the Matanga hill. The way to this hill goes upwards from the left of

the main gateway of the Virupaksha Hill.

This shrine looked a bit spooky ..

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The best time to visit Hemakuta is during the morning or evening

hours when the sun rays are slanting. It was just a coincidence that

we managed to go there in the evening and were pretty happy with

the effect. It is a great view from of the Hampi bazaar and

Virupaksha temple from the top and the shrines on the hill make itmore interesting.

The gate at the top of the hill

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On the top of the hill, there is a two storied gateway which look

towards the landscape below. This spot is known as the sunset

point and seems to glow in the rays of the setting sun.

Hampi Diaries Hemakuta Hill, a set on Flickr.

The gate glowing in evening sun

Hemakuta Hill was a beautiful finish to our Hampi trip. Although we

stayed there for hardly half an hours yet managed to get some

glorious photographs. Hope you will enjoy them too..

The post Hampi Diaries Hemakuta Hill appeared first on Shadows

Galore.

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Hampi Diaries

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