Hampi

There's enough and more good stuff that I had heard and read about Hampi. Several people, including my Dad (who had been there exactly 42 years ago!) had told me that it was without doubt, a MUST SEE. It had once been the capital of the great Vijaynagar Empire stretching across current day Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and even a part of Orissa!! Capital of a land mass and kingdom that big - now that really must have been grand.

On the flip-side, I wasn't too excited by the photographs I saw online. They didn't 'look' as grand as the description of the place. It was just brown all around and conveyed a middle of the desert feel to it!

So when I unexpectedly found myself in Hyderabad on a Thursday with a 3-day weekend approaching, Hampi suddenly was in contention! Being the first week of April, I was a little apprehensive that the heat will be too much. The summer had not yet reared its head in Hyderabad, but Hampi, being further south was bound to be warmer. Then, there was, the very attractive, option of going to Tadoba Tiger Reserve.

But in a fit of excitement after a call with my Dad (who reiterated that I go there), I booked myself on a very circuitous route to Hampi. Buses were full to every imaginable place from Hyderabad (being the long weekend).

I found a single ticket on a 10pm bus to Ananthapur. I had to get down at Gooty at 5am. Somehow, I woke up at the right time (just 3 mins before my alarm went off!) and got down from the bus on a rather stranded area about 100 meters from the APSRTC bus-stand. At the bus stand, there were signs of civilization though, and my next bus was to be to Guntakal. I waited for one of my DSEs (P&G salesman), to arrive and guide me, although it would have be quite alright even without him!

We took the short bus ride to Guntakal where there's a 7am or so train to Bellary. The train ride was a bittuva party with a bunch of college kids chattering away and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Oldies with short fuses were having their go at them, but to no avail of course!

A very dusty Bellary, and a short walk to the bus stand later, I found myself on a bus to Hospet. Hospet was to be my base for the visit, as I wasn't sure I could get a place to stay in Hampi. I later found out that there were decent places in Hampi as well, but staying in Hospet at Hotel Malligi was pretty comfy.
A bath and brunch, and I was off. The rick ride to Hampi was quite a surprise. The brown and dusty Hospet quickly gave way to an oasis full of green palm trees and thick folige! And before I knew it I was in Hampi!

As I entered the historic city, the rickshaw sped by gigantic ruins and led me right into the colourful market, which was not exactly bustling with activity. True enough, Friday was a local holiday, and hence most of the market was empty.

I looked up to see the imposing Main Tower of the Virupaksha temple standing before me. It was visible from a distance itself, and its something that can never come out true to its size and grandeur in a photograph!
I decided to take a walk round the temple. Like most temples in the South, it had some intricate art-work, with each slab telling a story of its own. One could spend months discovering Hampi, I was told, and this is why... each structure had a lot of thought behind it and the place was spread over some 30 sq. miles with tens of buildings!

The sun had started blazing down, and my plan was to get myself a motorbike to go around. For about 500 rupees for 2 days, I got myself a nice Honda CBZ (I think it was). After the longish walk round the temple, I made my way back to the market for the bike.

On my way into the city in the rick, I had picked a detailed map of the city and also spoken to a guide, who claimed to be a government appointed one, but his license had expired! I informed him that I was about to get a bike and then he could take me round the place. I was a bit skeptical if this guy knew anything, but in the end it turned out to be a great decision! This guy had been a guide for over 15 years and knew Russian, French, German, apart from English, Telugu, Hindi & Tamil! His fees, 400 rupees for the entire day was a steal!!! The idea for the day was to take the help of the guide and cover as much as possible, and then the next day, I'd come back and visit the ones that interested me the most.

I took the bike and headed to pick up my guide. On the way I could see quite a few totally exhausted, burnt red, foreign tourists - mostly Japanese, on foot or bicycles. It was only going to get hotter, I thought to myself... these folks were in for a tough day! I was quite comfortable of course on the bike with the breeze providing the cooling. There were quite a few rickshaws which were ferrying tourists around the city. This is probably the worst way to see the city as these guys are in a hurry, and also don't know anything about the history of the place. So you'd probably end up being shown fewer places and also not quite knowing what to see there.

The first stop was (not surprisingly), a Ganesh Temple. Standing on top of one of the many hills, it had a great view of the city and the Main Temple. Each pillar had different carvings, saying their own stories, about Rama, Krishna and n number of Gods! One could literally spend hours and even days here deciphering each story. The place gave me a strong positive vibe which I really liked, although the temple itself had stopped being a place of worship since the city was pillaged by invaders.

Then started a 3-hour flyby of almost all the monuments.. the Ugra Narasimha, the humongous sister stones, the Lotus mahal, Queen's bath, stunning Hazara-rama temple, the elephant stables, stone chariot, the ancient marketplace - it was almost dizzying!! At each monument, my guide would stop to give me a story and some weird, usually comical, fact! I would never know how much of it was 100% true, but I sure did love it!

The last stop for the day was Sunset Point. No prizes for guessing what one could see there. A bunch of tourists had gathered to watch the sunset and it was very very quiet and peaceful. The cool breeze flowing across the Tungabhadra with the cool heat of the brilliant setting sun helped form a surreal atmosphere. The golden monuments and hills simmering in the horizon will remain an unforgettable sight!

No trip to Hampi is complete without a visit to the Mango Tree... This restaurant, set on the banks of the Tungabhadra, has a nice relaxed feel to it, and serves some good food too..! I had a nice supper/dinner there, before a starry night drive back to Hospet. I actually turned off the headlight for a few seconds on that drive. A bit scary, but the night sky was just like a million diamonds sprinkled on a black velvet cloth!

Back at Hotel Malligi, I caught up on some football highlights from last weekend, and the preview show for the forthcoming weekend before absolutely crashing flat on the bed!

Next morning was going to be an early one. A short drive to the Tungabhadra Dam, breakfast and then back to Hampi, was the plan.
The dam is colossal. There's also a splendidly maintained deer park and garden right on the other side which reminded me of some gardens I'd seen in France & England. It was almost too perfect to be Indian!!

Then I went back to Hampi... Being a Saturday, the market was bustling with activity and tourists from all over. I had decided to go back to the Hazara Rama temple, Pushkarani & Mahanavami Dibba for a closer look. These places had really caught my eye the previous day and I just had to go back to get a better feel of them. It was easy for me to imagine how the expansive Hazara Rama temple would have been flooded with ornaments and jewels and thronged by devotees. The Mahanavami Dibba gave a super view of the city. Its difficult, standing atop this thing, not to feel like a king looking upon his kingdom. The Lotus Mahal was intriguing with its 'secular' architecture - the first that I have ever seen, with Islamic, Hindu & Jain influences in different parts of the building. That was the strength of the Vijayanagar kingdom... Everyone was equal, no caste, colour or creed. But sadly, even this Utopian society saw its downfall to the hands of plunderers... Hampi is a gentle reminder that even the best of things see their end, and the cycle of life continues...

A lazy 2-hour late-lunch (at Mango Tree) later I had had a stomach full, of Hampi. An evening bus from Bellary was to take me back directly to Hyderabad where I could relax and recount the last two days of time-traveling that I did...

What struck me in Hampi was the sheer scale of everything. And the whole place is stuck in a time-warp. It reminds me why I cant for the love of God feel anything in a museum.. They're just not there with all the jazzy lighting and elaborate write-ups. At Hampi, you're there, walking amongst the kings and queens, in a trance, surrounded by elephants and a thousand horses and bustling colourful markets. The magic of this place has to be seen, has to be felt, has to be lived.