Hampi - the lost city time forgot

---

Hampi is an incredible place, one of the most extraordinary I have ever visited in my life. The world heritage site is a small village set around a linear bazaar, with a popluation of 1,000. The surrounding area contains the ruins of an old city that at its peak had a population of 500,000 so Hampi feels very small in the shadows of it's heritage. It does have however a fantastic vibe and is so chilled out. Fortunately the night we arrived there was a festival and a procession from the main Virupaksha temple that dominates the skyline of Hampi and out into the bazaar, there was a drum band and an elephant conducting blessings too. The local children loved it and were dancing like mad to the music continually asking us to take photos of them. On arrival it is advised to register at the police station where you are warned about the supposed high crime in Hampi, I thought it as a safe place though and the only role I could see that the police had was to collect bribes from restaurant owners who sold beer to tourists as it is illegal here and play cards at the station! Everyone wants your money here particularly as it is off season, there is no let up from the hassle to buy postcards, eat in restaurants, give school pens to children, maps etc. To explore the ruins we opted to take an autorickshaw, a local guide book had plenty of information on the main sites and of course we saved money by not having a guide. The ruins were spectacular and set over a vast area. The highlights included the elephant stable's which were very grand, there were some lucky elephants living here at one point. The Krisha temple on the outskirts of Hampi is a beautiful water temple containing green water (apparently due to the high numbers of bananas that are grown here), it was very serene. Pushkarani village was an old walled settlement, a lot of the infrastructure still remains such as the irregation systems, the most amazing feature however was an inverted stone pyramid shaped pool that was made entirely of black stone, a former queen's bath apparently. We also visited the Vittalla temple, where there is a huge chariot carved entirely from stone! The temple itself was an incredible structure, and the many pillars that hold it up are musical, each one makes a different note when you tap it. The local people just sit there waiting for dumb tourists to show up trying to find these pillars and then ask them for money to show them where to hit the right note, literally every pillar is musical though! From the Vitalla temple I could see a white building perched on top of a hill, it looked far away, little did I know we would be climbing it the next day! We ate at a restaurant called the Mango Tree which was a very relaxing experience, the eating area is set under a huge mango tree looking out over the river Tungabhadra, the views were great, there was also a large wooden swing in which to sit to watch the world go by. The white temple on the hill I referred to earlier was in fact the monkey temple, we had a very interesting journey to get there encompassing a combination of 2 river crossings in small circular boats, a lift in a van and plenty of walking over bouldered terrain only to find that the ascent to the temple was a further 602 steps! It was however worth it as the 360 degree panoramic views were amazing, it was possible to see all of the ruins from this vantage. Unfortunately I did not take my camera. The temple proper was not anything special however I was surprised how peaceful it was given the elevation and I believe it was that that made it such a spiritual place. Just as quickly as we had arrived, we were gone. Hampi and the surrounding ruins truly are amazing places to visit and I was not happy to leave but it really demonstrates India's diversity. An Overnight train journey to Chennai via Hubli followed, plenty of time to reflect on Hampi and take the best things from it.

---

Photos

Virupaksha Temple
Located at the end of the bazaar in Hampi and home to many monkeys, the temple dominates the town. This was the view from the roof of our guest house

Hindu Festival
Local children dancing to the drum band at the festival as it spilled out of the temple and onto the bazaar

Trunkated Danish blessing
For 1 rupee (1.2 pence) the elephant who formed part of the festival will bless you, throwing water over your head

Krisha Temple
Tranquil water temple

Royal Elephant Stables
It appeared that the elephants lived better than the people...

Vitalla Temple
The temple in the background is where the musical pillars are found, each making a different tone when tapped

Goa Jungle
View from the train ride en route to Hampi, there is a large waterfall in the background that is just visible

Comments

[Graham Day]

Sure beats para planning!!
Hi Rob, Sounds amazing - keep those reports coming. Whilst it's hot and sunny here, it sure sounds like you've got the better deal. Regards Graham