I was always fascinated by the history of mighty Vijayanagara empire and wanted to experience how life would be like in world’s second largest medieval era city “Hampi”. The ruins present stay as a silent testimony to the glorious past.
Day 0:
Our journey started from Bengaluru in a self-drive car rental in the night. Winter is a best time to visit this place due to its scorching heat. The route has a National highway till Chitradurga and newly constructed hampi expressway till Hampi.
Day 1:
We reached Hospet before sunrise. A beautiful tunnel welcomed us and we stopped by dam view point to experience sunrise. The river is mostly barren on this side. Our stay is in jungle tree resort which is located in a tribal village called Rangapura close to Sanapur lake. The road leading to it is somewhat dangerous. It is on the other side of river and a drive of 30-40 minutes from Hampi. We were given a bamboo shack to stay which is decent enough. We started towards Hampi through lush green paddy fields and hills with big boulders.
Many of the temples in Hampi are in a dilapidated condition. We went first to Virupaksha temple adjoining to which is Hemakuta hill with around 30 temples. The gentle slopes of the hill offer a splendid view and one among the best places for sunset view. We passed by Ganesha and Narasimha temples. Then we went to underground shiva temple, Hazara rama temple, Queen’s bath, secret council chamber and Mahanavami dibba which is a beautiful stone platform. The irrigation system speaks for itself about the glorious empire. Temples have splendid architecture with Vesara or Deccan style. Some of the monuments have a mix of islamic architecture with its unique arcades and domes. Many of the statues and structures are monolithic.
We then went to Vittala temple which is a must visit place in Hampi for its stone chariot and musical pillars. Outside the temple is a market place which used to be a business centre for diamond merchants. By evening, set off to Virupapura gaddi which is famously called Hippie island due to its hippy culture. It takes 5 minutes to reach it from Hampi by crossing river in a coracle. The road way is much farther. It is popularly known as “Goa without beaches”. Many places in Hampi has hardly any network connectivity and this island is one of them where most of the hotels accept only cash. We returned to our resort by night through a gloomy road which seems to be scary contrary to what we experienced in the day.
Day 2:
We woke up early in the morning and went to Sanapur lake which is serene and water is clean. Spent some time over there. We were in dire need of cash and were told the nearest ATM is in Anegundi which is some 7 kms away. Unfortunately, it didn’t have any cash and we had to go to Gangavati which is the next nearest town. We had breakfast there and started to Pampa sarovar and from there to Anjandari betta which is called to be the birth place of lord hanuman. We need to climb more than 500 steps to reach the top of hill where the deity is located. Its worth all the efforts. Then we came back to Hampi to visit Lotus mahal and Elephant stables. By evening we went to Tungabhadra dam for sunset. The river is so wide and into the horizon we see nothing but water. Then had a glimpse of laser show and did small boat pedalling. Again went to Hippie island for its laidback ambience and this time stayed till midnight. Its the most happening place in that area. On the way back to resort in the mid of night, we got stuck among hundreds of cattle and felt scared. But Hampi is a very safe place to stay and visit.
Day 3:
We woke up late and had to check out from the resort. Went back to Hampi to buy small replica of stone chariot as a token of the place. On our way back to Bengaluru, we visited Chitradurga fort which is famous for Onake Obavva for her bravery. Even in the middle of winter, the place is too hot with a difficult terrain.
Being from Andhra, which was once part of Vijayanagara Empire, i never felt like an alien in Hampi. I was able to converse in Telugu with many of the people due to this place being part of Bellary district which is bordering A.P.