Let me be honest - among the places to visit Hampi was not the first on the list. The main reason is the place is hot and walking between boulders in the sun is not my idea of a holiday! Despite this I wanted to see Hampi because of its magnificent architecture and I hoped the sun wouldn't be too strong in mid-November. I wanted to see Chitradurga too for its magnificent fort and it's only a small diversion on the road to Hampi.
The plan was to leave early on a Saturday morning and be back in Bangalore by Sunday night. We were three of us and we all had to get back to work on Monday. Yes, 'hurried' is an understatement here!
The drive to Hampi is about 6 hours, 350 kms. We left Bangalore by 6 am on a Saturday morning in a vintage Tata Indica that had the 'check engine' light permanently glowing. I wanted to ask our paan-eating driver about it but I was feeling adventurous and decided to take the risk. The roads out of Bangalore are excellent and a small part of your expenses goes towards paying toll. If you plan a month in advance, you have a good chance of booking a train to Hospet, far more comfortable and cheap. From Hospet you can take a taxi or auto to Hampi. If taxi is your option - I'd recommend an air-conditioned one.
If you're the type that cribs about the ever increasing traffic - here's an update! The road till Yeshwanthpur is crowded but clears soon after. The other road that is crowded and required slowing down is the 2 lane road from Chitradurga to Hospet. There are a lot of heavy vehicles and villages in between so this stretch takes more time.
Reaching Chitradurga is easy if you have Google Maps and network connectivity is fairly good. It is a windy city and it looks like a good bit of energy is harnessed by the windmills on the outskirts of this small town. The sun is sharp but the wind makes it bearable. You can never play badminton here!
The highlight of this town is the fort and it is magnificent. I'd go as far as to say this was more interesting than Hampi. Many Bangaloreans will relate it to the Kannada movie, Naagarahavu and the mental picture of Vishnuvardhan in bell bottoms is still fresh in my mind. The fort has many interesting elements; temples, zig zag entry path - to confuse oncoming troops, a moat, large stone entrances that supposedly had poison dipped spikes on the wooden doors to kill elephants and the famous 'Obavva' episode. I won't go into the history of the fort as it was too confusing and the sun had muddled my brains. Look it up somewhere on the net. There are huge boulders, resembling the shape of an elephant, a frog and a rabbit. The guides will point these to you very enthusiastically.
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| The treasury of the Chitradurga fort. |
We left Chitradurga by about 12pm and we reached Hampi around 3pm. I had already booked our stay at a heritage house in Anegundi village called Uramma. They have a set of cottages and 2 heritage houses at a walking distance from the main cottages. You need to come to the cottages for lunch, breakfast, etc. The house we stayed in was well maintained with AC. A fan is not enough for the heat. The house is right across Hampi separated by the river. To go to Hampi, you need to take a ferry across the river. This is very convenient if you're back-packing and the ferry point is at a walking distance but doesn't make much sense if you're driving. If you have your own car or a taxi, you need to take a roundabout road to Hampi and that adds close to 30 kms to your fuel bill and the road is pretty small and crowded and takes about 40 minutes. I'd advise you to take the ferry. Another option is to stay at a guest house in Hampi; cheaper and more convenient.
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| At the heritage house |
If you have time in the evening, don't miss the walk to the river bank. It's a 5 minute walk and you can sit by the bank and watch the river. There weren't many people and only a few egrets waiting patiently for a fishy evening snack. The banks are rocky and you can sit and feel the water on your feet. It's a pleasurable experience - for a city slicker like me, the only water I get to see is the black Vrishbhavati river in Bangalore University and I wouldn't dip my feet in it!
We were keen to have dinner at Uramma (because there was no other place to eat!) and the food didn't disappoint. It was wholesome, oil less and I never felt overly stuffed despite indulging. The spread is simple - beans, a few vegetables and dal with chapati and rice. The breakfast was the highlight - there were home made papaya and apple jam, toast, eggs, avalakki and fresh juice. I ate up all the jam! It was that good! We were also accompanied by a chatty cat and she went on whining for a good bit of time.
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| The chatty cat |
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| A very tasty breakfast! |
We set out for Hampi early in the morning in a vain attempt to save ourselves from the afternoon heat. We got the ferry (cheap) and then took the golf cart to reach the main Hampi ruins. The first was the Vitthala Temple complex and this by far is the most noteworthy in Hampi. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
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| One of the Vitthala Temple complexes |
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| The roof has some interesting carvings that look like a bird's wing in Vitthala. |
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| Nothing compares to the beauty of this frangipani tree. |
A short walk along the river to your right from the Vithhala Temple takes you to the river bank and you can get a coracle ride for cheap. If you've never been in a coracle, you should try it! You can get a good price if you haggle. Tip - Ask the coracle guy not to spin the coracle at the end of the trip if you get nauseous. Once you get in to the coracle, it's a beautiful experience. The sound of the water, being surrounded by rocks and you can see the temples beneath and close to the water. It's interesting and one wonders how they were built.
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| Fascinating patterns made by the river |
If you follow the path you get to the Hampi Bazaar area and the Virupaksha Temple. The Virupaksha Temple is like any other temple. There are rogue monkeys here and it wasn't pleasant that one particularly well built guy grabbed my water bottle. The temple is pretty crowded so we took a quick turn and walked to the Hampi Bazaar and had lunch.
The mobile phone network is very patchy throughout Hampi. You need to do quite a bit of posing to get that one bar. People in Hampi won't be looking at you strangely - they do understand your plight. We found that only BSNL has network in this area.
After lunch we set out to look for the Laxmi Narsimha statue. It was almost 2pm and the sun was beating down on us. On the side of the main road is a mud path that leads to the Laxmi Narasimha and the Badavara Linga. The statue of Narasimha is unusual. The ferocity is apparent in the eyes and the mouth that is exquisitely carved. It was originally carved with Lakshmi sitting on the lap of Narasimha but numerous battles have damaged the original and now only one arm of Lakshmi is visible. It really makes you stand for a while and look at the uniqueness and appreciate the workmanship of the sculptors. Don't miss this!
The Badavara Linga is just beside the Narasimha and features a stone Shivalinga partly submerged in water fed by a stream from the river. The name 'Badava' meaning poor in Kannada is because it is said to be commissioned by a peasant woman.
We had a look at a few other places - the palaces, a few more temples and finally came across something more unique and beautiful. This is the Prasanna Virupaksha Temple also called the underground Shiva Temple. The temple is below ground level and a large part of it is always submerged in water. It must have looked marvelous in those times! Another interesting thing about the carvings here is that they look 3D even in the pictures.
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| Entrance to the Prasanna Virupaksha Temple |
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| The Prasanna Virupaksha Temple |
Despite this being a very short trip, I felt it is sufficient if you want to cover only the prominent buildings in Hampi. If you're a large-ish family, 4 to 5 days would be comfortable.
Photos by Mira and Kavita - Thanks, ladies!
