HAMPI TRAVEL DIARY
On the Independence day eve last year, me & my sister decided to visit this beautiful & unexplored place called Hampi. This place is actually like an open museum ground, where one can spend days & weeks exploring the rich temple architecture of India. Also known as Vijayanagar in olden days, in India. This was supposedly the most richest & affluent village during India's golden age.
This small village had two huge Ganesha statues greeting us, just as we entered. However these are not ordinary Ganesha Statues, they are hand carved out of huge monolithic boulders measuring about 8ft. Known as Sasivekalu Ganesha and Kadalekalu Ganesha. Here Lord Ganesha appears like a huge Black Sesame seeds. The story goes that once a merchant from far away land had came to Hampi to sell his Sesame Seeds and was granted permission by the kind hearted king to set up his stall in one of the markets. There, he sold all his goods & became so rich that he wanted to give something back to this beautiful village & asked for permission to construct a temple of Lord Ganesha for its people as a token of thanks.
At the heart of the Hampi, is the famous Virupaksha Temple, which has no less than a magnificent 50m high entrance towering structure full of carvings. Tapering towards the sky, it evokes jaw dropping wonder. It is situated on the banks of river Tungabhadra. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva & his consort, Goddess Parvati. It has a huge courtyard & ten feet high impressive pillars with the mythical Yali on the sides & the mighty Lion carved at its base, these magnificent structures adore the pathway on both the sides as you enter.
A walk in the lanes of Hampi can sure transport you to a bygone era of Golden Age of India. Surrounded by temples like Pattabhirama Mandir, Vitthala Mandir, Lakshmi Narsimha temple, Haim Kunta temple, Badavilinga Temple, Hazar Rama temple & other marvelous structures like Lotus Mahal, Stepped tank, The Kings balance, the Royal Centre, this place has rightfully earned its place as a World Heritage Site.
Besides the scenic landscape of vast open blue sky interspersed with huge rocks & coconut trees, we also enjoyed scrumptious meals at the Mango tree restaurant near the Tungabhadra river bank. This restaurant offers a variety of Continental & Indian Dishes. This place has dim lights, cotton mattresses with pillow & colorful cushions that add a royal yet informal lounge feel to it. The kind of place you would like to sit, eat , chat & catch up with your close friends. Being a holy city, consuming alcohol is prohibited. Also eating Non- Vegetarian food is banned here.
Hampi also offers a lot of Home stay options near the river bank which are quite economical for travelers and hence attracts a lot of hippies & westerners who like to spend months studying Yoga & exploring Indian Architecture & Culture there.
The markets are flooded with casual cotton clothes, traditional jewelry like glass bangles, silver anklets, necklaces & earrings, also unique tribal jewellery made with vivid cilour threads & hand crafted silver. Other popular buy inculdes colourful cloth bags.
As tourism is the major source of income, you can easily find utility stores in every nook & corner of the village. Local people also run transport business like hiring bicycle, moped and tourist guides.
Local people have converted their roof tops into restaurants, home rooms into guest rooms & balcony & verandahs into street shops. It was fascinating to see a home with a sign board saying "Learn how to wear saree & lungi," traditional Indian attires. We also came across many yoga training centers.
This eclectic collection of all things that are traditional, creates an atmosphere that truly reverberates with the Indian way of life, which is probably the reason why we found more foreigners rather than Indians there.
I would recommend this once in a lifetime trip to anyone who wants to re-live the moments of being in India's Golden Age by exploring this Great India Heritage site steeped in mystery and history.
Copyright @ Kannu Priya
This small village had two huge Ganesha statues greeting us, just as we entered. However these are not ordinary Ganesha Statues, they are hand carved out of huge monolithic boulders measuring about 8ft. Known as Sasivekalu Ganesha and Kadalekalu Ganesha. Here Lord Ganesha appears like a huge Black Sesame seeds. The story goes that once a merchant from far away land had came to Hampi to sell his Sesame Seeds and was granted permission by the kind hearted king to set up his stall in one of the markets. There, he sold all his goods & became so rich that he wanted to give something back to this beautiful village & asked for permission to construct a temple of Lord Ganesha for its people as a token of thanks.
At the heart of the Hampi, is the famous Virupaksha Temple, which has no less than a magnificent 50m high entrance towering structure full of carvings. Tapering towards the sky, it evokes jaw dropping wonder. It is situated on the banks of river Tungabhadra. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva & his consort, Goddess Parvati. It has a huge courtyard & ten feet high impressive pillars with the mythical Yali on the sides & the mighty Lion carved at its base, these magnificent structures adore the pathway on both the sides as you enter.
A walk in the lanes of Hampi can sure transport you to a bygone era of Golden Age of India. Surrounded by temples like Pattabhirama Mandir, Vitthala Mandir, Lakshmi Narsimha temple, Haim Kunta temple, Badavilinga Temple, Hazar Rama temple & other marvelous structures like Lotus Mahal, Stepped tank, The Kings balance, the Royal Centre, this place has rightfully earned its place as a World Heritage Site.
Besides the scenic landscape of vast open blue sky interspersed with huge rocks & coconut trees, we also enjoyed scrumptious meals at the Mango tree restaurant near the Tungabhadra river bank. This restaurant offers a variety of Continental & Indian Dishes. This place has dim lights, cotton mattresses with pillow & colorful cushions that add a royal yet informal lounge feel to it. The kind of place you would like to sit, eat , chat & catch up with your close friends. Being a holy city, consuming alcohol is prohibited. Also eating Non- Vegetarian food is banned here.
Hampi also offers a lot of Home stay options near the river bank which are quite economical for travelers and hence attracts a lot of hippies & westerners who like to spend months studying Yoga & exploring Indian Architecture & Culture there.
The markets are flooded with casual cotton clothes, traditional jewelry like glass bangles, silver anklets, necklaces & earrings, also unique tribal jewellery made with vivid cilour threads & hand crafted silver. Other popular buy inculdes colourful cloth bags.
As tourism is the major source of income, you can easily find utility stores in every nook & corner of the village. Local people also run transport business like hiring bicycle, moped and tourist guides.
Local people have converted their roof tops into restaurants, home rooms into guest rooms & balcony & verandahs into street shops. It was fascinating to see a home with a sign board saying "Learn how to wear saree & lungi," traditional Indian attires. We also came across many yoga training centers.
This eclectic collection of all things that are traditional, creates an atmosphere that truly reverberates with the Indian way of life, which is probably the reason why we found more foreigners rather than Indians there.
I would recommend this once in a lifetime trip to anyone who wants to re-live the moments of being in India's Golden Age by exploring this Great India Heritage site steeped in mystery and history.
Copyright @ Kannu Priya
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