THE LAND WITH RICH HERITAGE AND HISTORY-HAMPI

Although the Corona Virus Pandemic has succeeded in tying my legs from travelling, however it has failed in restricting my mind to wander around my favourite places before its breakdown. It's been a year since I visited HAMPI, once a prosperous and beautiful capital of Vijayanagar Kingdom is now known for its ruins. It is situated in Karnataka, part of Southern India.

There is no direct public transport to Hampi. One can reach Hospet by train or bus. And commute to Hampi by road transport.

The best time to visit Hampi according to me would be mansoon as the place is full of boulders and can get very hot on a sunny day.

It would take atleast 2-3 days to visit all the places in Hampi and it's surroundings. Amongst many places to visit, the must visit ones would be Vijaya Vitala temple, Virupaksha temple, Hemakunta hill temples, Hampi Bazaar, Lotus Mahal, Queen's bath, Elephant stables, Kishkindha (Anjanadri hill), Sanapura Lake, Pushkarni, Durga Temple. Most of the places are close knit so buckle your shoes.

Day 1: I reached Hospet via train from Bangalore and took a bus to Hampi as I had booked my accomodation near Virupaksha temple. By the time I reached it was late morning. I was excited so skipped my lunch, checked into the room freshened up & left to explore the places. I covered Hampi bazaar, Virupaksha temple, Hemakunta hill and the surrounding places all by foot.

By evening I found a beautiful spot on the Hemakunta hill and settled to watch the beautiful sunset. All though I have watched many sunsets in Bangalore before, this was different. It was free from all kinds of polution. And this time I wasn't alone and was accompanied by lot of people arround me.

I have seen many sunsets and sunrises, however I like the former. For me it's a symbol which states nothing is parmanent. Everything has an end to it, be it the good or bad.

Day 2: I checked out of the room and requested the homestay owner to leave my heavy bags at his place as I had a late night train to Mysore and had a lot of places to cover. He was not only kind enough to oblige my request but also connected me to an auto driver who could take me to remaining places (be careful to bargain the price before you set off either in a cab or auto). Since it was hot and I was alone, I decided to skip Sanapura Lake and to visit other places.

I started with Anjanadri hills, the birth place of lord Hanuman. The stairs to climb the hill made it convenient to go up the hill to the temple. More than the temple I found a 25kg rock floating in a transparent box interesting. I was told, it is one of the rocks used toa bribge across the sea during Ramayan to rescue Goddess Sita from Lanka.

From there I set off to Pampa Sarovar another sacred place. I assume this place is taken care by North Indian pandit family as they couldn't speak the local dialect. I liked the warmth of the people who invited me to wait for a while so I could have Prasad and leave. I happily agreed because I have not come across anyone asking to stay back to have Prasad. But the auto driver was on clock. After much deliberation he agreed to bring me back after visiting the Durga Temple.

While taking a tour of the temple, I noticed they were distributing lunch. Though I was hungry I decided not to eat and headed back to Pampa Sarovar to collect my Prasad. What surprised me was they were distributing lunch here as well. When asked, where I collect Prasad, I was guided to the food distribution place. It was then I that realised here the temples distribute lunch during noon and call it Prasad. My hungry tummy was happy eating the food and we set off to other places.

Our next destination was Vijay Vitala temple. The vehicles are not allowed till the temple however there's shuttle service upto the temple and back. I decided to walk to the temple as along the way there are Mantapas, Bazaar, Pushkarni and other architectural sites. Once I got my entrance ticket, I didn't opt for a guide assuming since I know the history I wouldn't need one to explain it again.

As I entered, there stood the glorious Stone Chariot. It's the same chariot picture found in our currency notes. Stone carvings of the temple are beautiful and intricate. There are also musical Mantapas. The music here was played using the pillars and not instruments. Although one cannot literally play music using the pillars in the interest of protecting the architectural heritage. The guides were giving small demos on how music was played back then. The realisation left me awestruck at the technology which was used to build them. As I went exploring I realised my mistake of not hiring a guide; However got the contents in bits and pieces from the explanation given to other visitors by different guides.

Since it was very hot and I had to cover other places, I opted for shuttle service to return.

I next visited the Queen's bath, another beautiful architectural place, was under restoration, however was open for public visit. From there I was taken to elephant stables, Lotus Mahal and Royal enclosure and all other surrounding places.

I reached back my homestay just in time for sunset and headed straight to the Hemakunta hill. I decided to lie down and watch the view as my legs were bombarding me because of the physical extortion. I had good 30-45mins to relax and watch nature's show.

Post the sunset I headed back to the homestay collected my baggage, thanked the owner for his service. As I bid bye to Hampi I knew in my mind I would visit this place several times in future and set off to the railway station.