It was my last day in Hampi and I had a long ride to Bangalore before the end of the day. But, the temptation to revisit the temples of Hampi was irresistible. Especially early in the morning when I can avoid the crowds and get some good pictures. I got up early, got ready to go to the nearby Virupaksha Temple. After a few shots, I discovered that I had forgotten to charge my camera! 😦 A few seconds of sulking and I started walking around soaking in the morning chill of the air and the colours of the sky. Virupaksha is the only major temple in Hampi that sees daily pooja and so the vibes here are much different than the other temples. Unlike the ruined temples, people visit this temple from early in the morning till late in the evening.
The gopuram over the sanctum of the Virupaksha Temple
One of the mantapas in the temple complex has it’s ceiling filled with paintings.
I stopped at the Krishna temple and the Ganesha temples as I hesitantly made my way out of the town. And also at the Queen’s bath which I had ignored before.
Just when I was about to leave, it hit me that I have totally forgotten the huge statue of Ugra Narashimha, one of the icons of Hampi! I quickly turned around and got a good look at it.
I made a rough calculation on how much time I need to ride back to Bangalore and how much more time I can afford to spend in Hampi. And that, barely, allowed me to visit the Vijaya Vittala temple once again, in the peace of the early morning. I was the first to enter the temple gates and I didn’t wait a minute to start taking photographs, although only on my phone. This time I was able to take my time with the many mantapas of the temple.
Now I was finally ready to leave the forest of temples and hit the highway back home. But little did I know that I’ll stumble on a huge temple that is virtually unknown to the tourists and visited by a tiny fraction of the people who visit Hampi. It is the colossal “Ananthashayana Gudi” just outside Hosapete. It’s huge dome was visible from the highway and it was very hard to just ignore it. When I entered, I was surprised both by the size of the temple and how there was no visitors at all!
As I slowly walked in, in awe, the caretakers of the temple showed up and started talking with me. The temple has a huge and densely pillared mantapa and a large rectangular sanctum. The sanctum or the garbhagriha was meant for the reclining image of Lord Vishnu, known as the Anantashayana Padmanabha (the one who is resting on the ananta or endless snake, Shesha, and who has a padma or lotus, from his navel – nabha, the lotus on which Bhramha is seated). This is the same image you would find in the temples of Thiruvantanthapuram or Srirangapattana. But sadly for various reasons the idol was never installed and the temple never came to be used.
The sanctum has three doors as all Anantha Padmanabha temples do and a long rectangular pedestal intended for the idol of Vishnu. The vaulted dome over the sanctum is also very unique and I haven’t seen anything like that in any other temples.
The caretakers showed me around and even took me inside the dark sanctum. It was littered with bat and pigeon droppings, which now inhabit the higher parts of the dome. A kid from the village followed us and collected a pet, a young pigeon which hadn’t yet learned to fly! The dome looks huge even from the inside.
The area behind the temple is use by the local kids as a playground to play cricket. I spoke to one of them and asked them if there was a way to get to the top of the temple and he did know, as they need to fetch the ball sometimes. But it was a precarious ladder of stones along one of the walls. The little fellow lead me and I could take a very close look at the figures on the dome.
I was happy to have found this temple and explored it in peace. I think this is the ultimate reward for being curious and traveling independently with an open mind. I was also sad that a huge temple of this magnificence never got to be used and is virtually unknown to most people.
After spending a peaceful morning walking up the Matanga for the sunrise and on the wet grass around the Achyutaraya Temple the rest of my day would tun out to be quite the opposite! I had to make the most of my time in Hampi and it wasn’t as bad as it may sound. After having the breakfast of Masala Dosa and Chilli/Mirchi bajjis at a local food vendor, I started the day of frantic hopping around with the grand Vittala temple. It was already past 10 in the morning when I reached the Vittala temple and the place was filled with school children, hundreds of them. I spent quite a bit of time there but could hardly get one picture without anybody walking into it. I was also disappointed that the musical pillars were off limits from the public. I knew I would come back at a better time, and left. The only thing I was satisfied with was that I literally got out of my and got a couple nice pictures.
Out of the way to get thisA part of the gopura of the Vittala Temple
I had heard of a place called “Nava Brindavana” from someone on twitter and went in search of it. I found it on the map and followed the road to it through green banana plantations. Little did I know that it was on an island on the Tungabadhra river. I quickly noticed that a guy was waiting on the bank with coracle. He wasn’t very happy to hear that I had come alone as he had to row the boat just for me, which he did. On reaching the island he told me that he’d be waiting there and went walking to reach the place. I found an entrance next to a small abandoned building and walked in without any thought. I saw people circling around a few huge Brindavanas. In a few minutes a woman saw me casually walking around and was surprised that I had my footwear on there and a bad hanging over my shoulders. She asked me to get rid of my chappals, leave my bag in a corner and take off my shirt. A young priest saw all this happening and came to us and explained to me that the place was very sacred and they don’t even enter the place without taking a bath in the river. It is from him that I learned that the Brindavanas were for the nine great Hindu Madhwa saints. Brindavans are tombs and also have a place for a Tulsi on the top. I too circled around the Brindavans and sat for while watching the people who were offering prayers with utmost respect. I went and sat peacefully by the river, something I wasn’t able to do at Hampi. I left the place, took the coracle ride back to my motorcycle on the bank. But now I wanted to hop onto the other side of the river, to reach Anegundi.
Luckily, a little distance upstream there was a ferry service to carry me and my bike across the river. I happily sat on the bike and rode onto the deck with a few girls (from Europe, I figured from their language) with their bicycles. On reaching the other side, I was exiting to ride into the ancient place of Anegundi, that was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire before Hampi. It has a history that goes way before the Vijayanagara empire itself. Not only that, it has a lot of ties with Hindu mythology especially with the epic of Ramayana.
It is believed to be the monkey kingdom of Kishkindha that has a mention in Ramayana. There is a hill here, called Anjanaadri, that is believed to be the birth place of Lord Hanuman. I couldn’t climb the hill and rode on to find an old fort on another smaller hill. There is a Durga temple at the fort entrance and it is said that that Vijayanagara kings would come here to pray before every battle. I went past the temple and reached the fort. It seems like a small and frail fort, but it has held against many attacks and stands strong.
I was given a very strong recommendation by a friend to visit a nearby lake called the Sanapur lake. It is actually a reservoir on one branch of the river and is surrounded by hills of huge boulders all around. A coracle ride on the lake was all I needed to calm me down on a hectic day like this one ;).
Now I had to head back to the Hampi side of the river before the ferry service stopped for the day. I had enough time and decided to have something to eat at the “Laughing Budha Cafe” one of the more popular cafes in Virupapura Gaddi. It has a great view of the river and the gopura of the Virupaksha temple.
Now it was really time for me to cross the river and catch that sunset! I went to the Hemakuta Hill right next to the Virupaksha temple. It is a very small hill with many small temples and mantapas sprinkled all over. It offers a great view of some of the ruins and the perfect place to watch a sunset!
I was determined not to miss a sunrise or a sunset for all the days I was at Hampi. Just like the day before I got up early, may be a bit sooner than needed to make sure I don’t miss the sunrise. So I wandered about in the village in the darkness for a while until a tea/coffee shop opened for the day. It was pretty cold that December morning as a sipped my hot coffee.
The plan was to hike up the Matanga Parvatha to witness the sunrise among the hills and the rocks. I rode up to the police station that is located right at the base of the hill and parked there. It was still dark when I started walking up the steps of the hill. But it wasn’t difficult to find my way as the sky was turning lighter slowly. After about 20 to 30 minutes of walking, I reached the top of the hill to find a few people calmly waiting for the sun to rise. Almost all of them were foreigners!
Sunrise from Matanga
I found myself a nice spot to sit at the edge of rock. I was delighted to see a big temple on the other side down the hill. As I would find out a little later, it was the Achyutaraya Temple. One of the big temples around Hampi.
Achyutaraya Temple, seen from Mathanga
The hill had a small ruined temple at its peak and there was a way to get to the top of the temple too. The view from there was even better! It has one of the best views in Hampi. Three of the bigger temples of Hampi are visible from there, the Virupaksha, the Achyutaraya and the Krishna temples. The Tungabadhra river can be seen snaking it’s way through the rocky valley.
A panorama of the river from Matanga hill
After the sun had risen, people started making their way down. I still hung around soaking in the views!
A small ruined temple on Matanga
The Virupaksha Temple, it’s bazaar street and the river behind it are visible.
Virupaksha Temple seen from Matanga
Even the Krishna temple and it’s bazaar street are visible. But now, it’s bazaar street seems to have a dead end.
Krishna Temple and its bazaar seen from Matanga
After a little time I started walking down on the other side of the hill, hoping it would lead me to the Achyutaraya Temple. It did, after walking along some banana plantations and water canals.
Walking along canals and banana plantations
The sun was now high enough to light up the half broken gopuras of the temple. There was absolutely no one around. All I could hear while walking on the grass wet from the morning dew, was the chirping of the birds.
Early morning walk around the Achyutaraya templeThe ruined gopuras of the Achyutaraya temple
The temple has a lot of space inside the tall outer walls, with pillared mantapas lining them from the inside.
Pillared mantapas
The temple, like other big temples in Hampi, has a wide bazaar street with rows of mantapas lining it on either side. This bazaar is also known as the Soolai Bazaar. The reason I heard for this was that women would be available here to serve, take care of and entertain traders visiting from far off places.
The bazaar of the Achyutaraya temple
At the entrance to the bazaar street there is a kalyani/pond.
Kalyani/pond of the Achyutaraya Temple
At this point I was already planning my day ahead. The Vittala Temple was another 20 minutes walk down the same trail but I decided to get back the room to freshen up and leave for the day. So, I turned towards the village and met the river again at another location, a bit more serene and a lot more peaceful! No wonder a priest of the nearby temple choose this location for his morning Sandhyavandana.
A priest’s morning Sandhyavandana
And I was treated to this view, just as peaceful as the river here!
The calm river
This marked the end of my early morning walk to Matanga and the Achyutaraya temple. I returned back to my small stay back in the village to freshen up and soon leave to walk along the Tungabadhra river to see the Vittala temple that houses the world famous Stone chariot! Watch out for the next post on that!
I had arrived in Hampi the previous evening and got myself a small place to stay. I had 2-3 more days to wander around before heading back to Bangalore. I had plans of exploring not only Hampi but also the nearby places of Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal. But I soon realized that I would need a few more days to even get a proper glimpse of just Hampi. I had a rough list of places to visit and things to do in Hampi, and it would easily take me a week to do it all. I made up my mind that I’ll spend all the time in Hampi and kicked off the day with a Hampi style sunrise! Hampi is surrounded by hills of boulders and there could be hundreds of vantage points to spend the golden hour, viewing the sunrise and sunset. But in Hampi there are a couple special spots that have an open view to the east and provide an brilliant setting to watch the sunrise. I planned to visit one such places this morning. I got up quite early but I had to hurry to catch the right moment. I was heading to the hillock next to the Malyavanta Raghunatha temple. It took me a while to find the place and when I finally reached the spot, I knew the clock had ticked and the sun completely above the horizon. It was nevertheless a beautiful view and I sat on the hillock sock it in and to get warmed up after riding fast on a cold December morning.
Sunrise near Malyavanta Raghunatha temple
The Malyavanta Raghnatha temple is, as the name tells, a temple for Rama. It is said that Rama with his brother Lakshmana lived for 6 months in this place waiting for Hanuman to return with the whereabouts of Sita.
Malyavanta Raghunatha Temple
After taking a look around the temple itself, I head back to the place where I was staying. The man who owned the place was eagerly waiting for me and he came up to me as I opened the lock. I was surprised when he asked when I was going to vacate the room. I had arrived the previous night and I was being asked to leave early the next morning. The lady of the place entered the scene while I was trying to convince him to let me stay for another day. Apparently it was the tourist season and international travelers pay a lot more than I would. She just made her point clear and left. I had no other option but to leave but not before a shower. I had a hard time finding a place that served a normal south Indian breakfast. Most of the places cater to the needs of international travelers, and almost every major cuisine is covered! Finally I found a stall in one of the narrower streets, selling dosas. I had a couple to keep me going for the first half of the day. I had a lot of walking to do and that in the hot sun. Just before I left the village to explore the ruins I was offered stay at a smallish but clean place for a rather small price. It was worth just to leave my bags for the day and to freshen up after a walk in the sun. So I took it and head out without my baggage. 🙂 Basically (as far as I know), there are five major temples in Hampi, and numerous smaller shrines around these centers. All of these major temple have bazaar streets, each was well known for certain goods. They are the, all too well know, Virupaksha Temple, the ornate Krishna temple, the Achyutharaya temple, the Hazara Rama temple and the Vijaya VIttala Temple. I planned to visit the Hazara Rama temple that day and rode there stopping at the underground Shiva temple on the way. I had imagined it to be a cave like structure, but is built below ground level by digging up the area for the temple. I next stopped at the Hazara Rama Temple, parked my bike near a sign that said Pan-Supari Bazaar. I later found out that it used to be a market where spices were traded. The temple was private to the royal family and marks (one of) the entrances to the royal enclosure that housed the palaces, a mint, a kalyani (sacred pond) with a temple for a goddess, a huge platform (The Mahanavami Dibba) to host celebrations such as weddings and festivals, and many more structures than I could see in a day. The temple isn’t huge by Hampi’s standards but its importance is obvious from it’s location. The walls of the temple are carved with many episodes of the epic of Ramayana and hence the name. Below are some of the images I captured at the temple.
At the entrance of the Hazara Rama Temple, heads of sculptures chopped offHazara Rama Temple
The images of the young and grown up Krishna togetherThe Vimana of the hazara Rama Temple
I could see huge fort walls from behind the temple and curiously walked out of the temple complex and into the royal enclosure. There were several tall and thick fort like walls surrounding the enclosure. They were crumbling at many places, may be they were brought down during or after the many wars. Of the many buildings that once stood within the area only their basements survive. Also the water ducts to supply fresh water to the palace and temples are visible. I walked through the palace figuring out where the doors would be and trying to imagine walls and roofs. There are places that were probably administrative offices and the royal court. There is a high platform from which the king would deliver speeches. I turned around from the temple complex and walked to the Kalyani, with small aqueducts leading to it. I got curious about the aqueducts and followed one of the many lines. It disappeared behind a big fort wall. I think the water was somehow lifted from the river into these canals. And that also led me towards the King’s bath, which looked like a modern day swimming pool, except it was deep throughout. Obviously the water supply system was connected to the pool too. In fact, there was an extensive network of aqueducts and canals of various sizes throughout Hampi. Some of them were even underground! They were used to supply water for irrigation , to the temples, ponds, palaces and may be even to the household.
The King’s royal bath
The last thing I saw in one part of the Royal enclosure was the Mahanavami Dibba. It is a huge platform with multiple levels that was used for celebrations and performances. It was built by Krishnadevaraya to commemorate his victory over the empire of Udayagiri (Orissa). It is said that the celebration of the 9 day festival of Navarathri and also royal marriages used to happen here.
There was another part of the royal enclosure that seems like it was mostly dedicated to the queen. It enclosed a small palace for the queen, of which only the basement is left. It also encloses two of the most popular monuments of Hampi, the grand Lotua Mahal and the huge elephant stables. The Lotus Mahal, built with a good mixture of Hindu and Islamic architecture, has open space at the ground level and is said to have been used by the queen for dancing and other performances, in private. It also has some space at the first level with ornate windows. Unfortunately it was locked up.
The Lotus Mahal
The Lotus Mahal
The Queen’s enclosure has a tall watch tower with windows at multiple levels.
And this was locked up too. Only the pigeons enjoyed the view from the top!
A tall watch tower near the Queen’s palace
A gate near the tower leads to the well preserved elephant stables. It is huge, big enough to hold about a dozen elephants and their mahouts/guards. This too has a big Islamic influence in its style.
The huge elephant stables
It was about time for lunch and I had enough walking around in the sun for the day. So I decided to hit one of the cafes on the other side of the river in Virupapura Gaddi. I took the motorboat across the river and head to Shesh-Besh and chilled out there till evening. The cafes of Hampi are perfect to relax after a tiring day. I couldn’t miss the last boat back to the Hampi side of the river and left the Gaddi. The sun was about to set as I was waiting for my boat.
Just before the sunset from across the river
On reaching the other side I hurried to the Hemakuta hill. This is a small hill right beside the Virupaksha temple. It is sprinkled with many temples, many of which are quite small, and matapas. The place is great for catching the sunset, and unfortunately I had missed it! But I hung around to soak in the beautiful colors.
If you want to be moved by an imperial medieval city, that was once the capital of the entire Indian peninsula, you must visit Hampi. But be sure to bring all the imagination you can muster, because the city is in ruins. You will need to soak in all that is left of this once majestic city, all the stories of the kingdom of Vijayanagara, the mythology of the surrounding area and build a picture using your imagination. And I can bet, you will be left wishing that you were alive there at the height of it’s glory.
I had little idea of what to expect of Hampi when I started riding there one morning from Bangalore. I had seen pictures and heard stories, but I didn’t carry that baggage with me. I wasn’t even sure of going when I went to bed the previous night! But leave, I did, on my humble little motorcycle. It was the familiar road till Chitradurga and I had to leave the comfort of the four-lane highway and turn towards Hospet. I had read horror stories of this road and had still went anyway. The road isn’t very bad, it is worn out in patches but the huge trucks were more difficult to tackle as the road has just two lanes.
I reached the town of Hospet in the evening and just before entering I was amazed at the huge Tungabadhra reservoir and the sun hanging just over the water line.
I stood there for a moment and left straight for Hampi hoping to catch the sunset. I did reach Hampi before it was dark but I had missed the sunset and only left to see this view!
After sitting to this view with the silhouette of the gopura of the Virupaksha temple for a while, that is where I head next. Virupaksha is the most popular temple in Hampi. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, known here as Virupaksheshwara, it is believed to be the oldest here and the deity is worshiped everyday. It is one of the most sacred temples in India. Hampi is also known as “Dakshina Kaashi”, the Kaashi of the south. Like Kaashi (Varanasi), it sits by a sacred river, the Tungabadhra. The river was known by the name of Pampa in the epic of Ramayana and must have been it’s earlier name. Pampa is also the name of Parvathi the consort of Lord Shiva.
Even with lots of people walking in, the temple maintained a calm atmosphere. I walked past the temple elephant, Lakshmi, as she was blessing people with her trunk and entered the shrine. Fortunately I didn’t have to wait in a line quickly got to see the linga. I hung around for a while listening to a guide talking about the paintings on the ceiling of the mantapa and left to find a place for the night.
After failing in my attempts to book a place in Hampi before getting there, I went around the village looking out for the names of guesthouses I remembered. When I actually got there, I was surprised to see that almost every house was converted into a guest house with a cafe on the roof. I did find a simple room for a nominal price. It too had a cafe on the roof, with free WiFi! 🙂 I had my dinner there, walked around the streets to get a feel of the place and finally hit the sack hoping for a good 2 – 3 days of exploring Hampi.
Sorry for not sharing many pictures in this post, I cannot wait till I share all the (pretty) pictures I shot on a new camera I got last month. So, watch out for the next few post that will soon follow!
Shreyas Goes 