We started our journey from Pune to Hospet. Reaching Hospet we took an auto to Hampi, from where started our day one in the mystical land of ruins. The ride is beautiful surrounded by paddy farms, coconut trees and as you start nearing Hampi you witness the huge mountains made of boulders which brings the feels of entering into a land of fantasy.
Wondering at the formation of those boulders we reached our cottage that was adjoining the river on the Hampi Bazaar side. We stayed at the Golden Garden Homestay. It is at a walkable distance from the Hampi Bazaar. They charge you anywhere between Rs.700 to Rs. 1000 for one cottage depending on the season. They have a small in-house restaurant that provides real delicious meals. Do not expect five star facilities while visiting Hampi. Most of the stays provide basic facilities with a wide array of delicious food choices.
Backpacking to Hampi was not a plan until a friend of mine overheard someone in the office say that December is the best time to visit Hampi. And the ongoing month being December, gave a start to the never ending curiosity of visiting Hampi.
Hampi, known as the land of ruins is a small beautiful village located in the state of Karnataka. The Tungabhadra river flows through, dividing the place into two parts -- namely, the Hampi Bazaar on one side and the Hippie Island on the other side of the river.
To start exploring the place one has many options, you can either hire a bicycle, an auto or a cab, cab being the costliest. Bicycle costs you around Rs.200 and an auto Rs.500. These are available outside the Virupaksha temple.
We started with,
The Laksmi Narsimha temple, where sits the huge Narsimha on the giant coils on a snake known as Adishesha. It's a magnificient monolithic structure.
The Prasanna Virupaksha (underground shiva) temple. It's called underground because the roof of the temple is with the present ground level and the temple is in a low lying area.
Further we visited The Zanana Enclosure. The Lotus Mahal, Basement of Queen's Palace, Elephant stable, Treasury building, Watch tower, Water Pavillion are all part of this enclosure. It charges an entry fee of Rs. 10. We reached this place in the afternoon and Hampi isn't that cool in the afternoons even in the month of December. So do make sure to hydrate yourself by drinking nariyal paani(say no to straw) at the Zanana enclosure gate. Also carry some snacks in your bag that you can munch on in the afternoon because there are no eateries on the way.
So we move on to see The Lotus Mahal, one of the most beautiful structures in Hampi, that has a lotus like structure.
Basement of Queen's Palace, a ruined structure of Queen's Palace, that has only the basement as it's proof of existence.
Elephant Stable, a beautiful building with domed chambers that was used as stables for royal elephants of the Vijayanagar empire. Seeing this makes you wonder what royalty may have been during the Vijayanagar empire.
After the Zenana enclosure we headed to the The Hazara Rama Temple. Its known for the Ramayan sculpted on its walls.
And going further we visit the Stepped well, also known as Pushkarani.
It's within the Royal Enclosure and in ancient times these tanks were considered to be sacred by the people of Hampi.
Next on the list was the Queen's Bath. These are the ruins of a bathing chamber that were used by the king's and their queens.
While still in awe with these bathing chamber ruins the next place to see was the one that has the most iconic structure of Hampi, yes, the stone chariot, inside the Vittala temple complex.
There are elaborate carvings on every inch of the Vittala temple's pillars that makes it's beauty just unparalleled.
It was evening by this time and we were hungry and tired. On our way back to the cottage we came across this small hut where an old lady serves bhajias, farsan, chai and buttermilk. Ate that and spent our evening watching the sunset from this temple dipping our feets into the cold waters of Tungabhadra. It was a wonderful and serene site. (Be careful though and don't hangout here till it's too dark, there are talks of crocodile sightings around the place)
On the second day we had plans to explore the other side of the river, the Hippie Island. So day 2 morning started with leaving the cottage on Hampi Bazaar side and taking a motorboat ride to the Hippie Island. On reaching there we first looked for a stay and rented two wheelers to explore the place. We stayed at the Ravi Teja Guesthouse. Stays again on this side of river are cheap and would cost you anywhere bet Rs.800-1000. I found stay at this side much better as compared to the Hampi Bazaar side. Hiring a bike may cost you bet Rs.250-300.
There on we started towards sanapur lake on our bikes. A friend knowing the road as he had already visited the place we started following him and he missed a turn and we ended up taking a wrong route. Yes we did. We travelled almost 25kms to know we were nowhere near Sanapur lake. Asked some locals and got to know we were near the Tungabhadra dam and we had left Sanapur way far behind. So we decided to visit the Tungabhadra dam. .
After Tungabhadra dam we headed on to the Sanapur lake. The narrow road running through the lush green paddy fields all along in contrast to the huge boulders and monkeys hopping on the roof of houses on the way is something to experience for the urban folks.
Sanapur is a perfect place to chill and relax with friends. A lake surrounded by boulder mountains on all sides providing perfect spots for clicking pictures. You could enjoy a coracle ride here or try bouldering or just sit back enjoying the lake view, wondering how these rocks balance and where did they come from?
After a laid back afternoon we headed back to the Hippie Island to watch the sunset from a place known as the Sunset point. You have to climb a little to get to the top from where you get a view of Hampi. Enjoying the sunset sipping on chai and just being in that moment was a moment to cherish.
After the sunset, we had awesome dinner and spent late evenings strolling the island and spending some time laid back along the banks of river under the dark blue sky, listening to the flowing river, watching the lit Virupaksha temple.
Day 3 began crossing the river and going to the Virupaksha temple and visiting Lakshmi, the elephant. Don't forget to visit the underground shiva temple in the Virupaksha premises itself. When we visited there was a group of foreigners doing meditation, chanting 'Om Namaha Shivay'. We joined them and it went on for 10mins. It was so peaceful, calm and relaxing, can't be explained in words, that was the most amazing of all experiences I've had in Hampi.
Rest of the day went by exploring some more ruins, temples and structures. Those vast stretches of ruins gives the feels of being on an entirely different planet. Just sitting amidst those boulders, listening to songs, not having a single thought about what we've left back in our urban lives and just being at peace was a mindful retreat.
It indeed was a Happy Hampi trip that held us by it's charm - the Hampi Bazaar, the Hippie Island, the vast stretches of ruins and the road trips through the paddy fields. We bid adieu to this mystical, wonderful, enthralling place in the evening, just to revisit it again.