A backpacking road trip to Hampi. We four fellows belonging to different backgrounds, with different age group, decided to head for Hampi with a hope of exploring the ancient temples which are sited as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Kilometers to cover were 845kms from Nashik to Hampi. Departure from Nashik at 3pm. Due continuous driving we could make to Hampi by 10am the next day(It looks we drove below average speed, but no thats not the case. The chaotic traffic in Pune forced us to spend some time by passing Pune)
Stay duration was not planned, every day during our stay in Hampi, we decided whether to extend our stay or no. Which made us settle in the beautiful ancient city for 3 days(were not enough though).
So here is a small introduction to what is Hampi(Vijaynagara Empire)
The foundation of the Vijaynagara Empire in the 14th century is an epoch making event not only in the history of Karnataka, but also in India. The founders of the Vijaynagara Empire were selfless and broad minded. They gave preference to the welfare of the nation. Their first and foremost objective was to safeguard their heritage and culture. They gave more importance to the traditional system of education, the development of different departments of science, diffusion of knowledge, development of language and literature, and the development of fine arts.
The founders of Vijaynagara Empire had Varaha, the pig, embossed on their seal. Mythology has it that when Hiranyaksha, the demon king, stole the earth and hide it under the ocean, Lord Vishnu in the form of Varaha(Pig) retrieved it from the ocean. The founders of Vijaynagara Empire choose the Varaha as their symbol to show that they also were interested in saving the earth from the ill-effects of cultural hybridization at that time.
- Harihara I
- Bukkaraya I
- Harihararaya II
- Bukkaraya II
- Devaraya I
- Veera Vijayaraya
- Devaraya II
- Mallikarjuna
Virupaksha
- Narasimha I
- Narasimha II
- Veera Narasimha
- Krishna Devaraya
- Achutaraya
- Sadashivaraya
- Sri Rangaraya I
- Immadi Venkatapathiraya
- Sri Rangaraya II
- Ramadeva
- Venkatapathideva II
- Sri Rangaraya III