Bangalore Travellers: Hampi: Experience of a lifetime

Want to be humbled by the grandeur, skill and richness of history??
Then, visit Hampi!
I had known Hampi by the history books, newspapers and TV channels. Thought Hampi being a UNESCO World Heritage site, I never felt the urge to visit it. Until, a German colleague who returned from Hampi explained how marvelous the place is. For me, it was an embarassing moment for being told by a foreigner about how wonderful our land is. Not wanting to be embarassed any more, I planned a trip to Hampi within a week.

My wife, parents and my aunty had not seen Hampi too. They were more than eager to visit it with me.

I wanted to drive down to Hampi but elders were unwilling as it is at a distance of 365 Kms from Bangalore. I somehow convinced them that it is more convenient to have own vehicle.

Our trip was planned for 3 days, from 17th November to 19th November.
Day 1, November 17th 2006
I had contracted conjunctivities(Madras eye) the previous day, thanks to my nephew Sadeep. My eyes were swollen, reddish and paining. Everyone advised that we can postpone the trip. But, I was adamant to continue with plan. We left home at 7 am and headed to NH4, Bangalore-Pune highway. The drive until Chitradurga was excellent due to the NH4 Golden Quadrilateral expressway, from Chitradurga we took a right towards Hospet. After numerous breaks including the ones for breakfast and lunch, we reached Hampi around 3.30 PM.
Once you enter Hampi, it strikes you with a difference. You are surrounded by the brown boulders. It gives an impression that we have travelled back in time. Its surrounded by hills with boulders everywhere, its altogether a different landscape never seen anywhere else by me. This is the entrance to Hampi.

We found two rooms, basically the local villager's home converted into rooms with attached bath room. They charged Rs.250 per room. They are very basic and we faced lots of difficulty because of power cut resulting in no water, I felt we should have booked rooms in Hospet instead.
The first impression with Hampi's villagers was how good they have adapted to the needs of the foreign tourists in terms of food and language. One can get cuisines from all over the world here and the villagers communicated well in English.

By the time we got freshened up it was about to get dark. Our visit was to Hemakuta hill next to Virupaksha temples, its just 10 minutes climb. On the hill there are lots of Jain temples all of them are deserted, some mantaps and beautiful view of the sunset. Some pictures atop the Hemakuta hill.

After this visit, we booked a guide and auto for our exciting trip tomorrow to see the Hampi sites. In the evening, Anu felt like having egg chilly dry. So, we went to the Hampi main street that is the street in front of Virupaksha temple and entered a restaurant. The restaurant had a rustic look. Without looking at the menu we ordered for one egg chilly dry, the waiter had no clue on the dish. We just explained thats its just boiled egg with chilly masala. So, he said he can get it done for us. Within 15 minutes, we got the chilliest dish we had tasted. The presentation was good with boiled eggs dipped in masala and surrounded by 6 big chillies. We just loved it and foreigners sitting next to us were shocked to find us having it. We enjoyed it and longed to come back tomorrow. This is just to show that Hampi people do not wish to disappoint us and they can innovate on the spot.

Day 2: We started around 9 AM for our half day tour of Hampi. Many say that the best way to see Hampi is by foot or by cycle. Anu and I could not do both as my parents and aunty were with us. So, with a guide we set out in a passenger autorickshaw. Autorickshaw are fun sometimes but not in Bangalore city!

Our first stop: Sasivekalu Ganesha, the name so kept as the idol's feet seems like Sasivekaalu(Mustard seed)

Next stop: Krishna temple. Check out the stone vessel for collecting grains from donations.

View of the temple pond from the king's mantap. This is a serene place. I felt like staying for a longer time sitting on the mantap made for the king.

Next stop: Lakshmi Narasimha idol
This idol like many others is partially destroyed. Thats the reason you do not find Lakshmi sitted on Narasimha's lap. Observe the eye balls popping out to show the intense anger on the face.