Hampi - Boulder City

Hampi has some of the most interesting boulder structures I have ever seen. Boulders are stacked in a precarious way and a dwelling is just a few meters away, seems risky but is commonly seen everywhere. Hampi is a World Heritage site and although many of the buildings were destroyed, there is quite an effort underway to preserve what is existing.  The structures were built during the Vijayanagara empire (1500s)  with the peak during the rule of  King Krishnadevaraya.

Interestingly, I felt more like a foreigner in Hampi than most other places in India. Several people came up to us to ask which country we were from, some wanted to take a picture with us, it was rather unusual. Granted I was wearing sunglasses, my big floppy hat, had a large camera hanging off  me and I guess our accent is a give-away, but still surprising.

So what did we see? Ancient temples, excavated sights, richly carved granite structures, rice paddies with a backdrop of millions of boulders surrounding the area. 

The highlights of Hampi can be covered in a 1 day however, 2-3 days will allow you to soak in the culture and really get a feel for the area. We started at the mustard Ganesh temple and walked up the Hemakuta hill to see views of the Virupaksha Temple which has an impressively carved pagoda. At the palace grounds in the  Zanana enclosure,  we saw the beautiful Lotus Mahal and elephant stables. We walked through Hampi bazaar and  had lunch at the Mango Tree restaurant, Hampi's most popular restaurant. The location, the ambiance cannot be beat and the food is pretty decent too. In the afternoon, we went to Vithala Temple which is by far Hampi's most impressive point of interest, more intact than the others, home to the famous stone chariot seen on most Hampi literature.

Hemakuta Hill

Virupaksha Temple

Hampi Bazaar

Hampi Bazaar - Was slightly obsessed with the sindhoor, I have 20 pictures of pretty much the same thing

Root  - He cut us a slice, it was quite sweet.

Lotus Mahal

Lotus Mahal

Elephant Stables

Vithala Temple

Vithala Temple - Stone Chariot

Vithala Temple

It was Sankranthi on Saturday and we were very fortunate to have seen the main sights on the previous day. They were huge crowds celebrating the festival by visiting the temples and having elaborate picnic lunches on the grounds. We saw the intricately carved pillars of the Pattabhi temple which was surprisingly empty, the Rama temple that housed Rama in a meditative position (sitting Rama), the archaelogical museum which is worth a look even if it is to get out of the hot sun,  the Hazara Rama temple with its detailed carvings of the Ramayana on the outer walls,  the Queen's bath, public bath, the excavated site and secret passageways of the Royal Enclosure and finally we ended our day at the Peanut Ganesha Temple which houses the largest Ganesha statue in  India. We had lunch at the newly opened and empty Jungle Resort lodge, a great place to unwind and relax after  a long day of sightseeing.

Pattabhi Temple

Pattabhi Temple

Behind the Rama temple

Rama Temple

Queen's Bath - It was quite deep, they all knew how to swim in those times.

Locals picnicking on Sankranthi

Royal Enclosure- Taken from the Mahanavami podium

Mahanavami 

Temple Water Tank - Interesting architecture

Hazara Rama Temple

Peanut Ganesha Temple 

On our last day, we woke up early and drove to Anjaneya Hill near Anegundi. The drive was spectacular, we drove through miles and miles of lush green rice paddies.  We climbed 572 steps to reach the Hanuman temple and the views were stunning although the lighting was a bit off so the pictures were a bit dull. It was a challenging climb  but we met an 81 year old man who did the climb fairly easily. We made a quick stop at Pampa Sarovar which is one of the few sacred lakes in the world although looking at the lake filled with decaying lotus flowers, you wouldn't know it.. We saw another ancient Durga temple and our final stop was at the Kishkinda Trust Handicraft shop which sells banana plant based products. I purchased a new sun hat to replace my floppy unattractive sun hat that I've been wearing for the past 10+ years. We headed back to the hotel, the children went swimming, Prasad and his parents made a quick trip to the Tungabhadra dam to get a personalized tour by the dam's Chief Engineer who was my father-in-law's friend.  We headed back on the overnight train to Bangalore.

Drive to Anjaneya Hill 

Taken while walking up the Anjaneya Hill

Lambadi Woman

Lambadi Women

Friendly Telugu speaking Lambadi woman

Pampa Sarovar 

Anjaneya Hill we climbed to reach the Hanuman Temple,  the white building at the top