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.
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.
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| Pattabhi Temple |
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| Pattabhi Temple |
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| Behind the Rama temple |
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| Rama Temple |
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| Queen's Bath - It was quite deep, they all knew how to swim in those times. |
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| Locals picnicking on Sankranthi |
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| Royal Enclosure- Taken from the Mahanavami podium |
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| Mahanavami |
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| Temple Water Tank - Interesting architecture |
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| Hazara Rama Temple |
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| 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.
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| Drive to Anjaneya Hill |
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| Taken while walking up the Anjaneya Hill |
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| Lambadi Woman |
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| Lambadi Women |
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| Friendly Telugu speaking Lambadi woman |
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| Pampa Sarovar |
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| Anjaneya Hill we climbed to reach the Hanuman Temple, the white building at the top |
