It is funny how sometimes things
happen without any planning from your side and happens so well that you wonder
why even after so much of planning some of our outings and treks don’t go this
well. You could call it providence or
maybe a higher calling or maybe a divine intervention too.
This is how the trip to Hampi
just happened. A very close friend Dr. Sachin Kadam, basically a Mumbaikar but
working and staying in Kolhapur called me in second week of March and enquired
what my plans were for the long weekend of March 24-27, four days of holidays
which was a boon for an outdoorsy person like me. With nothing in the cards, he
casually mentioned, why don’t u come down to Kolhapur and we can go for a visit
to Hampi. I had, many years back already visited the other sites of Badami and
Pattadakal but missed visiting Hampi. I said, why not and booked my tickets to
Kolhapur via Konduskar Travels so as to reach on Thursday early morning.
Reaching Kolhapur on 27th
March early morning, we planned for a Kolhapur tour with a visit to the famous Phadtare Misal Kendra
which credits mention in the top 100 food destinations in TripAdvisor and,
being in Kolhapur, a visit to the Mahalaxmi temple goes without saying. The day
temperature was hot but we enjoyed not only the missal and the visit to the
temple but also a walk around the lake. This day also doubled up as a rest day
to recuperate from the overnight travel from Mumbai to Kolhapur.
Early morning on Friday, with a full
pack of snacks and cold water bottles, not to mention the cameras with
additional memory cards began the trip towards Hampi on Sachin’s Volkswagen
Vento. I took us around 7 hours to reach our pit stop – The Clarks Inn at
Kamalapura which is around 2 kms from the main Hampi site. The road from
Kolhapur goes via Dharwad, Huballi, Gadad, Koppal to Hampi. The route upto Huballi
(Hubli) is excellent with some stretches of it built by ITNL according to the
signage on the way. However the road via Koppal is terrible with some real bad
roads and around 24 odd speed breakers within a range of around 3-4 kms which
is extremely frustrating to the driver of the vehicle. From Koppal the route to
Hampi is a narrow two lane road which further delays our arrival at Hampi.
The Clarks Inn hotel had just
opened in January 2016, so the price of the rooms were very reasonable and well
maintained. Post the noon lunch at the hotel, special mention that the food at
this hotel was excellent, though the service was a bit slow, deciding to go all
out without a guide, we took our vehicle for a general drive around Hampi.
Kadalekalu Ganesha |
Virupaksha Temple |
Parking is available at various
places around the heritage site and depending on which area you are visiting,
you can take in your vehicle into that parking area. The parking charges are
also very minimal. You can also hire bicycles / bikes to ride around the area
so that you have enough time to enjoy the visit, though the heat makes it a bit
difficult, especially in March, but would be very pleasant during the tourist
season from October to January. We parked our car near the Virupaksha Temple,
the most intact temple in the entire complex, and wended our way upto the first
temple – the The
uniqueness of this idol is that when you see it from the back, you can see that
this huge Ganesha is sitting on the lap of Parvati whose hair braids and back
in a sitting lotus posture are visible. Not many are even aware of this and
miss seeing this amazing sculpted view.
Next we visited the Sasivekalu Ganesha which is built below the Hemakuta
Hills, post which we roamed around the shrines and temples on the Hemakuta
Hills and also visited the main attraction in Hampi, the Virupaksha Temple, the
Krishna Temple, the Laxmi Narasimha Temple, Matanga Parvata, Achutaraya Temple and
the BadaviLinga. The look from the top of Hemakuta Hills is amazing with a
larger perspective of the Virupaksha Temple and its surroundings and also a
view of the vast area the Hampi ruins lie in. We enjoyed the first day’s sunset
from the Hemakuta Hills. This half day excursion left us wanting and the need
for a guide was felt so as to make the most of the Hampi visit.
Laxmi Narasimha Idol |
Kadalekalu Ganesha which is situated at a higher ground from the Virupaksha Temple on the Hemakuta Hills. There are around 53 points marked on the main map of the region as places of interest but the regular tourist visits only around 11 of the most visited sites.
We approached the reception of
the hotel that evening and they recommended a guide to us who has been awarded
with many awards by the panchayat and the government for his work as the best
guide. However, he had already been booked and he promised us an equally good
guide for the next two days. The guides charge anythingfrom 1,200 to 1,500 per
day as fees. You need to be very specific about the places that you need to see
and what you require the guide for, else they show you the main 12-13 points
which the regular tourist visits and you miss on all the other good spots.
View from Hemakuta Hills of Virupaksha Temple |
We met our guide on Saturday
morning at 7.00 am at the hotel lobby. He introduced himself as a contract
worker with the ASI and as a sculptor who also acts as a guide. Being with the
ASI, he was well aware of the entire region, which was a plus point in his
favour. We had a very clear idea of our requirements and expressed our desire
to visit the ruins purely on a photography point of view and also see places
where other tourists
seldom visit.
Having a private vehicle also helps a lot as the distance travelled is
quite large. We started the second day with
a visit to the Royal complex starting from the Royal Bath, through the Stone
Gates of the royal complex, Mahanavami Dibba (a high plinth where, as per
records, a beautiful structure made of sandalwood usedMahanavami Dibba - Side View |
Stepped Water Tank |
We then proceed ahead to the
periphery and visit the Krishna Temple. The entire Ramayana is depicted around
the templein the form of sculptures and carvings on the temple walls. The inner
pillars are made of hard black granite as opposed to the entire complex
designed out of red granite. We also see lots of monuments and a few one and
two floor structures strewn around and a few stepped tanks and Pushkarini. The
Lotus Mahal is designed in such a way that the breeze blowing through the Mahal
is cooled by the walls made of bricks and coated with a thick layer of lime.
The entire structure is inlaid with hollow tubes through which water is
circulated. This water is absorbed by the brick walls which cools the entire
structure at least 5-6 degrees below the outside ambient temperature which
could be anywhere between 35-40 degrees in the summer, making it an ideal spot
for an afternoon siesta for the royal family.
Further ahead are the structures
which used to house the royal elephants. Each structure is intricately designed
and the designs are individualistic and unique in each room. Adjacent to the
Elephant enclosures are the structures for residences of the Mahouts which is
equally impressive. The government has
made this area into a mini museum with lots of sculptures collected, tagged and
displayed inside this building.
We then proceed to the
underground Shiva Temple. This temple is actually built below the floor level
and has unfortunately been flooded with the water from the surrounding areas
making it difficult to enter the inner sanctum.
Underground Shiva Temple |
Raghunatha Swamy Temple |
We had to plan our return back on
Sunday noon, so limited our visit to the Anjaneya (Hanuman) temple on top of
the Anjanadri Hills which is quite a distance away from the main Hampi complex.
Here one can also see, preserved in a glass tank, one of the floating stones
used for building the Rama Setu between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. Returning back to the hotel, we had our noon
meals, did a quick run to the Hampi Museum bang opposite out hotel , settled
our bills and proceeded on our travel back home. Though the heat was killing,
the entire trip was worth every penny, not to mention the animal and bird life
that we also sighted all around the area.
For those who are interested, some history of Hampi can be accessed
through the below link :
Pictures of our entire visit can
be accessed in the link :https://goo.gl/photos/oocokvkmD1mQCgQq6
Ravi Vaidyanathan