Hampi-The Pride of Karnataka!

I can’t remember the first time I saw a picture of the famous Stone Chariot of the Vijaya Vitthala Temple which is an identification of the temple town of Hampi itself and yet, remember an unnerving desire to visit the place and see it for myself, see how grand would be the ruin of the very same chariot and imagine the splendid rituals and ceremonies that must have taken place. 

Living in Bengaluru, it was finally in December 2018 that I had a chance to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site, about 340 kms from the city of Bangalore. If you are a tourist in the place, you can book luxury accommodation and spend on comfortable travel plans. But being a student and surviving on a budget every month, I prefer backpacking through a given place. Having said that, one of my friends, Ayush Anand, and I decided to travel through Hampi within a budget of INR 2000. (Well, mostly because we couldn’t manage to get a train ticket from Bangalore to Hampi and thus, had to opt for a bus.) Buses ply frequently between Hospet and Bangalore, Hospet being the nearest communication centre to Hampi. Hampi is a temple town in ruins and thus, does not have any major station. The average cost for a bus ticket for the same would be INR 500- INR 600 but it varies according to time and demand. We decided for a sleeper (a bunker bed, obviously) that cost us INR 550 each, reaching Hampi by 4 am in the morning. It was dark outside and we had no clue of how to reach Hampi right then because the local transport services would start only by 7 am. Luckily, talking to a couple from New Zealand who too were on their way to Hampi, we decided to share an auto that demanded INR 300 for a 30 minutes drive. But well, it was either that or waiting for 3 hours to travel cheap and missing the sunrise from the Matanga Hill. However, the ride turned out to be quite fun as the couple travelling with us were pretty friendly: the girl, named Ola, was a teacher from Poland and the guy was a travel blogger from New Zealand, both of them having met at Australia. They were booked in a hotel on the other side of the Tungabhadra River, also known as Hippie Town. To state the obvious, the Hippie Town had got its name for its availability of marijuana, alcohol etc. and a number of tourists with counterculture dressing sense. This side of the river has better accommodation and restaurants. 
The trek to the hilltop was a little exhausting and having reached the peak, I was out of breath. Yet, all of it was worth the view we witnessed. The eastern sky was a hue of orange and purple and pink smashed across the clouds that resembled little cotton furballs. The western side of the hill gave an exemplary view of the Virupaksha Temple and the ‘bazaar’ or the market of Hampi. It seemed like a view from a book, with the river Tungabhadra making its way like that of a snake dancing around the town and the temple ruins spread across the entire place, as far as your eyes can see. Even though there were too many people for my taste, I had found a quiet spot for myself to enjoy the view from and tried to soak in as much as I could. 

Sunrise at Matanga Hilltop. Picture Courtesy: Ayush Anand

Finally, we decided that it would be better to head down to have breakfast before hunger killed us all. That was where Ola, her boyfriend and we parted ways. She had paid for our auto ride to the hill and when we wanted to pay her back, she replied, “You are students and I am working. When I was your age, there was a person who too paid for me. You need not pay me back. Instead, when you work and travel around, help a student just like you and pay for them. The debt shall be paid.” This was something I had never seen anyone do and I knew right then that I would never forget her. There are a few instances which touches you, makes you believe that despite all the killings and murders and terrors and humanity’s doom, there still exist goodness in humankind. 

Ola and her boyfriend, all the way from New Zealand and Poland!

After a quick breakfast at one of the street junctures, (they do serve amazing idli-sambar but if you are from North or are not comfortable with traditional South Indian dishes, I recommend you go to the Hippie town on the other side of the river for food and accomodation), we made our way to the Virupaksha Temple, overlooking the Hampi Bazaar. The Hampi Bazaar now harbours ruins of what might have been a sprawling market place in its glorious days. You could imagine the kind of activities that would have taken place, people thriving together as market were also a place for social gatherings. It brought the imagery of one of my favourite movies, Jodha Akbar! 

Sunrise at Matanga Hill. Picture Courtesy: Ayush Anand

The Virupaksha Temple, established by the Queen Lokamahadevi, the consort of King Vikramaditya II of the Vijayanagara Empire, in the 7th century to commemorate the king’s triumphs over the Pallavas of Kanchipuram. Constructed in Dravidian style, this holy sanctity is devoted to Virupaksha or Lord Shiva, the consort of Pampa Devi, the goddess of the river Tungabhadra and is one of the oldest functioning temples in the country. The architecture reflects the brilliant craftsmanship of the century along with the evolution of temple town in the subsequent generations. 

The Virupaksha Temple, Hampi. Device Used: Oppo Realme 1

Next, we decided to freshen up and head to the famous stone chariot in the Vijaya Vithhala Temple. That said, Hampi is a perfect place for backpackers as it has all the facilities such as pay and use washrooms, drinking water facility as well as places to keep your luggage on an hourly basis. Travelling cheap is not easy, either. There is a constant opportunity cost between comfort and money. While the local irksome auto drivers charge about INR 800 for just four hours, we thought better to go ahead and rent a bicycle for INR 100 for the entire day, despite the heat. Ayush, at first, was however, very much against the decision because a lot of places would need us to trek and even cycling in that hot, humid air was almost impossible. Well, convincing him wasn’t too hard because I offered a better alternative- to spend that money on good food. And food is always a priority. Always! 

The road to Vijaya Vithhala Temple was almost a trek of 4-5 km but somehow felt more as the sun reached overhead. We walked by the banks of Tungabhadra, (I was dying to jump into it, though. Jab We Met too, has contributed to my bucket list) and almost lost our way quite a few times but you do get many travellers who prefer the offbeat road and would happily guide you on the way. The best thing about that road is, since Hampi is a city in ruins, you are likely to come across something or the other while walking around. We were fortunate enough to witness one of the awe-inspiring temples, the Achyutaraya Temple as well as the King’s Balance, which are mostly large scales, carved of stones. 

At the Achutaraya Temple, Hampi Picture Courtesy: Ayush Anand

The Achyutaraya Temple was, however, magnificent in its remains. Built in 1534 A.D, this temple still has remains of exquisite carvings and ornamentation on the pillars, fairly well preserved. With very minimal tourists flogging in the site, you can take as much time as you want to examine the details of the artwork. While the pillars at the entrance are in a state of decay, this temple depicts the perfection of what a temple town would have looked like back in the Vijayanagara Empire. 

The Achutaraya Temple, Hampi Device Used: Canon EOS 700D

The Vijaya Vithhala Temple, in contrast, looks exactly like what a tourist place would look like. It thrives more of multilingual people with camera, buying ice-creams and cotton candies and shouting as they direct each other to pose in order to get pictures. The temple authority charges a rate of INR 40 per person, with extra charges for camera. However, they do offer student discounts if one is travelling in a student group. I was pretty excited to see the Stone Chariot I had always read about and get a picture alongside it. Being a photo-enthusiast, Ayush and I were pretty specific about the angle and frame of our pictures. However, we did not manage to get one single shot the way we would have liked, for there were too many people ready to photo-bomb into our frame. After about ten failed attempts, we finally gave up. Despite the crowd and the intense weather, the temple sure was a treat to the eyes. I could not stop staring at the intricate carvings and trying to get a perfect shot. Ayush was thoroughly annoyed by the end of forty-five minutes and almost dragged me out of the place. “We have just one day and way too many places to cover. Let’s go.”

The Stone Chariot, Hampi. Picture Courtesy: Ayush Anand

Drenched in sweat, we bought an ice-cream and made our way to the coracle ride spot we had located on our way. Coracle rides are a specialty of Hampi, as this was how people in the ancient Vijayanagara Empire would cross the Tungabhadra River. Albeit costly, (INR 250, per person), the ride did leave us with a sense of connection with the old world. 

Coracle Ride, Hampi

With the clock striking almost 3 P.M., we decided that no matter what, now was the time for lunch for we desperately needed to silence the rats running in our stomach. After reading a lot of reviews, we decided to head straight to Mango Tree, which was in the Hampi town, near the Virupaksha Temple. It was a wise decision, alright. The place is pretty cute and they make you sit on cushions on the floor, while the serve you smoking hot meals. By the end of our meal, we were in a dilemma as to whether we ought to go out and continue our adventure or simply just laze there, under the fan. It was almost after an hour and a half that we decided to pick our lazy asses off and get started again. 

Now was when my decision of renting a cycle would come to a test. Believe me when I say, it was more than once that I wanted to give up and simply sit on the middle of the road. I have no clue how I cycled almost 15 km throughout the day, but I did. Ayush, on the other hand seemed quite at ease and wasn’t complaining much. Nonetheless, we managed to see almost everything including the Royal Enclosure, the Queen’s Bath, the Mahanavami Dibba, the famous Elephant Stables etc. 

Mahanavami Dibba, Hampi.

Paddling through the city, all I could wish was to have the ability to travel in time and witness this place in its magnificence. It was almost dusk till by the time we reached the town centre, cycling into the sunset. We had stopped for coconut water on the way and were informed by the vendor that the streets on the outskirts were not too safe after nightfall due to wild animal attacks, especially tigers. This scared us off enough to hurry back and drop off our cycles. We roamed around the beautiful place for a little longer, now that it was relatively cool and discovered pretty amazing places where we could have had lunch. One thing is for sure- Hampi might be a temple town but if you know the right places, you would realize that it has earned its name as ‘the Hippie Town’. 

Returning to Hospete turned out to be a challenge. We had to opt for a shared auto-rickshaw which was cramped and the driver was still adamant on making place for more people. I have no clue how we managed to come back in one piece. By the time we reached the railway station in Hospete, I couldn’t feel my body. We got dinner from one of the numerous shops near the station and hopped onto our waiting train. I don’t remember much after that, mostly because I slept like a dead body.

Hampi was one of the two best trips I have taken in my three years of college. I never thought I would have the chance to visit the world heritage site, I wanted to. Having studied architecture as a part of my course, I could not wait to witness everything I had read. Hampi was definitely worth all the backache, heat and the wait.