Life..

"Life should
NOT be a Journey to Grave with a Sole Intention Of Arriving In Safe And Well-Preserved Body, But Rather To Skid In Side-Ways, Body Thoroughly Used Up, Covered With Scars, and Screamin with Joy,
Wu...hhhuuuuuuuuu, What a Ride!"

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Sunday, March 23, 2014

Mythological Anegundi

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HAMPI - INDEX

Chapter 6: The Royal Centre
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Yesterday was a day like no other, i was awestruck at every single minute by Hampi. With a new dawn, came the next day plan.
It was about the exploration of the mythological kingdom of Anegundi.

Anegundi literally means Elephant's Gorge (Ane = elephant; Gundi = Gorge). The depth of the river in this area is of the height of an elephant, making it a convenient location to bathe elephants. Gundi also means ‘group’ since a stable was located here one could see elephant herds and hence the name Anegundi.

Anegundi lies across the river Tungabhadra. We have already discussed about the mythological aspect of it.

But wait a minute, when you are in Anegundi, you will be forced to think about it really being a Mythology or a History?. With all the places associated with the ancient Kishkinda, you'll hardly believe it to be a myth. If it had been myth, there wouldn't have found so well placed evidences.

We woke up early morning. Our guesthouse owner suggested to hire a moped. It's a TVS Luna. And this brand is littered all over Hampi and Anegundi.

We walked over through the market running parallel to Virupaksha temple and waited for boat. The cost of ferrying it Rs 10/- per person. It hardly takes 5 minutes.

Since ancient times, they used a type of boat for journeys across the river. It has a special place in history and the roman literature also have special mention about this circular "dinghis"
Cute boat! Ain't it?
We had hired a TVS XL moped. While most travelers have written about cycling being the best and most preferred way to see this place, that doesn't hold true for Anegundi. Sun god is unforgiven in month of October. So cycling was the option that we didn't even look to.

We alight from the boat, there is a steep climb leading to a bazaar. Rickshaw walah's and bike wala's (read as touts) approached us.
We already had a briefing by our guesthouse owner. Not to pay anything more than 150/- for a moped.

Hemant was of the opinion to hire a rickshaw coz he being fair, might get tan. We poked fun at his stupid reasoning and then he agreed.
We had a hard bargain from 250rs to 150rs per moped + 100rs petrol compulsory to be filled. But a wise man (read a wise tout) offered a final deal of 80rs per moped + 100rs petrol. So we agreed to the deal.

Riding a moped is fun in itself! We'd seen foreigners riding and having fun with it.
1!
We were singing songs throughout the ride! Like the way shahrukh did in deewana dil deewana!
These mopeds are rickety powered 80cc scooters. One bike per person is preferred. But we had in our groups, two noobs. One has no license and the other doesnt know how to ride in this age. Anyways, we hired three bikes for 2 people. Submitted the original PAN card to the owner and our ride begun.



There are rough patches till the main road to Anegundi. The first stop enroute was Lord Hanuman's birthplace. The Anjani temple. This mountain top is surrounded by boulders and makes a scenic backdrop. This might be the reason why Hanuman's mother Anjani selected a place for her meditation and inturn got Hanuman as the boon from Shiva.
See that White temple at the top? That's Hanuman's birthplace and that's where we are heading!





We parked our mopeds at the base. There you hit to the steps. It's a steep climb. It takes half hour of sweating walk. But the view en-route is rewarding. The Tungabhadra river takes sharp turns admist the green mountains dotted by brown boulders, is indeed a spectacular view. Whenever we ran out of our breath, we looked back and the scenery took away our breath away. :)



Panorama. Dark clouds were hovering over. The sun was playing hide and seek and the blue skies made it an ideal day for photography



The climb involves aerobics apart from the regular cardio. There are boulders which block your way upstairs.You have to cross beneath boulders and that too, quickly.



All through the climb, these stairs are filled with Jai Hanuman and Jai Shri ram quotes. Seems like i am crossing the Ram-setu into the Lankan kingdom.

After half hour of grueling trek in the harsh sun, we finally reached to the top. I was expecting a big temple,as this is a significant place for Hindus. Just to surprise, it was a small shrine, painted in white with the saffron flag flying high. Where most of the temples in this area have drama and excitement carved over, this simple temple looks really cute and full marks for its location.

It overlooks the Tungabhadra rivers snaking and making way through those lofty mountains full of brown boulders. And the best bet is, you can have the temple and entire scenery in one single pano frame!

As in other temples, photography is prohibited inside. The temple has a "Swayambu" (self made) Hanuman idol. And just to burst the myth that Kishninda is a mythological kingdom, there were hundreds of Monkeys en-route those stairs and around the temple. These were the descendants of the "wanar's" of Hanuman's Wanar-sena (the monkey army which supported Rama).



Opposite to the entrance, are giant boulders. Climb it and you're come across a spectacular panorama.


To the opposite side is another spectacular scenery.


Dipali's health was deteriorating due to acidity and we decided to take a break. Meanwhile, we noticed the Langar (Free food for all) been served and we joined in. The menu was Dal and rice. When food is made with such devotion and dedication to god, it had to be tasty! With our belly full, we began the descend. Within 10 mins we were at the base.
After a brief sutta break, kick started our bikes and we headed to our next destination, the Pampa sarovar.
Pampa sarovar means Pampa (Consort of Shiva) and Sarovar meaning lake. It is a quite lake and there's nothing much to see here. Neverthless, the reflection of boulders into the lake looks beautiful.


There's a temple of Pampa devi here. It is vividly painted. It doesnt look like its ancient but legend says so. It is indeed beautiful.




I thought that it for this place. But Sachin came rushing to me. He said, i'll show you something special. and he took me through the above steps. And then a small chamber where they are Lord Ram's Foot prints!
Sachin is an ardent fan of Mythological stories and it is here, he explained us the site of Lord Ram and Vali's final battle at Anegundi.


Then there is a map of India which shows Lord Ram's journey across the sub-continent during his lifetime.


There was a banyan tree. We thought of giving it a try to mimick our biological ancestors!
Look at the girls in background watching us :p


Our next stop was a local temple. And it is really local. I think it should be skipped. Interesting to see coconuts being tied in colourful cloth and then tied to banyan tree.


Another km or so, we were at the gates of Anegundi village.
And there was a standing statue of the great king "Krishna devaraya". Our icon. He had won a special place in our hearts through his splendid display show of arts and architecture. We folded our hands in Namaste and gave him a bow. We prayed to him, he was none the less than God.



Just as you are in, there is a make shift Chariot. No, this is not a stone chariot as in Vitthala temple, it is a wooden one.


The Sri RanganathaSwamy Temple gate, Anegundi.


I then proceeded to The Vitthala temple crossing the Tungabhadra river.
Some random pics;






I saw my wrist watch. OMG its already 5 PM. We have to rush back to the guest house, pack our bags and catch the Kolhapur-Hyderabad express from Hospet junction at 7:30pm.

With all the heartfelt panoramas of Anegundi, our journey concluded with the final bow to the great king Krishnadevaraya. The last 10 minutes, we rushed to Virupaksha temple. Had a good look again and bid adieu.
There was a lot of pic processing to be done since all the shots are in RAW format. I was sure, this journey would resonate for a long time. And i am sure, i would visit Hampi once again.

As always, i end up giving few tips about the do's and dont's.

1) 2 days DO NOT do justice to this place. Plan for atleast 3 days. We were in shoe strings hence could not explore those temples in details.

2) Hire a knowledgeable guides. If temples are your interest, you can stay put for a month also!

3) At times, if you are sensitive to religious issue, you might generate a sense of hatred for the community who destroyed Vijayanagar. Stay calm, that was just a power tussle.

4) I was having a chat with the owner, and had ordered a tea. Incidentally, the issue of cleanliness popped up. And i said, this place is very clean as compared to others. Yes, he said and pulled out a plastic cup for tea. I said, "Give me tea, in that glass cup". Do not encourage the use of plastic.

5) Keep a tab on demolition status of guest houses. The Hampi market area is illegal and can anymoment be brought to dust by the authorities. A day before call to guesthouse is recommended.

6) Bears are spotted at Hemakunta hill. Just beware.

7) Do not venture out in the streets at night.

8) Cows are a menace, they literally come and snatch bananas from your hand. They are naughty breed. Monkeys in Anegundi can be a challenge if you show them food.

9) Thank god that there is no booze available in Hampi market. But you can get once you cross the tungabhadra river.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Hampi

Namaste Everyone!
Well, while writing this blog on Hampi, i am confused where to begin with! All that is hovering over the quite chambers my grey cells are the magical temples, stunning landscapes and the peace that Hampi offered..

They say " Travel leaves you speechless and then turns you into a story teller". Quite true. Coz i am shocked, astonished and flabbergasted by Hampi and i am sharing this wonderful story about Hampi with you..

Generally, people discover about Hampi (erst while :  Vijaynagar) through travel guides or through travel websites coz places like these are not generic like the Tajmahal or Kashmir. Hampi is one of the few places which are worth to be discovered.

The first mention of Hampi i came across was through Indiamike.com It was one of the many "famous" hangout places amongst the foreigners visiting India. As a matter of fact, much more than Indians! So i was curious what's this hippy hangout all about? On similar lines, i had visited Pushkar a year ago out of sheer curiosity.. Well it seems i am seeing my home through a foreign eyes.

My journey to hampi began on a a different (read as spiritual) note.
I am a devotee of Vitthala (One of Lord Vishnu's avatar.) Pandharpur is his adobe and is located on the banks of Bhima river. Maharashtra's beloved god, Vitthala is most worshiped here. Since it in on border with Karnataka and AP, there are lot of devotees from both states. The sect which worships Vitthala from Karnataka and AP are called as "Haridasa sect"

Many poets and saints who have profound influence of Maharashtra's history, religion, and psyche of its people are devotees of Vitthala. Few inflentials include Saint Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Eknath.
All saints have composed hyms and songs in praise of Vitthala. These lines are called "Sant-wani" (Devotional poems) dedicated to Vitthala.

One such poem caught my attention. It was penned down by 16th century Saint "Eknath".

The first two verse goes as follows;

पांडुरंगकांती दिव्य तेज झळकती ।
रत्‍नकीळ फांकती प्रभा ।
अगणित लावण्य तेजःपुंजाळले ।
न वर्णवे तेथींची शोभा ॥१॥

कानडा हो विठ्ठलु कर्नाटकु ।
तेणें मज लावियला वेधु ।
खोळ बुंथी घेऊनि खुणाची पालवी ।
आळविल्या नेदी सादु ॥२॥


The underlined line reads in marathi as "Kannadau vitthala, karnataku" (Oh, this Kannadi Vitthala from Karnataka..)
I always wondered, Vitthala is god of maharashtra, where he has 6 million marathi devotees, how on earth then is Vitthala a Kannadi? (People of Karnataka called as kannadi).
This curiosity existed since childhood but it was recently that i dug deep into this and was redirected to Hampi.

Google came to rescue. All the links pointed to one glorious Hindu empire which swept across southern India in 13th century and ruled over for 250 years, The Vijaynagara empire!
Two brothers who threw off their alliance with Muslim rulers and established an independent kingdom in southern India, the Hakka and Bukka brothers!
Hakka was the empire's first king followed by Bukka. These belonged to Sangama dynasty.

The lineage is as follows;


Apart from being a key player in political powerplay, the vijaynagara empire was also known for its astonishing art work. The leftovers by Chalukyas art experiments in pattakdukal and Aihole were further polished by this empire in its own territory. The capital of this huge empire was Vijaynagara (the city of victory). Now called as Hampi.

This is a place where jewels and diamonds were sold out in its open bazaars. Where traders as far as Rome, China and Indonesia could linger, all under one roof. Historians argue that this was worlds best city in 16th century.
Majority of the glorious achievements, be it in politics or arts or architecture are attributed to a king, under who's presence, vijaynagara rose to splendid heights! Bow down to thee, Krishnadevaraya!

Well, we need rulers like him today. People were self-sufficient, educated, religious, secular, no poor on streets. His vision for arts, literature and his love for Telugu language is evident all over the ruins.

As the Muslim conquest threatened sanatana dharma in the north, the invading armies ransacked Hindu temples trying to destroy its indigenous culture. As they inched closer to Maharashtra, Krishnadevaraya in a quick move, shifted the prestigious idol of Vitthala from Pandharpur to Vijaynagara.

One you have a prestigious idol, you got to build a splendid temple! In this quest , krishnadevaraya built a spectacle, which was unmatched in terms of artwork - The Vitthala temple in Hampi!

The lord stayed in this splendid temple for 10 years. But the people of Pandharpur were discontent since the their beloved god had been moved.
One saint rose for the cause and embarked on joureny to bring the lord back. His name was "Bhanudas". He requested the Vijaynagar king to re-install the idol back in pandharpur temple. The king agreed.
Incidently, Bhanudas was grandfather of Saint Eknath who penned these lines, "Kannada hu Vitthalu".

Now the mystery surrounding the temple was un-earthed, the attraction had already begun afterall, its my beloved god Vitthala's second home. No less than a pilgrimage to me.

A plan was chalked out. Since there is no direct train from Mumbai to Hampi, the plan was to go via goa. One day in goa, Two and half days in Hampi.

Reservations were done for the following routes;
1) Mumbai - Madgaon by overnight Mangalore express (12133).
2) Madgaon - Hospet by Amravathi express.
3) Since there is no direct train from Hampi to Mumbai, there are two transits, first being Hubli (No train in evening for mumbai) and second being Guntakal in AndraPradesh. Guntakal is the nearest major railhub.
Reservations for Hospet - Guntakal by 11304 KOP-HYD express.
4) Guntakal - LTT (11014)

The journey to Hospet begins with early morning Vasco-Howrah Amravathi express departing at 8:00AM from Madgaon.
The train traverses through western ghats. Passing through Castlerock and Londa. Enroute is the spectacular Dudh-sagar waterfall. We were in Nov, the rain had already subdued. So the amount of water gushing was less. Nevertheless, the grandeur of this waterfall can be felt. Its MAMMOTH.

After Londa, the plains took over. It was at 11:30AM. The plains continued with large agricultural fields. We crossed Hubli junction. It was a half hour more journey. the landscape begin changing dramatically! Mountains arrived, but these were of different breed than the western ghats. They were full of rocks and giant boulders! Some boulder as huge as of them were 200 foot!

This was the first glimpse of Hampi landscape. The train arrived on station ontime! and so did those touts. We ignored everyone. Hospet is a midsize town and is a transit railway station.  There are ATM's available to refuel your pocket.

We checked out of the station. There are buses waiting outside. Since there is no direct bus from Hospet station to Hampi, we alighted at Hospet bus stand (1.5kms from station, 4rs ticket) and then change over for Hampi (13rs). We were hungry. Arrived at Hospet bus stand and had some delicious Idli and wada.


After a full belly, the enthusiasm about Hampi doubled! We go to KSRTC bus stand and to our surprise, we found the bus depot to be very clean. Generally, if you go in and around Maharashtra ST depots, you will find it no less than an urinal. The govt here seems to be more pro-active here. Apart from that, we see ultra low floor CNG buses nowhere found in towns of this size in Maharashtra. The first impression about Karnataka was superb.


These ultra low floor buses are fully equipped, with wide windows, semi-automatic doors, an LED display indicator and an announcement system in two languages Kannada and English (No Hindi! we are going to have a hard time!! i felt).

The announcement system threw some hilarious lines. That's where we learnt our first Kannada lines - "Mundira dildana - Hampi central" (Next station-hampi central). Mundira dildana then became our Whatsapp group chat name.

The bus began smoothly, there was no traffic around. It is a 30 minute journey.
A few quick stops, the south began showing its trademark. Its colorful Dravidian temples. One such catches your eye (don't know the destination name) but it wont skip your eye because it is full of vibrant colors!

It was quite fascinating to see temples other than the generic Dravidian temples. I am talking about the huge sai baba temple. It has a 30meter high minar of which is carved a standing statue of Sai baba. Hampi is still 15mins to go. But there are no ruins enroute yet.
I turned GPS on, it displayed 1km to go. Still there's nothing around.

Just as it was 400 meters to go, the bus climbed a steep slope (you cant see the other end) and then takes an immediate left and then a downhill! And then!! Oh My!!! OH MY!!!!
What! You see!! is Jaw dropping!!!!

A sight, full of boulders and temples! Everybody in our group was silent and adoring the structures. As my grey cells were adjusting to the awesomeness of this sight, it threw signals that forced me to remember what Abdul razzaq (1443 AD), an envoy of Shah Rukh, the Timurid sultan of Herat (Modern day Afghanistan) said; ""The city of Vijaynagar is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it, and the ear of intelligence has never been informed that there existed anything to equal it in the world."

The rome architecture like structure was Kadekalu ganesha temple. Within a minute, you alight at Hampi bus stand. It is not a bus stand as such just a parking lot. Be ready to deal with touts. One tout offered a good deal for lodging. We accepted his offer and stayed at Meghna guest house.

He took us towards Virupaksha temple crossing a gate beyond which no vehicles are allowed. At this point, i was recovering from the Hampi awe shock. Then another shocker hit us! It was the virupaksha temple itself. A 13th storyed structure which catches your eye. The big thing was the depiliating markets to both end of the road that leads to the temple. We'll comeback to it later on.
We took a right towards Hampi bazaar (Market). Its is not actually a market. Its a small village selling some of their own handmade stuff. You are looked upon by men with mouthstaches wearing white lungis and women who probably work in fields, girls who daily draw rangoli in front of their houses, and boys who dont understand hindi and children playing marbles. People who throw a selfless smile at you and expect you to do the same. Kids who are always ready to pose when they see a dslr in your hand.
We reached and checked in Meghna guest house. Booked two rooms (on the spot). One for Amit and his wife and the other for Me, Hemant and Sachin. Cost : 400/- INR.



As we were tired, we thought to crash in bed. But wait, are we here for sleeping? Asked Amit??
He was right, we got up changed clothes and headed out towards the Virupaksha temple.

We had a brief stroll into streets of Hampi market just to get a fair idea of what is around.

We saw kids playing marbles. We were figuring out what they are playing. Oh! it was a familiar game. We look at each others faces, ehehe we join in! They played for marbles, we played for pics.


The market has a few handicraft stores. A tee caught my eye, and then my lens..

Very true, isnt it..
I bought couple of handmade cloth purses for my sis. Piled up essential stock which i had forgot since i came directly from office. PS: There is no medical store at this place. You got to travel 3kms for nearest medical store.

After this stroll, we spent rest of this evening at Virupaksha temple.

Before i begin with the my journey of hampi exploration, lets first learn its history.
There are Two phases of Hampi history.
1) Ramayana (Ancient phase)
2) The Vijaynagara empire.

1) Ramayana : To the other side of Hampi market across the Tungabhadara river, stands a mythical kingdom of Kishkinda, referred in Ancient text of Ramayana. The chapter of Kishkinda plays a decisive role in Ram's story of bringing sita back from Lanka.

Hampi, traditionally known as Pampa kshetra, Kishkindha kshetra. Pampa is shiva's consort and is widely worshiped in this region. Pampa is the ancient name of the river Tungabhadra. The ancient Kishkindha of the Ramayana is believed to have been situated close to present day Hampi. 
Kishkindha was ruled two brothers, the famous monkey kings, Bali (Vali) and Sugreev.
Bali was very powerful and had defeated king Ravana before. The kingdom had a traditional enemy called "Mayavee". Mayavee was a menace, hence Bali decided to settle the score for once in all. He and mayaveek took each other head on inside a cave and sugreev was asked to guard wait outside and guard the cave. The war turned out to be too long than expected.  And nearly after a year of fighting, the sounds waned. Sugreev was in impression that his elder brother and mayavee have been killed and hence decided to preside over the kingdom. Sugreev married to Bali's wife and became the ruler.
Bali on other hand was not dead, he defeated mayavee and came out of the cave just to be surprised that his yuounger brother sat on the throne and took his wife away. Angrerd, Bali was in no mood to listen to the misunderstanding. He declared war on Sugreeva.
Lord Rama was on his quest to liberate sita from clutches of Ravana, had halted in Kishkinda. Sugreev approached lord Rama and explained the misunderstanding that had took. Lord Rama offered him help in case of war and inturn sugreev will provide his monkey army to help locate sita. Lord Hanuman was the leader of the Monkey army. Sigriva was driven out, took refuge on the Matanga hill, along with Hanuman. The war broke out, Rama intervened and killed Vali and restored to Sugriva his kingdom and then stayed on the Malyavanta Hill nearby awaiting the results of Hanuman's search for Sita in Lanka.

2) The Vijaynagara empire : Hampi was capital of Vijaynagar built by Hakka and bukka brothers. Hampi, built in the year 1336 flourished and had a population of over half a million. The city was important for the traders but also for devotees and poets. There were temples built in hundreds, which stand as an evidence to the religious inclination of Hampi.
Winston churchill once said : "The sun never sets in British empire" but it did. So did in case of Hampi. After seeing its golden reign during King Krishna Deva Raya (AD 1509 - 1529), Hampi fell down in a lighting thunder to the attacks of the confederacy of five Sultans of Deccan - Bidar, Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmednagar and Berar in the year 1565. The city was looted for a period of 6 months. The temples were destroyed and the markets were plundered. The golden empire had come to an end, at the stroke of midnight.
However, the area was regained by the later rulers of same empire but of different dynasty, the capital was moved and Hampi was abandoned, left to synchronize with nature and only to be rediscovered by the british.

Religion :
As this was the largest hindu kingdom, the official religion was hindu but the behaviour of the kingdom was secular. The kingdom had muslims, christians of kerala and goa under its dominions all under equal rights.
The adherents of Hindu religion in Hampi region were of "Shaivaite" cult (Shiva is supreme god). Shiva and her consort being "Pampa". The Tungabhadra river is also called as Pampa.
King krishnadevaraya shifted his cult from Shaivaite to Vaishnavaite thus giving birth to the Haridasa sect. Krishnadevaraya built hundreds of temples, many of them being Vaishnavaite (Vishu worshipping people).



We were drooling seeing this magnificent 15th century, 13 storyed temple. You enter through a complex 13 storyed building.


Virupaksha temple : The Virupaksha temple is located at the foot of the Hemakunta hill. It is the core of the village of Hampi. Virupaksha temple contains shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Pampa. Generally speaking, this temple has an uninterrupted history from the day it was built. It was a small shrine then. Krishnadevaraya and later rulers made it magnifacient.
Presently, the main temple consists of a  Sanctum, three ante chambers, a pillared hall and a Mukha Mantapa also called Ranga Mantapa or an open pillared hall.

The Ranga mantapa consists of 38 pillars, relieved with sculptures. These pillars are divided into two vertical sections - the first is cut to resemble a rearing Yali - a mythical lion, standing on a Makara, while the second section is basically square with small relief, depicting mostly Shaiva themes. These pillars are aesthetically composed and skilfully constructed. The ceiling as well as the beams supporting the ceilings is covered with painted panels. The panel depicts themes from the Mahabharatha, the Ramayana and the Shiva Puranas as well as from the contemporary life.

The cult Shaivaite cult didnot end following the downfall of Vijaynagara kingdom. Hence this temple never fell in ruins like others. It is still an active place of worship for the Pampa-Shiva worshiping sect.

We spent an evening in the Ranga mandapa. ranga mandapa is a rectangular space which leads to second tower and then into the main sanctum. Since entry is restricted after 8 PM in the inner sanctum, we spent evening at the Ranga Mandapa.
Pics;



We caught hold of a Chinese who was on his own exploring the ruins. I wonder how he made it till here because he didnt knew english! Nevertheless, anyone irrespective of caste creed colour culture can understand that i want to take photos with you.
The locals boys immediately joined in.


It was dinner time, and no one (who is not an agent or a tout) will suggest other than the "Mango restaurant" You name it, they have it..




With a fully belly, we crashed in bed..

Day 2 : They day began with Virupaksha temple itself. We wanted to access the main sanctum.

The early morning view of the temple. 

We enter through gateway to Ranga mandapa. Wherever there is a shiva temple, there is always a Nandi. See the Mandapam (veranda)

The first courtyard has a pillared hall called 100-column hall at the far left corner, Kalyanamantapa at the far right corner. Both sets of pillars stand 10-15 feet high and appear to be carved out of a single block of stone.
 There is one wierd tree at the center of the first courtyard. The second entrance as seen in the pic.








The second tower is a 3 storyed structure. An access to inner sanctum.

We get inside; (This is the gate that was closed yesterday)
Inside the temple, is the first glimpse of the spectacular pillar art.


The main sanctum. The main temple is in the center of the pic.

Pillar art : Simply spectacular.



The drum that is used for processions.

Some of the figures on pillars;


The most amazing feat was this Nagada carved entirely out of rock boulder!

At the main temple entrance. There is a rock edict in Telugu language giving details on the construction and repairs by Vijayanagara kings.

 The entrance is carved out of holy figures.

This is Shiva guarding the entrance.

There are lovely carvings on the temple pillars inside! No photography is allowed, still i squeezed in one pic of 10ft high Shiva statue guarding the lingam.

The Shivlingam is tiny. After quick blessings, we strolled to the backside of the temple only to be stunned by another scientific miracle.

It's a dark room in which light falls on a slit window creating an image on inverted Gopuram!

To the right, is a small pond and another tower.



With Virupaksha done, we headed towards Hemakunta hill.


Hemakunta hill : Adjacent to Virupaksha temple, is a short climb to scattered ruins of Hemakunta hills. A small path leads to the summit and the view is rewarding. There are "Mandapa's", scattered markets, empty two-tiered bungalow and unique type of temples that resembles more like "Jain temples".
Hemakunta hill offers a spectacular sunset point. But i was there early morning. It was only me and the ruins and no one else around. I had ample time to go around and to photograph those ruins with no restriction.



Hemakunta offers a panoramic view of hills which are littered with giant boulders. The focus of the scene is the spectacular Virupaksha complex with its towering entrance. A good place for photographers looking for some panorama shots!



There are these makeshift resting points.. You sit under it, and go in those glorious times.


Virupaksha temple in background..



Some sort of Mandap's


 The haunted two tiered bungalow.. Dont think its small, it is mammoth, may be of 50 foot.


The Hemakunta hill panorama.. From the left, is Jain temples, and then the virupaksha temple complex.
The 13 storyed tower, the only thing that stands tall in arena.
Viewpoint from Hemakunta hill. Wonderful time to spend evenings.
Different type of temples..

The haunted bunglow from a distance.

The Jain temples..

Empty ruins of market..

The haunted bungalow from other side..

Then i switched over to some early morning macro shots..


While i was on a shoot, i noticed a black spot moving at a distance. I watched closely, i wasnt able to figure out what that was! But it was moving.. Well, i observed it more carefully and found out that it is a "bear".. Oh dear! There was no one around, i was scared.. Then i remembered something from Man vs Wild.. when bear grylls traverses through bear territory, he screams and makes noise to let them know that i am around..
Bears generally attack when they are caught by surprise. So the trick is to make noise and hope that he gets away from your path. They always avoid confrontation.
However, this bear was far away. So not much to worry!


We had hired a Rickshaw. He was our driver cum guide. He had an overview of history and culture of Hampi but not much indepth. Since we'd done an extensive research on Hampi's history and mythology, we probably knew more than he did.
But his rick was attractive!

Our next stop was Kadelakau Ganesha: This is a monolithic structure which is carved out of a single granite boulder and it is 4.5 metres in height and the belly of ganesha resembles like a Bengal gram seed and hence the name.

The temple can rival roman structures and its pillar art is fantastic. Each pillar has a distinct carving and rise pto 40 metres in height and ganesha idol is looks very  beautiful in its original colour.















Just as you enter the temple where is the inscription on right side which mentions the date and architect of this marvelous structure.
The temple is no more in use because the belly of lord Ganesha has been destroyed by those morons who destroyed Vijayanagar in 1565 AD. Hinduism doesn't approve worshipping of damaged idols hence this temple is abandoned.
During its hay days people use the first visit Ganesha temple and only then visit lord Shiva's Virupaksha  temple because Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and all paths lead to Lord Shiva find its transit through Lord Ganesha.


Adjoining is the sivakalesu Ganesha. This is a unique Ganesha idol in which has a serpent viz Cobra tied on his belly. Thanks to the resemblance the giant monolithic Ganesha statue is locally called Sasivekalu(mustard seed)Ganesha. This is located on the southern foothill of the Hemakuta Hill.
In Hindu mythology, Lord Ganesha is notorious for his food habit. One day he ate so much of food that his tummy almost bursted. He just caught a snake and tied it around his tummy as a belt to save his tummy from bursting.

This monolithic statue carved out of a huge boulder measures about 2.4 meters (8 feet). An open pavilion is build around the statue. According to inscriptions found nearby this pavilion was built by a trader from Chandragiri (in present day Andhra Pradesh) in 1506 AD, in memory of one of the Vijayanagara king – Narasimha II (1491-1505 AD)


This temple was also destroyed morons and you can see the newly installed pillars over here.











The next stop was Krishna temple which is the splendid display of krishna devaraya's architecture skills.After subduing the kings of udayagiri (orissa) krishna devaraya brought a Bala-krishna idol from udaygiri as a symbol of his victory. And once you have bought an idol you have to build a splendid temple!
So in the quest, Krishna devaraya embarked on his mission to build Krishna temple. He built it in style and with supreme grace. No space was left un-carved. This was eventually destroyed in the siege of sultans and a conservation work is still going on.




















Opposite to the Krishna temple is the Krishna bazaar. This is the place where traders from Arab to Indonesia, and from far away land like Rome and Persia could linger at a same place to sell their goods and services. The seeds of globalization had already been sown here!

The amazing thing about this is that after the siege of Vijayanagar, this was abandoned and then reclaimed by local farmers for Banana plantation. Later it was reclaimed by ASI for excavation and they excavated this splendid bazaar!









After checking out this bazaar, we head to our next stop, Badveling statue.

This is a 3 meter high structure carved out of a monolithic stone. This is the third largest Shiva lingam in India after the one in Tamil Nadu and it is very beautiful.
The Linga is housed inside a chamber with an opening in the front. The sanctum in which the Linga is installed is always filled with water as a water channel is made to flow through it.

According to Hindu mythology the River Ganga (Ganges) was brought from heaven to earth to quench the drought. But the river was so forceful that it could split the earth into two pieces if allowed to fall on earth. Lord Shiva consented to take the impact by allowing the torrent of Ganga to fall on his matted hair. Thus helping to release a smooth flowing river on to earth from his hair. As an iconic representation of this, in Siva temples you can spot a dripping pot hanged over the Linga. Here, the upper area above the Linga has no roof.


Adjacent to Badve lingam, is the iconic Laxmi Narshimha temple.

Also referred as "Ugra Narshima" (Angry Narsimha) temple, this magnificent monolithic idol was executed in 1528 AD under Krishnadevaraya. Narshimha was is the fourth incarnation of lord Vishnu and it is a has a height of 6.7 metre. The idol looks like Narsimha in his angry form but it is not! The original idol had a laxmi resting over the arms of  Narsimha and his eyes turning into big glaze. The lakshmi idol was destroyed and Narsimha's hand were cut-off by morons. Now the statue looks like an angry narsimha.




This was about the sacred center. We proceeded to the royal center where the kings and their queen's palace had been located. 3 kilometer from the secret center.

En route is the "Underground Shiva temple". The name is  such because it is below ground level and it has been excavated by ASI recently. Also called as prasanna virupaksha temple because the roof of the temple is with the present ground level. Since it is low-lying area, the temple is filled with water up to knee height and are you have to cross over and to access the shivlingam.
Further, most interesting part is that you have to walk over slippery granite flooe and to add more woes, there is no light inside plus there are bats flying all over!
I had my camera with me so i turned on the red light and we reached the submerged shivlingam. Only the upper half it was visible above.














With our pants wet, we took a  brief stop over and continued to the royal centre.
Purchased the ASI tickets of rs 10.


The royal center is a fortified structure with walls up to 45 meters in height and every corner there is a huge watchtower called as Zanana watch tower.
The first stop is the splendid Hampi museum.






Photography is not allowed inside the museum. Nevertheless, it has a very good information regarding mythological and historical aspects of Hampi.
Meanwhile i figured out that my camera's battery was low so i requested the watchman and he allowed me to charge it. I thank him.

Now we explored those Zanana towers, which are next to the museum. This watch tower was always manned by sixers. The reason being, there were queens residing and the king feared that they will be attracted to men. And it was not possible to hire women because they were deemed to be less masculine to defend in a wake of attack. Hence the king hired some one who is not attractive but masculine!
The Zanana enclosure is of indo-islamic structure, the manifestation of Vijayanagar secular architecture







The one that needs a special mention inside the Zenana Enclosure is the Lotus Mahal.
The style of it is a pleasant deviation from the trademark Hampi. This was dedicated for the women folks in the royal family for their day to day activities.

It does not fall under religious structure and hence was spared during the 1565 siege.
The shape of the structure is what brought it the name. Lotus bud shape carved on to the center dome.
The decorations and architecture is a curious mix of Hindu and Islamic styles.






Few meters to the south, is the Elephants stable. Built in Indo-Islamic style architecture, This stable was used to park Elephants. It offers a good chance for taking panorama's.


Further south, is renovation work in progress. ASI is doing a splendid job here!





Up next: HazariRama temple.
This is not a huge temple as per Hampi’s standard. It was a private temple for the king, or at the most, the royal family. The importance of this temple can be judged from its nodal location in the royal area. Your paths to various locations within the citadel concur at a corner of this temple.

Probably this is the only temple in the capital with its external walls decorated with bas-reliefs mentioned above. And the temple got its name Hazara Rama (a thousand Rama) Temple owing to this multitude of these Ramayana panels on its walls.



















We then headed to Queens pvt bath.



Now! Here comes the most awaited. They day i was dreaming for all these years. A visit to much awaited Vitthala temple, My mecca!
It was already 3:30 PM. We rushed to Vitthala temple.
This is an eco-friendly zone, so you have to travel the last 1km on electric driven vehicles. No petrol/diesel vehicles are allowed nearby to this temple.
Ticket price 10rs single way.


It takes 10 minutes from the base to reach the temple entrance. Here you have to purchase another ticket. If you have the Royal center's ticket with you, you can get a waiver.
The route traverses through some of beautiful dilapidated structures. I wanted to visit them. Especially the Bazaar lining to left called as Vitthala bazaar.


Since the time was less, my aim was to cover the temple first and then the rest.



I gushed through main gate. And the session begin.




The highlight of this temple is the "STONE CHARIOT" built entirely of stone. It is the structure we have seen on the cover pages of school history books. And what a masterpiece of art it is! I was literally blown away by this spectacle. After this, Krishnadevaraya made to my list of super heroes of History.

This stone chariot was once movable. And lord Vitthala was seated inside and paraded throughout the temple circumference in those days. The Ratha was so huge and heavy that it would take two young male elephants to pull it. Again, no space was left uncarved on the chariot, not even the wheels!

This chariot is not movable now and is displayed in front of the splendid Vitthala temple.





As you can see, the Vitthala temple was casting its shadow on the chariot. And its not a great thing for photography. I was a disappointed. The Vitthala temple was coming as silhouette and is not identifiable. It is not open for tourists and is guarded and sealed. This is the only Vitthala temple with No Vitthala idol inside.

The outer walls of Vitthala temple is carved with superb figures. Every carving is unique and attractive. I tried to squeezed a bit. The guard scolded. I pointed out a ID (Marathi news paper reporter) and he then allowed me to take photos halfheartedly. :)















The Vitthala temple features an amazing spectacle of "Musical pillars". These musical pillars have 7 cylindrical subsets represents the seven notes of Indian Music (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni), Each pillar produces a sound like original instrument and each pillar produces a sound of a different instrument! The guard stationed there said, the outer two pillars produced sound of water and Dholak respectively.
It is said that during its D-days, these acted as instruments to produce music and various dance forms were performed on it.




To the left of Vitthala temple, is the Rang-Mandap (Meeting hall). It also has beautiful carvings on it.



This is the back of Vitthala temple. The ranga mandaps aligned left to the Vitthala temple.


Few pics from the court-yard





I was not yet happy with the results. The sun set and we headed back to our guest house.





That was not sufficient. Day 2 was to explore the other side of Tungabhadra river. Mythological Anegundi was waiting for us. To cut the story short, we covered all points in Anegundi in 4 hours. Half day was enough. There was some spare time left. We had crossed the river and ended up at Anegundi. I inquired with someone, he said, if you cross the river again at this point, you will end up at Vitthala temple!

OMG! I was so happy. But others in my group were not interested as they wanted to rest a bit. I then went alone. Loaded my bike into the Launch, and crossed over. Charges 10/-

When you reach the other end, it just 1 kms to the base of temple where the e-vehicles are placed to ferry you over to the temple. It was a long wait again. But i cant wait. Also if i traveled by these electronic vehicles, i would again end up missing those lovely bazaars and one beautiful structure. So i begin walking and Fast.

Within 10 mins, i reached the beginnings!
It was the Ranga-Mandapa!

The road to Vitthala temple!

The bazaar starts with this tiny makeshift lake!


The bazaar line-up!



Without wasting anytime, i went inside the Vitthala temple.




















And then, i was satisfied :)

TO BE CONTINUED..