Home at Hampi

I’m still in awe of the fact that I actually did it! I went to Hampi, survived and came back. It still has to register in my head that I actually did it. And it’s been a couple of days now.

It all started with Mum. She wanted to go to Hampi and inspired me to add the place to my bucket list. So when scrolling through my FB feed, I saw Appooppanthadi offering the trip at only Rs. 3300 I grabbed the offer for me and bro. But I hadn’t read the fine line – it was for women only. Slight disappointment as it was supposed to be a birthday trip for bro. But O well. I was going!

So on 11^th August 2017, I flew to Bangalore from Kochi. I whiled away some time at the Café Coffee Day, with some pending work on my laptop. Then I caught a prepaid taxi to Bangalore Station (SBC). Be warned – the price will kill u (Rs. 1500). I reached the station after 2 ½ hours in traffic. I still had ample time before Hampi Express arrived. So I waited in the Ladies’ Waiting Room. Dinner was at the only restaurant on platform 1. Then I ambled my way to platform 8 (helpful police offer had informed me of the platform).

At about 10:30 p.m. the train arrived. I boarded the train. Lissa, our tour buddy, was also in the same compartment and we met up and chatted. Then I went to sleep after exchanging berths with the guy on the lower side seat only to be told a short while later that it was RAC and thus could not be exchanged as there were 2 people for the same seat. So I went back to my upper side berth and tossed and turned the whole night.

We reached Hospet at about 7a.m. By then, the 7 others who had come by bus had reached the station. We met up, introduced ourselves and then moved onto the autorickshaws awaiting us. At the homestay where we were to lodge, we found to our disappointment that the room would be available only after 9. So we shuffled about and I went around taking pictures. Then when we got a room, we piled our luggage in there and went for breakfast. I enjoyed their version of masala dosa and big glasses of tea.

Back at the homestay, we got our rooms. I shared a ground floor room with Nino. We freshened up and then began our trip by auto across Hampi. Our first stop was the Virupaksha Temple to which we walked as it was near our place of stay. The gopuram was under renovation. Outside the temple we met our guide. We arrived at an opportune moment since that day the devi was being taken in a procession. So I got some good photographs. I remembered the photographic advice I had ready online – always turn back.

The guide explained a lot of things to us. Unfortunately very little of it registered in my head due to travel weariness, difficulty in understanding his mother-tongue influenced English and my poor understanding of Hindi which he switched to occasionally. Let’s just say I marvelled in the experience of visiting Hampi.

Inside the temple we had to take off our footwear and explore the temple barefooted, which we did. We followed our guide and picked up some hitchhikers (in terms of listening to our guide and following us around). There were a lot of beautiful structures which I marveled at and admired. I saw an elephant who would bless you after making a donation. We were also introduced to a round stone carving which, apparently when touched at the right time in the morning would make your hands move automatically, probably due to magnetic force. We also came across a ceiling painting of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita.

Inside one of the temple rooms, one could see an inverted shadow of the gopuram naturally formed. We also came across a small pool with turtles in it. The temple pool was beautiful and yes there were monkeys around. We came out of the temple and crossed a stone incline to reach another stone temple, this one devoid of a deity. The view from there was beautiful.

We went by auto to the next location and saw Mustard Ganesha in another structure. If viewed from behind, he appears to be seated on his mother’s lap. I am now letting my photographs tell the story since I do not have a clear memory of my trip.

On the itinerary the next stop was the Krishna Temple. There was much exploration here. I got some candid shots here. My fear prevented me from climbing one of the stairways to which we secretly got access. I think here was our first group photo.

The auto took us to a nearby location where we saw a huge Shiva Linga and the Narasimha Temple. Getting pictures were difficult because of the crowds. The Narasimha supposedly once had Lakshmi beside it. Walking back we saw excavations being done near the temple. I am not sure where the next stop was but there were more carvings to see and enjoy. We also took an unusual group photo.

After this came the Lotus Mahal and Elephant Stable. The Lotus Mahal was where the third queen resided. It was not destroyed by Muslim invaders because its structure resembled Muslim architecture. Unfortunately the foundation was all that existed of the other two queens. Apparently they had all lived in harmony.

From the Mahal we walked across to the elephant stable. These were huge structures spread over a large area. We walked about through them snapping pictures. I also briefly ran through the museum that was nearby. My favourite carving was one that looked like a mermaid (it was a nagalinga). We also viewed a watchtower of sorts.

We had lunch at the Queens Bath, in the gardens in front. The rice, curries and kheer were delicious especially to our famished selves. After lunch we walked around the Queen’s Bath taking pictures. It was interesting to think that once the queen and her maidens actually bathed there.

Following this we autoed our way to Vithala Temple. There we took a cart to the temple as per procedure. We climbed a small hillock which gave us a beautiful view of the temple. A quick surmise of the surroundings and we were on our way back to the waiting autos. We saw the chariot that has been used as the icon of Hampi and seen in many movies. The Hazarat Rama Temple was next on the list. There we were able to see the musical pillars. The guide demonstrated to us the musical quality of the pillars. There was even a pillar with double sounds. We also went into a sort of dark cave.

We next proceeded to the Royal Enclosure to watch the sun set. We took pictures around the sides of a huge bath before climbing numerous steps to the top of a structure to watch the sun set. After being shooed away by the guard we returned to the homestay to have dinner outside and then rest for the night.

Next morning we woke up at 4 a.m. to climb Mathanga Hill. By 5 a.m. we had begun our walk towards Mathanga Hill. With Lissa’s help, I huffed and puffed my way to the top. I am mighty proud to say that with my poor physique I was able to reach the top despite the odds. We enjoyed the view of sun rise. After slowly making our way down, we proceeded towards the Achutharaya Temple.

The temple was set amidst greenery and looked extremely beautiful. After taking a lot of shots, we moved back home for breakfast. On the way saw a statue of Nandi. After breakfast, and me encouraging Navya to try the masala dosa, we got into the autos to move to our next destination. On the way we stopped at the bridge we went over to take pictures of the river.

At the Anjanaya Hill we began our long climb of 575 steps. Yet again I huffed and puffed my way to the top with Lissa’s help. At the top we removed our shoes and entered the temple as well as scaled boulders. The monkeys scared my tour mates. We managed to scale down the steps meeting many ardent followers on the way.

Our next stop was the Rama temple but only 2 of us went inside. The rest of us walked around the premises. We then went to a place which offered rides in circular boats. I was reluctant to go but the others insisted and we went on a ride around the lake. Lunch was at our old Geetha Restaurant and consisted of thaali which was yummy too. After lunch and some packing, We did a quick round of the shops around us. After this we saw an inflated Ganapathy and walked to the nearby stone hills to catch a glimpse of the sunset. Some of us enjoyed tea being sold by a child vendor.

Since one of my friends had misplaced her purse, some of us went back to our rooms before the sun set. It was in her bag so she was relieved. We packed and took short naps. Some of the group went shopping. By 7 p.m. we had checked out of our rooms. We had an early dinner in Hospet and then said our goodbyes before leaving for our respective bus/train station. We got on our train at 10 p.m.

Next morning we reached Bangalore. Lissa and I had been in the same compartment. We met up with Nino who was in a different compartment and we went to get me a retiring room. Once I was settled in my room, we bid goodbyes and went our separate ways. I checked out later and left for my flight in an Ola cab. It took about an hour from Bangalore to the airport. I returned with blissful memories.