It was the month of December of 2015 in which me and Tulika desperate to leave our perils behind wanted to breathe a bit of air that wasn’t air-conditioning. We definitely wanted to head south from Mumbai. After too many options to explore and short time we decided it had to be famous, historic and not Goa. So we shortlisted the epic destination of Hampi.
A Good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. – Lao Tzu
With absolutely no bookings and no planning at all we got our Ford Figo and started our journey towards the new year and a new destination. My family has been a group of crazy nomads and loved long distance driving, spur the moment vacations and south of India was not a unknown to me but was my first time to Hampi. On the other hand Tulika is the opposite it was her first time into Karnataka. Both first timers to Hampi with no reservations heading to a absolute adventure.
Driving out of Mumbai is a feeling that I can believe is as accelerating as it is entering the city. We started our journey on the 31st of December towards and heading out of Mumbai was a piece of cake, the families on vacation had left a day before so most of the city was like a post apocalyptic scene with people getting ready for the purge night and house parties. Within a few hours we had crossed Pune, Satara, Karad, Peth, Kolhapur via NH4 and were entering the state of Karnataka.
One thing you will notice is that as soon as you see the Kanada board for welcome to the state of Karnataka, you will feel a change and it is the roads. Magnificently engineered stretches of artwork with lay by lanes for truckers, service road’s and no potholes. The one draw back I can say was slow Toll Workers but thats because we are so used to the Mumbai speed of things. One of my favorite part of the journey is Dhaba food and Karnataka has some really good ones. While we had Misal Pav for breakfast in the ghats of Khambatki, we had Thali in the traditional restaurant from Kamat’s (Not the Maharashtrian one).
After driving for over 8 hours we had left the national highway and we heading towards the town of Hospet through small villages and townships. The interior road network is just stunning with landscapes filled with tiny houses, open spaces, pastures for grazing to corn, sugarcane farms . While moving across this vivid scenes we entered a Panaroma of Windmills, stretching from the roads to the end of the horizon a picturesque viewpoint.
We had a plan to reach before dark and try to get a place for the night. In the meanwhile Tulika figured that we couldn’t get a place in proper Hampi as it mainly consists of ruins and very little of luxury but a place just 20 km before Hampi called Hospet was a hospitality hub.
We made it to Hospet but our desperation to find a hotel as near to Hampi as possible drove us ahead. We had the time on our side so the sun to back we headed away from Hospet. After crossing a few kilometers in we came across a few Luxury Resorts and a sigh of relief but they were only available for the one night and we would have to move the very next day. A few door knocks later and darkness catching up with us we settled for a Resort called Vijayshree Resort & Heritage Village, which was again only available for the one night.
It was night fall and we were very tired but did not want to spend new years in a closed room so we asked around and figured that Hampi is city with NO ALCOHOL (Disaster of no research ) Good food is the our poison anyways so we asked around and head to get some good food and booze. We headed to Hospet a town we had left behind to embrace our destination. Hospet being out of the Hampi territory served alcohol and really good food at such cheap prices, it was totally heavenly. After lugging around a bit I found a tiny shop that sold some rum so that we could go back to the hotel and enjoy some in the shadow of the fireworks.
After a wonderful night we began the new year with having a buffet of awesome South Indian food served for breakfast. Stuffing ourselves full with all those delicious food, we checked out. Still figuring out a place to stay we decided to pack the bags in the car and if there was no place to stay we would drive back in the night but the day was for Hampi. So with no further delay we headed into the city of Ruins.
If you Google Hampi you are going to find out that it was a jewel of the Vijayanagara Empire of the Tuluva Dynasty. On the banks of the river Tungabadra this epic settlement of multicultural deities and their followers lived in peace and harmony. You can see parts of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism in adjacent areas.
First we visited Virupaksha Temple believed to functioning uninterruptedly ever since its inception in the 7th century AD, Virupaksha temple is the oldest and the principal temple in Hampi. This is easily one of the oldest functioning temple in India as well. Before you enter the Temple you go through ruins that look like pillars with no walls, they were the markets in the old city of Hampi called the Hampi Bazaar , also known as Virupaksha Bazaar, this street is located in front of the Virupaksha temple. About a kilometer long, the east end of the temple ends at the foothill of the Matanga Hill. Both sides of the street are lined with a series of old pavilions.
These structures were once part of a thriving market and residence of the nobles, earlier to 2015 these structures were used as homes by locals but after an incident the archeologist found that these structures stretched further below and relocated the families and have started on excavation of the bazaar even further figuring it is more than 2 floors deep in some areas.
After we visited Virupaksha temple and the Hampi Bazaar we can climbed the hill just next to it for some lovely views towards the temple and few other ruins. The main spectacle there is the giant rock mountain we just hiked and the massive boulders over them.
This way leads ahead to the other side of the ruins which are also known as the riverside ruins.before we made it to the Vittala Temple and its stone chariot there we arrived at several beautiful ruins, some Shivalingas and walked right on the banks of the river. We were following signs to the Hanuman temple and just as we made it we saw something that by the look of it was blood pumping exciting. The locals have these small floats made out of tree sap and bamboo held together by tar. They are a absolute adventure we were excited so managed to talk the fisherman to give us a ride in his float and he agreed to take both of us around the river and back in 300 rupees, He was a fisherman and did these tourist rides for some side income. He explained a few more ruins, the Alone standing Hanuman Rock to the ruins of the Vishnu Temple, explaining the routes the sages used to take, how temples were accessible during floods. He managed to give us a spin in the tiny float of his and that was experience I can’t really put in words. I highly recommend one of these tiny tours while you visit Hampi.
Walking further through many more such structures of temples we came across the Ancient Bridge, Narashima Temple, the Kings Balance and many more Ruins and markets. After a long walk through those we made it to the Vittala Temple, as the epicenter of Hampi’s attractions, Vittala Temple is the most extravagant architectural showpiece of Hampi.The temple was originally built in the 15th century AD. Many successive kings have enhanced the temple campus during their regimes to the present form. You can even see the remains of a township called Vittalapura that existed around this temple complex.
The highlight of Vittala temple is its impressive pillared halls and the stone chariot. The halls are carved with an overwhelming array of sculptures on the giant granite pillars.
The stone chariot located inside the campus is almost an iconic structure of Hampi. After enjoying this spectacular temple we headed back to town via state transport bus right outside the Temple.
Walking in the heat had taken a toll on both of us and we sought refuge in fresh lemonade with soda at one of the roadside vendors and it was God sent. After a few glasses down and catching up with shade we headed back to the car and drove up hill towards the Sasivekalu (mustard seed) Ganesha temple we had skipped on our way in. In the afternoon hunger we carried on and there we saw Lord Ganesha the lord famous for his notorious food habit. One day he ate so much of food that his tummy almost busted. He just caught a snake and tied it around his tummy as a belt to save his tummy from bursting. On this statue you can see the snake carved around his tummy. Also he holds the goad, noose, and his broken tusk. The hand which holds modak which is broken and not reconstructed.
After that we headed back into the car and visited the Narshima Temple, a Giant Shivalinga which has a mini wishing well next to it. We were covering a lot of ground once we were back in the car we headed next to Hazara Rama, Zenana Enclosure, Lotus Mahal, Queens Bath and finally arrived at the Mahanavami Dibba, This is the tallest structure in this area and hence the first thing you would notice as you enter the Royal Enclosure. Standing on the top you would see the wonderful landscape of Hampi stretched to the Horizon and on the other side a Pushkarani also known as the stepped tank.
The sun was about to head down and we had a hotel to find, with the blessings from the temples and wandering souls in the ruins we made route to Hospet and we got rewarded instantly as we got booking at The Orchid Resort in Hospet and room with a splendid view of Hospet. After a massive buffet of food and remembering the Ganesha story we filled our tummy and headed to the room for some dwellings of the day.
After that extraordinary day at Hampi we decided to make way to another such place only a few hours from there called Badami. Having a good and heavy breakfast and noting directions from hotel staff we made for Badami all the way through tiny towns and settlements and long peaking horizons we reached Badami by 3 pm.
Badami like Hampi was a capital city but for the Chalukya Dynasty host the famous Badami Caves, The cave temples are carved out of the soft sandstone of these hill cliffs. At the cave entrance is a verandah (mukha mandapa) with stone columns. It leads to a columned main hall (maha mandapa) and then to a small square shrine cut deep into the cave. There are four temple caves here, each representing different religious sects. Cave 1 is dedicated to Shiva, caves 2 and 3 to Vishnu, and cave 4 is a Jain temple.
Visiting the Caves is a peaceful experience and looking at the sculptures and view of the lakes beside and fort ahead are breath taking but also is the way the Mountain in which the caves are carved is a magnificent feet of nature.
After spending sometime admiring the artwork we decided to drive back towards home, it was a long shot but we didn’t want to spend the night halfway so getting back to the car and driving along those beautiful roads through the state of Karnataka enjoying the beautiful sunsets we made it to the border town of Belgaum by 7, after some light snacks and buying Kunda a very famous local delicacy and sweet we drove down towards Kolhapur. Here we wanted to halt for dinner for one purpose only one of my favorite dishes served piping hot with some tandoori Naan and homemade yogurt called the Akkha Masoor. A local dish served hot and high on the chilly scale. After the dinner was a long NH4 Highway and looking ahead our destination, HOME. We made it back in the darker hours of the night and straight into bed.
Adventures are not bound by time or place, they are bound by experiences and this epic road trip had been nothing short of them.
Seat Belt Chronicles 
I also wants to visit Hamppi
LikeLike
Reblogged this on parag235.
LikeLike