Hampi as it reads is a World Heritage Site located in Karnataka, India. Apart from some of the people who believe it be a place for getting stoned, there is much more to this entire place. I will take an attempt to showcase to you what this beautiful place is all about. This is going to be a 2 part series.
Part 1: Will speak about its scenic beauty and place to stay
Part 2: Would speak about our lost heritage, which was destroyed by Islamic invaders
Part 1 – The Beauty It Holds.
Staying in Hampi is such a beautiful and relaxing experience. The location is set up on the backdrop of huge boulder hills and greenery all around. We decided to stay at Mowgli Resort which I believe is the best place to stay in Hampi. It has hut style cottages.
The view from the cottage overlook at the beautiful paddy fields and tall coconut trees. The breeze makes you to just sit there and gaze into this scenic view.
Just behind these paddy fields is the Tungabhadra river. This is the Ganga of the south. You can also walk down to this river and spend a good time there.
The place is also a home to a lot of migratory birds. Do not miss capturing them.
Anywhere you travel around the city of Hampi, all you would see is these huge boulder hills surrounding it.
One important question would be which are the good places to eat. Personally I would recommend two places which are a must visit to eat.
Mango Tree is a go go without a second thought. It has amazing food. This is located on the other side of the river.
Another place would German Bakery:
A lot of these boulders which did not fall down were balancing itself naturally. It keeps you wondering how did these boulders break in such a fashion on its own.
There are a lot of reasons being given explaining the reason behind this.
The Geologist’s version first: The Hampi’s boulder strewn landscape is one of the oldest exposed surfaces on earth. Unlike most of the mountain ranges, the boulder heaps of Hampi were not formed as a result of volcanisms or of any uplift in the earth’s crust. The boulders were once part of gigantic granite monoliths (massive mountain of rock).
Hindu mythology has a different story to say. This is far more dramatic than the geology version, and it gels well with the rest of Hampi’s mysteries than the so-called erosion theory.
Hampi is believed to be the erstwhile mythical monkey kingdom. And there was a bitter power struggle going on between the princely brothers, Sugreeva and Bali. In a pitched battle Bali defeats Sugreeva and chases him out of the kingdom. The frightened Sugreeva took refuge at the Matanga hill (the tallest hill in Hampi ) as Bali can’t climb it thanks to an earlier curse on him. The battle between Bali and Sugreeva was so intense that the boulders threw at each other piled up all around Hampi. In another version of the story, the monkey army piled up the boulders here to build a bridge to Lanka. That helped the monkey army to march to Lanka. Rishikukh Hill, a popular spot among the boulderers as ‘Hampi Island’ is believed to be the place where Hanuman first met Rama and his brother Lakshmana.
The Birthplace of Lord Hanuman is located a hilltop, which one needs to climb 575 steps to reach.
The view from the top is amazing. All you get to see is the entire city covered with huge boulders and river Tungabhadra flowing.
You should ideally hire a two-wheeler to explore these empty roads of Hampi. We hired Mopeds to travel and explore the city.
These huge boulders accumulated in forming hills across the city, gives a beautiful scenic landscape with small water bodies.
The beauty of landscapes around Hampi is really mesmerizing.
And when you talk about lakes & rivers, who would not want to take a boat ride. But remember do not enter any lake that you wish to. There are chances that you get rendezvous with crocodiles.
To rides in the lakes can be taken in these round shaped boats. It is a fun and should not be missed.
Apart from this by the roadside, you would see strange architecture stranded. It will keep you wondering what is it doing here.
In order to understand what is it with these broken destroyed architecture doing in Hampi, you will need to go through Part 2 of this article.
And at last, as usual, do not forget to end your day with a beautiful sunset.
