It was close to 5:00 pm by the time we finished with the sights at the Vitthala temple complex. There were buggy rides ferrying people from the Vitthala temple to the car park, driving along the length of the 1 km long bazaar or Chariot street. People were standing in queue waiting for the rides,…
Tag: Hampi
Hampi chronicles: Music, myths & magic๐ช with stone๐ฅ (Vitthala temple and Stone chariot)
Sekhar says he is well versed with the history of the Vijayanagar empire and even more with the intricacies of the Vitthala temple. He claims to speak nine languages and that’s not even his talent, you’ll see ! It’s close to 4 pm by now, tired, we were at the last quarter in the sacred…
Hampi chronicles: Framed by boulders & filled with stories ๐
“The city of Bidjnagar( Vijayanagar) 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.” as recorded by Abdur Razzaq, the Persian envoy from the court of Shahrukh in Herat to…
Hampi chronicles: Encounter with the magnificent Yali at the Achyutaraya temple๐ฆ
While being spellbound by the sheer size of the entrance to the temple, you almost forget to notice the delicate carvings on the walls of stone !! Maybe the novelty of this temple entrance is that it is not in the usual pyramidal tower format like the Virupaksha temple. The base of the main entrance…
Hampi chronicles: An inept king & an incredible temple ๐ (Achyutaraya temple)
A proclaimed glorious reign by any monarch always marks the beginning of the end of an empire and the story is no different for Vijaynagar. The Vijayanagar empire was at the peak of it’s prestige and power during the rule of Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1529). He was succeeded by his half-brother Achyuta, continuing the line…
Hampi chronicles: Bazaar and beyond ๐
The picture below helps to get an idea about the once thriving markets of Vijayanagar, which must have been glorious so as to be recorded by travellers. R K Narayan paints the picture beautifully for us in his book The Emerald Route ” One can let one’s imagination roam over the old bazaar street in…
Hampi chronicles: Hemakuta Hill – the Granite abode of Gods ๐
We are on a trail covering the sacred centre of Vijayanagar and after starting with the Virupaksha temple ๐Hampi chronicles: Charmed by the colonettes at Virupaksha temple ๐, the next destination is the Hemakuta hill situated right next to and above the Virupaksha temple complex. The entrance to the Hemakuta hill is a majestic quadrilateral…
Hampi chronicles: Charmed by the colonettes at Virupaksha temple ๐
It’s good to have a view of the Virupaksha temple complex in it’s entirety before entering it. It gives you a sense of direction and you are able to place the towering gopurams above the entrances better! The tallest gopuram marks the eastern entrance from the Hampi bazaar and the second tallest marks the northern…
Hampi chronicles: The curse that saved a temple โ๏ธ
There are many stories leading to the origins of the Vijayanagar empire, too many in fact; but they all have some converging points. A broad outline of these narratives is aptly outlined by Srinivas Reddy in his book Raya stating ” It is a tale of two brothers, a sacred geography and one legendary sage.”…
Hampi chronicles: Beginning with the end ๐ (Starting the Hampi trail๐ถ๐ปโโ๏ธ)
The year was 1565; the Vijayanagar empire had Sadasiva as it’s namesake King while the real power lay with the three brothers – Rama Raya, Tirumala and Venkatadri. It was Rama Raya also called Aliyar Rama Raya, who wielded power. Rama Raya and Tirumala are believed to be son-in-law’s of the celebrated king Krishna Deva…
Hampi chronicles: Who’s telling the story ๐โ๏ธ (๐ Fab books on Hampi ๏ผ๐)
The drive to Hampi from our hotel Hyatt Place was nearly an hour. We chose a weekday to visit Hampi, weekends are more crowded. As you get off the NH and drive through the winding SH into Hampi, a smile begins to form; a thrill of excitement and mystery overwhelms you (maybe it’s just me…
Hampi to Badami: Road trip ๐๐
Badami : 8 hours drive (to and fro) for 2 hours of sightseeing โ๏ธ It was on a Sunday that we decided to head out to Badami, a four hour drive from our hotel. While Hampi lies in the Bellary district of Karnataka, Badami is located in another district called Bagalkot. Badami, formerly called Vatapi, was…
Red Earth๐๐ณ (Part 2 of 2)
I had mentioned in Part 1 that we were staying at the Hyatt Place hotel which is located within a JSW residential layout in Toranagallu town of Bellary district in Karnataka ๐ Red Earth๐ณ๐ (Part 1 of 2). Our agenda here was to visit the nearby historic towns of Badami and Hampi. The residential layout…
Red Earth๐ณ๐ (Part 1 of 2)
In Chikmagalur, we woke up to sounds of birds chirping; in Hampi, we were awakened by the sounds of whistles from trains. Goods train most probably ferrying raw material and finished goods to and fro from the JSW Vijayanagar Steel Plant in the vicinity. Our hotel, the Hyatt Place was located in a town called…
Miles and smiles 