Manju - Hampi

April 11th 2007

It was just a month before that we decided that we will be visiting the historical place Hampi. I knew that this was not the right time to be there as sun mercilessly pours his heat all over Vijaynagar and Hampi. But this heat couldn’t win over our excitement to go to the ruined city, Hampi. It was almost 10 hours journey from Hyderabad to Hospet. It’s in Hospet that we get good lodging and good food. Hampi is just 15 to 20 kms from Hospet. My parents and aunt were coming from Bangalore and myself and my brother were supposed to meet them in Hospet. At 4 in the morning our bus entered a small town and I saw a temple made of big stones and a person sitting stiff and doing meditation. Now I guessed that I am somewhere near Hampi. My guess was right and we were at Hospet at 4:00 am. Both me and my brother being T-aholics went and had good tea. This was the first thing that we did there. Our parents and aunt arrived by 6 am. We lodged some where and started to get ready for a big day ahead.

Hampi is a 700 year old city built by Hakka and Bukka in the year 1336 on the banks of river Tungabhadra. It’s the capital city of Vijayanagar empire. They built the city under the guidance of Saint from Sringeri mutt called Vidyaranya. The city Hampi was built during the days of Mohammedan attacks. The palace was very much apt at that time. It was at the banks of river Tungabhadra and it’s full of rocky Hills. It’s really difficult to any one to cross those rocks to conquer the empire at that time.

The Vijayanagar Empire was ruled by the likes of HakkaBukka I and II , Virupaksha Raya, Krishnadeva Raya, Achyuta Raya, etc. It was under Krishnadeva Raya that Vijaynagar empire found its most prosperous days. Vijayanagara was at that time more prosperous and bigger than Austria (courtesy ‘Forgotten Empire – Vijayanagara’ by Mr. Robert Sewell). Foreign merchants were always there trading spices and glittering stones. Here is the photograph of the international market of Vijayanagar.

People used to sell diamonds and gems here in this open market of Vijayanagar like vegetables at the time of Krishnadeva Raya. Art and culture also prospered very well during the time of Krishnadeva Raya. Krishnadeva Raya himself was an acclaimed literaturist. During his reign the poets like Purandara Dasa, Tenali Rama Krishna, etc enjoyed honors and acclaims.

Vijayanagar also has the history dated to the Ramayana. The monkey in the picture is a kind I have not seen other than zoo, it looks very ferocious with its face black. There are many monkeys of different kind here.

These monkeys, huge stones and caves are the evidence of the place of Vaali and Sugreeva of Ramayana. Kishkindha was ruled by the monkey kings, Vaali and Sugreeva. After a quarrel, Sugreeva, who had been driven out, took refuge on the Matanga Parvata, along with Hanuman. After Sita had been carried away to Lanka by Ravana, Rama and Lakshmana came south in search of Sita and met the refugees, Sugreeva and Hanuman. Rama killed Vaali, restored to Sugreeva his kingdom and then stayed on the Malyavanta Hill nearby awaiting the results of Hanuman's search for Sita in Lanka.

Hampi and its environs are considered holy ground and many of its sites and names are connected with the episodes of the Ramayana. Thus the Matanga Hill, on which Sugreeva took refuge, is a steep hill on the south bank of the Tungabhadra and to the east of the Hampi village. A good view of the surrounding country can be had from the top of this hill. The Malyavanta Hill, on which Rama stayed, is on the road to Kampili and has a Raghunatha temple with a large image of Rama. A huge mound of scorious ash in the adjacent village of Nimbapuram is believed to be the cremated remains of Vaali. A cavern on the southern bank of the Tungabhadra is said to be the cave where Sugreeva hid

Sita's jewels for safety, while certain marks and streakson the sheet rock near it are pointed out as the marks made by Sita's garments. The Anjanagiri and Rishyamukha hills are the sacred tanks of Pampasarovar are on the northern bank of the river Tungabhadra.

Here are the pics of the cave where Sugreeva took his refuge to escape his brother Vaali’s rage.

source http://hampionline.com

Anegundi is the first capital of Vijayanagar. It was later the capital was shifted to Hampi. Anegundi is just few kms away from Hospet. We started first towards a temple called Navabrundavana which is in Anegundi. To reach the temple we had to cross the river twice on the rafts called teppa in Kannada.

It was unbelievable to see now the Anegundi village. It’s a small under under developed village with people having no clue of what was that place 8 centuries ago.

Finally this is the NavabrundavanaTemple. It is believed that all the stones have life and are not allowed to touch them at any cost.

This is a really cute one. This boy guided us through the temple and gave a pose in front of the cam with full confidence.

An old room in Navabrundavan Temple

Ok. This has quite scary ambience. Haha… Edited using Photoshop.

From here onwards I will not list the photos in the order we visited them, instead I will list them in order of relevance to each other.

This one of the entrance to the ruined city Hampi.

The Virupaksha temple is located at the foot of the hill called Hemakuta, is the core of the village of Hampi. The temple, often called Pampapathi temple, is the most sacred of the temples of this place. Historically speaking, this temple has an uninterrupted history from about the 7th century. The temple contains the shrines of Lord Shiva, Pampa and Bhuvaneshwari. What was once a small shrine, in course of time, developed into a large complex under the Vijayanagara rulers. This temple is one of the main attractions of Hampi. This Gopura was built by Krishnadeva Raya during his Pattabhisheka (Crowning) in 1509.

The musical Pillars

These pillars were used as musical instruments at that time. Each of the pillars that support the roof of the main temple is supported by a pillar representing a musical instrument, and is constructed as 7 minor pillars arranged around a main pillar. These 7 pillars, when struck, emanate the 7 notes from the representative instrument, varying in sound quality based on whether it represents a wind, string or percussion instrument. The music performed from these during the festivals was audible up to almost 10km diameter of the temple. These pillars are still functional. This is another example of technological and architectural expertise people of Hampi had at that time.

Here is a video of how these musical pillars work. I thank clyde for providing me with this video.

The Musical Pillars Of Vittahla Temple Hampi - Watch more funny videos here

Click here to read the experience of Clyde and Bhavika in Hampi.

This is one of the most beautiful pieces of monolithic architecture. The main attraction of all the stones in Hampi. This is a chariot made of stone. This used to moves on its wheels until it was cemented on its wheel to prevent from any damage.

This is a photo of one of the monuments in VirupakshaTemple (Hampi).

Let’s take a break from these monuments and Hampi. Here are few photographs’ of Tungabhadra dam. Tungabhadra Dam is around 20 kms from Hospet central.

This is one of the Sunsets from the entrance to the Tungabhadra Dam.

This is the killer one. Sunsets by default comes beautifully-Tungabhadra Dam

This is another beautiful sight. The whole body of water stopped by TB Dam. It looks like the sea stopped by the dam. Hmm.. kidding.. - Tungabhadra Dam

Shiva idol among the fountain and colorful lights in Tungabhadra Dam Park.

Musical Fountain in Tungabhadra Dam Park.

Coming back to Hampi.

This is a monolithic Ugranarasimha. This was also one of the monuments damaged during the Mohammedan invasions of Vijayanagar. The Narasimaha is seated on the Adishesha. Most part of the Adishesha is destroyed. Originally the idol bore a smaller image of Lakshmi on one knee; this had fallen off, probably due to vandalism.

This is the Shivalinga called as Badavi Linga, which is always surrounded by water. The legend says that a some poor localite of Hampi of that time vowed to build a Shiva Linga if his or her luck turned and it did and hence the Shivalinga still stands there.

This is a temple elephant of Hampi prostrating in front of the God.

This is Shiva temple which was excavated recently (in 1980s) in the mid of Hampi. This was completely lost in time and buried in the earth. The temple is always filled with water because of its ground level. It’s very cool compared to the above ground. Probably to maintain the temperature it was built in the underground.

The examples of Hindu and Islamic architecture.

Lotus Mahal - Hampi

Elephant Stables - Hampi

This one is Saasive Kaalu ganesha (The Musturd Ganesha). This was built for the country men of Hampi.

The same idol from back has female Goddess (I don’t remember which god it is).

This one is Kadlekaalu Ganesha (Gram Seed Ganesha) This is so called because its stomach is broken and looks like a gram seed. This is the one which was used by the King and his courtesans to worship. The countrymen were not allowed to worship here. - Hampi

This is the temple of Rama called as HazaraRamaTemple. This temple has pictorial carvings of Ramayana. This was also believed to be the private worship place of King and his family - Hampi.

Here you can see the carvings of Shravana Kumara carrying his parents on two pans of a balance supported on his shoulders (the very beginning of Ramayana) - Hampi.

Elephants in the war of Ramayana - Hampi.

More carvings on the walls of HazaraRamaTemple - Hampi

This is underground Shiva temple. This was excavated in the early 1980s. This was buried in the mud and lost in time. Inside it’s very much cooler than outside probably that is why it was built at such a low level. Here the food was prepared and served for all the visitors at that time. Since it’s low level the temple is always surrounded by water - Hampi.

This is Mahanavami Dibba. This is one of the tallest structures. From a distance this looks like an ordinary elevated square stage. As you go close, the details emerge. The whole structure is made as a giant square structure in three layers - Hampi.

It is said all the stones in Hampi has a story to tell, this is most widely told folklore. These boulder like two similar looking stones are called as sister stones. The legend says that once two jealous sisters visited Hampi and were commenting badly about the city. The city goddess heard this and gave them a curse to become stones. Quite funny.. !!!

Here are few more interesting pictures in black and white to have nostalgic feel.

This is a once up on a time temple. This temple doesn’t have any idol. Kings used to keep diamonds and jewels in the idols as the mark of respect. During the Mohammedan invasions these idols were stolen to get the precious stones inside them. Hence from that time most of the temples in the city are functionless - Hampi.

Here are few snaps of Stone pillars and carvings in b/w - Hampi

This is inside the underground Shiva Temple in b/w. You can see the water surrounded - Hampi.

This is a marble pillar. The marble is from Srilanka and affordable only mighty of the mightiest kings of that time.

This is one of the excavations in the Royal Enclosure - Hampi

Finally this is me with elephant. Sketch view. Edited using Photoshop. Sorry if this was disgusting. Hahaa…

There’s much to be seen in Hampi than what’s listed here. Every stone has a story to tell. To know how to get there, lodging and boarding, check Hampionline.com. Our perception towards life changes when we have an example of Empire like this falling down.