I was done with my Summer Internship but had three days to kill because of error in estimation in booking flight ticket back to Calcutta. Subhasis had also Sunday
off from his research work. In Hampi, another person joined the group. So after ‘little’ bit of grazing thru the internet, we made ourselves armed with information about Hampi. ‘Little’ coz most of the info is collated beautifully in a single site
off from his research work. In Hampi, another person joined the group. So after ‘little’ bit of grazing thru the internet, we made ourselves armed with information about Hampi. ‘Little’ coz most of the info is collated beautifully in a single site Hampi has been declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. It is clearl
y divided into two geographical regions - Sacred Centre and Royal Centre. The bus stop is near the Sacred Center. We were so excited by the 
beauty of the place that immediately after getting down, we visited Virupaksha Temple, which is the main attraction of Hampi. Behind the temple there was one pond sorta thing where the water was very dirty. And we … thanks to the map and studying in the net, concluded that it was Queen’s Bath just to discover later that it was not so ... (Queen's Bath deserves to be more Grand .. right?) After that we visited Sasivekalu Ganesha – A huge monolith, Hemkuta Hill, Krishna Temple, Badabilinga Temple and LakshmiNarasimha. They are situated at a proximity to each other. The weather was too good as it was cloudy. So perfect weather for roaming around among rocks.
y divided into two geographical regions - Sacred Centre and Royal Centre. The bus stop is near the Sacred Center. We were so excited by the 
beauty of the place that immediately after getting down, we visited Virupaksha Temple, which is the main attraction of Hampi. Behind the temple there was one pond sorta thing where the water was very dirty. And we … thanks to the map and studying in the net, concluded that it was Queen’s Bath just to discover later that it was not so ... (Queen's Bath deserves to be more Grand .. right?) After that we visited Sasivekalu Ganesha – A huge monolith, Hemkuta Hill, Krishna Temple, Badabilinga Temple and LakshmiNarasimha. They are situated at a proximity to each other. The weather was too good as it was cloudy. So perfect weather for roaming around among rocks. Here we met Ghania, a French Psychology doctoral student, who will be the third member of this trip. LakshmiNarasimha statue is situated among green banana and sugar cane plantations and in a very serene place. Ghania acknowledged that if we two were not there, she could have been very scared as the face of the statue seemed scary to her. No wonder people also term the statue as ‘Ugra Narasimha’ as well.
After visiting this congregation of temples and structures, I and Subhasis headed towards the public bath and Ghania went to the Royal Center. We had our breakfast in one 
of the numerous eateries in front of the Birupaksha Temple and then took an auto to join Ghania in Royal Centre. Here main attractions were Mahanavami Dibba, Stepped Tank (Queen’s Bath), Common Bath, Hajara Rama Temple, A Mosque, Mint, Supari Bazar, Elephant Stable etc. There are lotsa places to visit in this area. But as we had planned only a single day trip and the weather was cloudy no more (though a breeze was helping us a lot) we were not visiting each of them. In “Elephants’ stable” we had taken a wrong route and the guard suggested us to come through the main gate, we skipped it.
of the numerous eateries in front of the Birupaksha Temple and then took an auto to join Ghania in Royal Centre. Here main attractions were Mahanavami Dibba, Stepped Tank (Queen’s Bath), Common Bath, Hajara Rama Temple, A Mosque, Mint, Supari Bazar, Elephant Stable etc. There are lotsa places to visit in this area. But as we had planned only a single day trip and the weather was cloudy no more (though a breeze was helping us a lot) we were not visiting each of them. In “Elephants’ stable” we had taken a wrong route and the guard suggested us to come through the main gate, we skipped it.At around 1 PM we started walking back to Hampi. Again as I have already described, besides this path also lies many a places with historical importance like Hampi Bazar, Chandikeswara 
Temple etc. Sisters Rock is another attraction. So apart from these monuments, the walk was kewl owing to fact that Subhasis ‘nearly dead’ Ray has enormous fundae about Botany and Ghania had an interest about that. After almost half an hour’s walk Hampi can be reached. We had taken one auto midway to ‘Mango Tree’. As Ghania was already in Hampi for one day she suggested us to go there. Mango Tree is a really good restaurant situated beside Tungabhadra
River. They serve food under a big mango tree shade facing the river and the rocky hills. A big ‘jhoola’ is there so that if you feel like swing, you can give it a try. After the lunch I and Subhasis went to visit Achyutharaya & Vitthala Temple, Ghania went to her hotel; we planned to meet at 5 to take bus back to Hospet and later to Bangalore.
Temple etc. Sisters Rock is another attraction. So apart from these monuments, the walk was kewl owing to fact that Subhasis ‘nearly dead’ Ray has enormous fundae about Botany and Ghania had an interest about that. After almost half an hour’s walk Hampi can be reached. We had taken one auto midway to ‘Mango Tree’. As Ghania was already in Hampi for one day she suggested us to go there. Mango Tree is a really good restaurant situated beside Tungabhadra
River. They serve food under a big mango tree shade facing the river and the rocky hills. A big ‘jhoola’ is there so that if you feel like swing, you can give it a try. After the lunch I and Subhasis went to visit Achyutharaya & Vitthala Temple, Ghania went to her hotel; we planned to meet at 5 to take bus back to Hospet and later to Bangalore.Then we had taken the road straight in front of Birupaksha Temple to go to Mathanga Hills and cr
ossed the hill to go to Achyutharaya Temple. In front of it lies Courtesans Street. After visiting these places we got so tired that we decided to rest (and sleep) under a Neem tree, beside Tungabhadra River. There we composed ourselves and went on to explore riverside ruins like Sugreeve’s cave, Kings Balance and Vitthala temple. (Nearby ‘Rishyimukh Hill’ was there – those who hav
e interest in Ramayana might know that Hanuman met Ram for the first time here. In some travel guide book, Hampi is described as ‘Kiskindhya’, the kingdom of Bali and Sugreeve. ‘Sugreeve’s cave’ bolsters that theory as well.) After walking for almost 15 minutes we reached Kings Balance and then another 5 minutes for Vitthala Temple. The famous Stone Chariot is also situated inside the temple. On our way back to Hampi we spent some time by Tungabhadra River. The cool water helped a lot to my weary legs.
ossed the hill to go to Achyutharaya Temple. In front of it lies Courtesans Street. After visiting these places we got so tired that we decided to rest (and sleep) under a Neem tree, beside Tungabhadra River. There we composed ourselves and went on to explore riverside ruins like Sugreeve’s cave, Kings Balance and Vitthala temple. (Nearby ‘Rishyimukh Hill’ was there – those who hav
e interest in Ramayana might know that Hanuman met Ram for the first time here. In some travel guide book, Hampi is described as ‘Kiskindhya’, the kingdom of Bali and Sugreeve. ‘Sugreeve’s cave’ bolsters that theory as well.) After walking for almost 15 minutes we reached Kings Balance and then another 5 minutes for Vitthala Temple. The famous Stone Chariot is also situated inside the temple. On our way back to Hampi we spent some time by Tungabhadra River. The cool water helped a lot to my weary legs.We came back to Hampi bus stand at 5PM and Ghania was already there waiting for us. So we took a bus from there to Hospet and reaching there we booked a bus to Bangalore which was supposed to leave at 10:35PM. So we killed our time there sitting in the bus stand and chatting. (Yah we tried to go to one ‘Book Fair’ as well but could not kill more than 5 minutes there as most of the books were Kannada). After a sound sleep (I have never slept this well ever on bus) reached Majestic in the next morning. Then we dropped Ghania in a nearby hotel and I took a bus to Bilekahalli to return to the almost empty IIM-B hostel where most of the summer trainees had left. It was a cool summer, despite the heat, exploring Karnataka and off course doing the internship.
1 comment:
Nice Post.Thanks for Sharing this in your Blog.Book your in SRS Travels
Post a Comment