Hampi Dumpy... Here We Come !!!

It's 6:00 in the morning and everyone's sleeping. It is a beautiful sight outside. The sky is filled with many shades of colors. And what I felt at that moment is indescribable. Soon, it was time to get up and get ready. The ride is almost over as we were nearing to the destination. And after awhile...we reached the station. We rushed to get down from the train, pushing and pulling everything around us.

It's 7:45 in the morning and we are standing outside Hospet Train Station, a little over 30 km away from our resort " Kishkinda Heritage Resort ". After freshening up, we all had a hearty breakfast and left for Hampi.

A lot like Home.

Hampi felt a lot like home. It was so beautiful and special that I instantly fell in love with it. The whole atmosphere around was pretty calm.

The Daily Routine

While waiting for the boat, we could see the local people indulged in their daily routines. The heat was pretty harsh for the tourists as well as the animals in and around. 

The Boat Ride

 Finally, we took the boat to get to the other side of the river. We could see the magnificent structure of Virupaksha Temple even before we crossed the river. Carts are set up on either side of the pathway selling beautiful craft works. Everything was so beautiful that we all felt like shopping. But instead, we all decided to see everything around us before we get into the shopping mode.

Virupaksha Temple.

The first place that we visited in Hampi is Virupaksha Temple, the oldest and the only functional temple in Hampi.  We got to know a lot about the structure of the temple and also listened to a few stories. One of the things that I still remember after listening to our faculty is that the head gears of the king that ruled the place and the temple structure have a connection and they follow the gopura style of architecture. The structure is oddly shaped, declining towards the sky. This suggests the conversation with God.

The Temple Complex.

I have seen monkeys but not this many at a place. They were naughty as usual and it was hilarious to observe them. When I further researched on the existence of monkeys in virupaksha temple,  I found out that the Anjaneya hill located in Hampi is considered to be the birthplace of Hanuman, the Monkey God. Virupaksha temple, as well as other temples in Hampi, has a lot of references to Ramayana, the ancient Indian epic poem.

A narrow channel of the Tungabhadra river flows along the temple complex. The temple has a monolithic structure constructed in seven levels. The number 7 is auspicious as it is considered to be the symbolic representation of the world in the Hindu culture. Granite stones are used.  Both male and female carvings are present inside the temple. Since the Bhakti movement, feminism has been in cultured in the portrayals and therefore both the male and female carvings have the same physical features.

Then, we carried on to see few more temple since we had some time left. We climbed up the hill, the Hemkuta Hill. As we reached the top of the hill, we could see the ruins of an old Jain temple. Eddie set on to take pictures using his large frame camera. And as he began to set up his camera on his tripod, a security guy came running to stop him from doing so. Apparently, it is not allowed. Photography is allowed, but the use of the tripod is not allowed. It felt strange for me. If photography is allowed, then why the use of the tripod is not allowed.

After visiting the temple, we headed out for lunch at the Mango Tree Restaurant. We all were pretty tired cause of the heat, but as soon as we entered the restaurant, it felt revitalizing. The overall atmosphere inside the restaurant was in contrast to the surrounding.