Historical Importance
Hampi, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in east-central Karnataka, India.It became the centre of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire capital in the 14th century. Chronicles left by Persian and European travellers, particularly the Portuguese, state Hampi was a prosperous, wealthy and grand city near the Tungabhadra River, with numerous temples, farms and trading markets. By 1500 CE, Hampi-Vijayanagara was the world's second-largest medieval-era city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at that time, attracting traders from Persia and Portugal.The Vijayanagara Empire was defeated by a coalition of Muslim sultanates; its capital was conquered, pillaged and destroyed by sultanate armies in 1565, after which Hampi remained in ruins.(source:wikipedia)
→ Religious Importance
Most of the monuments are Hindu; the temples and the public infrastructure such as tanks and markets include reliefs and artwork depicting Hindu deities and themes from Hindu texts. There are also six Jain temples and monuments and a Muslim mosque and tomb. The architecture is built from the abundant local stone; the dominant style is Dravidian, with roots in the developments in Hindu arts and architecture in the second half of the 1st millennium in the Deccan region. It also included elements of the arts that developed during the Hoysala Empire rule in the south between the 11th and 14th century such as in the pillars of Ramachandra temple and ceilings of some of the Virupaksha temple complex. The architects also adopted an Indo-Islamic style in a few monuments, such as the Queen's bath and Elephant stables, which UNESCO says reflects a "highly evolved multi-religious and multi-ethnic society"
List of monuments
→ Virupaksha temple and market complex
→ Krishna temple, market, Narasimha and linga
→ Achyutaraya temple and market complex
→ Vitthala temple and market complex
→ Hemakuta hill monuments
→ Hazara Rama temple
→ Kodandarama temple and riverside monuments
→ Pattabhirama temple complex
→ Mahanavami platform, public square complex
→ Elephant stables and Zenana enclosure
→ Ganagitti temple complex
→ Other Jain temples and monuments
→ Ahmad Khan mosque and tomb
Best time to visit
Most favorable time is in winter since most of the festival falls in this period you will be delighted to see all the temples and frenzy people in Hampi, As i am the person who loves hippies you can have your mind freeze(yes i said freeze) in HOLI celebrated in march-april some where. Although we can explore hampi in monsoon since it doesn’t rain much in this area but still enough to make these rocks slippery, So you need to be careful while exploring these ruins in monsoon. If you don’t like frenzied crowd and flocks of people (mostly foreigners) you can visit Hampi in summer too if it is 1-2 days hang out.
Climate(12 months)
Staying and food
You can find lot of cool homestays and cottage in HIPPIE side of the river. During peak season you can find a room costing you max 1200INR, I would suggest putting yourself in hostels which costs approx 400-800 INR per night. I went there somewhere in january or february and i found lot of place to hide my head around, you can rent out a bike or scooter for 300-700 INR per day and then you are a free bird you can’t bring your bike to temple side if u have rented your bike in hippie side, although you can rent bicycle in temple side for approx 100-200 INR. Food and all are also at reasonable price. Beer and alcohol you can consume with no fear. (you can ask for seeds to your host if you want to try something like magic mushrooms (available in kodaikanal) have it on your own risks “i don’t promote any kind of beverage and weed” .
How to reach( by air, bus , train and car)
By Air:The nearest airport is Bellary about 75 km. Other airports near Hospet are at Bangalore about 350 km and Belgaum about 200 km well connected by Indian Airlines flights to most parts of India.
Rail:Hospet Railway Station is well connected by rail line to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Hubli and Vijapur.
By Bus: You can have buses from Bangalore. I would suggest if you are planning to go Hampi from outside india take a flight to Bangalore then take a train to Hospet(over night journey). From Hospet there are buses running to Hampi on a daily basis. While returning again you can catch buses from Hospet to Bangalore. or train from Hospet to Bangalore. I would suggest train if you are not comfortable with bus however sleeper and semi-sleeper buses are there.
Couple friendly
You can have your vacation together with your love ones, there is no concern about couple local people are very gentle and warm welcoming.
Things to Do
Have you ever been to village? Yes!, You might have seen “Chaupal”. No!, You can get a fresh air here in Hampi, and see how it feels to sit on the floor, a lower platform front of you and talking about politics, life and culture with the elders. The difference is- you can smoke out your throat with the people around the world and instead of “Chai(tea)” you can have your fav beverages on the other hand here in Hampi (Hippie side-another side of the river).
I mean preferences!! I liked this. You might be interested in roaming around with your bike or scooter on the lonely road which is surrounded by stones and remainings of monuments in the evening or you can even go for a walk in the puddy fields.
World’s one of the best sunset you can experience here in Hampi at Monkey Temple as well as amazing sunrise on the other side of the river i.e Temple Side.
Every year there is marathon is being organised here you can participate in that and can run through the remainings of temples and monuments.
In short this place welcomes everyone,of every interests, from the people who loves to party hard to the people who believe in simplicity and pooja-path(although i haven’t seen much people doing so).
Night Life
If you could find people doing Party on the cliffs and make it into that you are gonna experience what Rave party is called. Other than that there is not much chaos at night. Better sit in the Chaupal of the guest houses and enjoy your drinks, food and talks.
Things to be taken care of
All though this place is perfect destination to chill out and relax. Few things you should always take care of like:
- Always keep some cash(I had to travel around 30-40 KM in the morning to find ATM, Not sure now there is)
- Don’t indulge in fight with people.
- While renting a scooter or bike always check the condition of the vehicle.
- While crossing the river don’t panic(use boat if possible).
- Book your guest house prior (you might expect rush in peak season).
- Scarf and full arm cloths if visiting in summer(you can get serious sun burn otherwise).
- Torch is mandatory if you are a night crawler.
Author’s experience
I have been there in summer and it was little humid and hot. I boarded train from bangalore around 9-9:30 PM and reached hospet around 7-8 next morning, took auto to Hampi and reached there in around 40-50 minutes, crossed the river rent a bike reached to guest house(beautiful road, rocks one side and canal on the other side). I knew it is going to be an awesome experience, stopped so many times to see the beauty of the place. Reached to the guest house around 3PM went on to explore the monkey temple. One Dam is in the way i couldn’t stopped myself to click pics of that. Monkey temple is the place where you can watch sunset, mesmerizing it was.
Next day i went on to temple side and rented out a bicycle there and cycled through the remainings of the monuments and temples sunrise at the sunrise point malyavanta.
It was a short and precise visit to the place but i could say it was worth spending weekend over there. If travelling with friends you could stay there for 3-4 days and can have more fun at Hippie side.
Media(vlogs and photos)
Youtube links will be published soon.