In creating Hampi, Nature was at its bizarre best. The men of this land were not far behind either. The composition of Hampi is gripping.
Hampi rocks, literarily! Gigantic rocks stand one over other, in a dangerously delicate equilibrium, as if a push with your little finger is all that is requited to flatten it all in one go. Well, they have been standing like that for tens of thousands of years if not millions!
The concoction of what Hampi is made of is both intoxicating and mesmerizing. Pebble like boulder heaps make a chain of tall hills. The flat valleys among the hills are filled with expansive swatches of emerald paddy fields, heaving banana plantations. Through the thick of these fields and the ridge of the foothills, countless narrow trails snaking it’s way to unknown designations.
On the rocks, among the barren planes and in the midst of the green fields are the man made monuments- hundreds of them. In any direction you turn, you would spot a temple there, a pavilion here, an archway around the corner, a glimpse of a fort over the hill, tower of a temple in the horizon, a carving on the rock floor next to you…There is at least one thing in common. They all made of the rocks and at frozen in time.
Together they shape the vocabulary of Hampi’s story. A compelling story of how a tiny hamlet had grown into the sprawling medieval metropolis, the capital of the grand empire, Vijayanagara. Also it tells how they ruled the whole of south India from its eastern seashores to the west. Finally, at its imperial climax fallen from the crest, and gone back to where it all began – a cluster of humble villages.
The far end of Hampi’s history somehow latches on to the mythology. The border hides mischievously somewhere in-between. It’s almost impossible to tell where Vijayanagara’s history ends and its myths start.
The mythical monkey kingdom of Kishkinda makes the primary layers of Hampi’s history or mythology, whichever suits best. The landscape and locations explained in the Hindu epic poem of Ramayana perfectly matches with Hampi’s geography. Hundreds of langurs jump around, with athletic agility and precision, making it emphatic who still rule these hills.
When the enterprise of two warrior brothers and the eccentricity of the Nature united, the stage was set for the melodrama of the Vijayanarara Empire.
In present day Hampi , among the fabulous array of monuments, you witness a weird combination of paradoxes.
A cluster of humble villages sharing the cityscape of an empty ancient metropolis. A nursery school works in a medieval jewel market where once gold and diamonds weighed and sold in heaps; cattle herds laze about palace complexes that was once the epicenter of imperial power; royal streets once thronged by royals and nobles from far places made into thick and lush banana plantations, villagers live in centuries of royal pavilions complete with massive ornate pillars, bamboo wick coracles are used to cross the river the same way it was seven centuries back…….The irony is that it all sit comfortably as if they are all made to fit each other. Hampi is an enormous open museum back in time with occasional remainders that distracts you to the present.
Reach Hampi aimlessly, this place will takeover the rest for you.
Soak in the sounds and mystics of Hinduism, scale the elephant sized boulders, explore and get lost in the vast expanse of ruins, astonish at the beauty of the majestic temples, laze around the paddy fields and watch the village life go by, sit on a rock and watch the river and the life around it moves, sit alone under one of the medieval structures among the hill and read your favorite book, hop over a hill and watch the sun slide into the horizon, throwing melting gold all around, or if you are lazy for all these, simply relax at a shade and watch the unending plethora of pilgrims go about their rituals …….let it be anything interests you, Hampi has generous options for you to pick and chose.
Hampi is one of the few places on earth where the past glory of an ancient empire is so open and close for you. You can touch and feel the medieval splendor in its raw form. If stones can speak words, Hampi is an eloquent epic created of stones. The abundance of it can virtually wear you out.
Hampi still maintains its earthy feel, unmindful of its world heritages states conferred by UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization). Being a village, a visit at Hampi is unimaginably light on your wallet. Sprawling over a huge territory (about 25 sq. kilometers), you explore Hampi by foot, bicycle, scooter, taxi, and horse cart – most probably an apt combination of the above all. Numerous crisscrossing trails wind through a plethora of ruined structures and monuments. Among them are temples, palace compounds, tombs, tanks, pavilions, aquatic artifacts, museums, towers and many more. As a norm, serious visitors in Hampi stay for many days at this site.
After a few days of stay at Hampi, when it’s time to leave, the reality slowly sinks in. That how little you have experienced of it all, that all of what appeared before of you like in magic has vanished. Also you start realize that so far what you’ve seen and experienced is only the tip of the iceberg, and vastness of Hampi lies ahead unexplained.
……and you leave Hampi with a feeling of achievement and a beaming face despite a tiered body. But somewhere in the corner of your mind lies a pale vow - to return to Hampi one day. Hampi is one of the few places where people go again and again, keep discovering new things in every visit. It’s not like a movie seen repeatedly. May be Hampi can exhaust you physically, nut it never bores your soul. If you feel this longing at the end of your tour, you can safely assume this as the beginning of the inevitable Hampi nostalgia you are going to nurse for some time to come.
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