Happy Hampi Holiday

Hello, this is Rooport reporting from Hampi, live and special! Right now I am at the Gejjala Mantappa. The pillars here are made of stones and are very antique. The carvings on the pillars are fading, though. The area is surrounded by bananna plantation and grass. The king used to rest here on his way down from the temple. Goats come here and eat the grass.

Kuduregombe Mantappa

The pillars of this resting house have carvings of horses, conch shells, and different Gods. It is very open and cool. Farther inside, there is a small tunel which leads to a small open square which has no roof. The sun above dazzles my eyes.

Lokapavani

This water tank was only excavated one year ago. There is an arch at the entry which leads to a water tank where people used to bathe. In the middle of the water there is a stone block with an arc on it and a gopuram on top of the arc. The water is clear and moss grows in it. It may even have fish and snakes in it. The shadow of the arc in the water is beautiful. Many pillars surround the tank. This tank is also called a Pushakarni.

People used to bathe in the tank's waters.
There are many pillars in a straight line along the road. This is where the market used to be.

Vitthala Temple Complex

This temple represents the highest point of the Vijayanagar empire style of art and architecture. The kings of the Vijayanagar empire built this temple in 1422-1446 AD. The gopuram in the enrance to the complex is made of brick, is tall, but is broken.

On the floor, there is a carving that shows someone doing yoga or Namaskar to the temple. There is a carved elephant at the side of the steps but its trunk is cut off probably due to the Mughal invasions.

One of these temples in the Vitthala Complex has 56 musical pillars! They each make different noises to the music scale "Sa Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni, Sa". You can make out the difference from the ordianry pillars and the musical ones because the musical pillars are thin and grimy.

There is also a stone chariot with stone ladder to climb into it. This chariot also has stone wheels and was used by the royals for special occasions. Horses and maybe elephants used to pull the chariot, too. Some say the stone wheels move till date!

Imagine, this has all been excavated. This was once all under rocks, and it's still in such wonderful shape. The UNESCO is trying to preserve these heritage sites all through out Hampi. There is a big statue with 4 arms in an impossible posture. There is a parikrama in dark chambers around the temple. It's the darkest where they keep the God. There are "Old Kannada" inscriptions on the wall. In the Vitthala Temple Complex there is the Sabah (Gathering), Sangeet (Song), Bejjalic (Resting), Kalyana (Marriage), Utsava (Festival), and Purandara Mantappa. The Tungabhadra river flows through an aquaduct from the old days.

King's Balance

This is also a part of the Vitthala Temple Complex. There is a balance which hangs from two pillars. On the king's birthday or other royal occasions, the king would be put on the balance. If he weighed 49 kilograms, the people would be given 49 kilograms of items such as rice, gold, and pulses.

Inscribed Vishnu Temple

This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. There are many "Old Kannada" inscriptions.The inside is locked up. On the outside there is a carving of a lizard on the wall. When there is a puja and they wash the inside of the temple with milk, there is a canal around the outside of the temple and the milk flows on something like an elephant's trunk. It then falls on the ground.

Talarigatta Gate

This is the entrance to the Vitthala Temple Complex. This is a huge arc in which the cars pass through. Imagine such a royal entrance. Drum roll, please!

Ganagitti Jain Temple

This temple is dedicated to the 17th Jain Tirthankara Kunthunatha. It was built by Commander-in-chief of Hari Hara 2 and was damaged in 1386 AD. In the temple, the Charanpadka (footprints) of Tirthankara Kunthunatha are there.

Bhima's Gateway

Bhima's Gateway is dedicated to Lord Bhima. There are some statues inside and the biggest is that of Lord Bhima. It is raised on several stones. The faded stone carvings on the walls of Bhima's gateway have the Tilak (Hindu sign) on them so they will be seen.

Octagonal Water Pavilion

Near temples, they always have places to bathe so you'll be clean befor you enter the temples. This water pavilion is where people used to bathe. The whole pavilion is shaped like an octagon. There is a big octagon in the middle where a statue was placed. They used to fill water all around the octagon in the middle. Now it is dry. It is very tall and wide. I climbed till the very top!

Chandrasekhar Temple

In this temple, there is also an elephant canal. Deep inside there is a 4-way tunnel intersection. The ceiling inside is black. The gopuram has been destroyed quite a lot but the designs on it are very clear.

Saraswati Temple

Saraswati is the god of knowledge. We didn't go inside but we prayed for knowledge inside the car.

Queen's Bath

This was the Vijayanagar empire's queen's bath. The architecture outside was made simple so it wouldn't attract people. They built the building in the Islamic style so that the Mughals wouldn't destroy it. Outside there was a moat and an aquaduct. There was a stone ladder which led into the pool. The structure was 30 meter square with a 15 meter square bath inside. A pool party in there must have been real royal!

Mahanavamidibba

This is the largest royal enclosure of the capital city of the Vijayanagar empire. It was protected by double walls. There are 2 entrances from the North and 1 from the West. There was a stone door. This could have been used as shelter for the King during war. It is a ceremonial structure. The festival Mahanavami was celebrated there. There was an underground passafe in it too. Some of the stones have turreted cuts in them but not on the top.

Stepped Tank In Mahanavamidibba

This is a water tank (Pushakarni) with steps in it which lead all the way down. It is very deep. This is where the public used to bathe.

There is an aquaduct which supplied flowing water from the Tungabhadra river to the tank.

Paan and Supari Bazaar


This is where people used to buy paan and surprisingly there is a water reservoir here too! There are no paan spit marks here but there are sure are lots of modern day paan wrappers.


Hazarama Temple


This temple is dedicated to Vishnu in the aspects of Rama. This is the only temple situated in the royal zone between the residential and ceremonial enclosures. The temple's pillars are made of black granite. As usual, the elephant canal is here too! But this time there is a small stone sink under it. I think someone could have stood in the sink while the water flowed down the canal. A bathtub, perhaps! On the walls there are scenes from the Ramayan which are all connected to each other. After all, this is the Hazarama Temple!



Lotus Mahal

The Lotus Mahal is a two storied palace. It is in the Zanana (Women's) Enclosure. The whole Zanana Enclosure is surrounded by a thick, almost unbreakable wall. Parts of it are broken though, throughout all these years. Like the Mahanavamidibba, the stones are turreted in the middle. All the buildings in the Lotus Mahal are designed in the Indo-Islamic architectural style. The basement of the Queen's Palace remains. The rest has been destroyes. Behind the basement, there is a watch tower to look out for intruders.

There are holes in the ceiling of the Lotus Mahal from which water used to pour down to keep the place cool. Just like an AC! The water came from a well behind the Lotus Mahal. There are torans (decorations on arcs) which are lion faced with birds on them.

Elephant Stables

This is where the elephants used to stay. There was a field in which they took walks, and a building in which they slept. The elephants were used for royal processions and wars.

From Hampi

Underground Siva Temple

This temple is called the underground temple because the roof is the level of the ground.

From Hampi

This should actually be called the underwater temple because this temple is flooded with water! In the center of the temple, there is a pond. Across this pond there is a long and dark stone hallway. There is a Nandi Bull on what could have been the steps to enter the pond. There are bats and maybe even snakes. This place is lovely. The breeze is beautiful, it's nice and cold, and very mysterious. Now it's time to go and eat lunch at Mango Tree. Stay tuned, we'll be back after a short break!

Mango Tree

The way to Mango Tree was really nice. It was surrounded by bannana plantation. We walked on a narrow path to reach the restaurant. This restaurant is very special because you get an excellent view of Hampi, the food is "called" nice, it's an open air restaurant, and you have to remove your shoes!

From Hampi

Right now I am sitting on a mat on the floor, waiting for my paneer butter masala. I can see cattle grazing the green grass, the big boulders of Hampi, bannana trees, coconut trees, and the Tungabhadra River. There are lots of people around but it's very quiet. There's a really nice breeze. I love to get away from the city once in a while. A mango tree is above me. A swing hangs from one of the branches and I can see the small kacha mangoes on the tree. How I wish to have one!

Sasivekalu (Mustard seed) Ganesha

This is a four armed monolith statue of Lord Ganesha. It is referred to as the Sasivekalu (Mustard seed) Ganesha. The statue seated in half-lotus posture holds his tusk, gourd, a noose, and a bowl of sweets in his four arms. It was built in 1506 AD.

Kadalekalu Ganesha

This is a huge and much clearer version of Sasivekalu Ganesha. You can actually go inside and touch it. It is called Kadalekalu Ganesha for the closeness in appearance of the shape of its belly to the unsplit Bengal gram (chole)!

Virupaksha Temple

This temple was built in the seventh century and the kings like Krishnadevaraya from the Vijaynagar empire have added on to the main structure. I was in for a big surprise when I entered. There was a real elephant inside! I gave it a one rupee coin and it blessed me. It then gavr the coin to its master. The hindu sign was all over the elephant. There were golden statues further inside the temple. The priest gave us holy water and I sprinkled it on my head. I also saw the inverted image of the gopuram. There was a square hole in the wall. The gopuram's shadow fell on the opposite wall.

Krishna Temple

Much of this temple is now in ruins, but I saw many artists painting the pillars and the broken gopurams of the temple.

Lakshmi Narasimha Temple

This monolith statue is of the fourth incarnation of Vishnu. It stands at a height of 6.7 meters. It is seated on the giant coils of Adishesha, the guardian snake of Vishnu, its seven hoods acting as a canopy, arched by a lion faced toran. The four arms of the statue are missing. The Lakshmi seated in his lap is also gone. People say that it is the Ugrasimha (angry Narasimha) who took her away.

Badavilinga Temple

This temple was asked to be built by a poor woman. This monolith Shivling was built on the spot. The Shivling is placed in the middle of a diya carved from stone. Water floods the area.

Hemkuta Temple

These temples are all on the Hemkuta hill. While standing on this hill, I can see a circle of Hampi. It's almost exactly 360 degrees. The sunset is beautiful. The moon is slowly rising, and the sun is bouncing down like a big orange ball. We could recognize all the temples, even while being so far away.

27/1/07-

Hi again! I'm at Hotel Mayura Bhubaneswar and we are just about to go sight seeing and do some light shopping in Hampi Bazaar. After eating lunch, we will do a bit more sight seeing and leave for Hospet. Then it's on the train back to Bangalore. We missed the sunrise today. We'd have to wake up too early and we would waste all our energy.

Nandi Bull

This monolithic Nandi Bull, Shiva's mode of transportation, was carved on the spot. Unlike Bangalore's Nandi Bull, this bull has no signs of vandalism. Puja is done for this bull everyday. You can see the bell hanging on its neck clearly even today. It has a dark tinge in some areas because they pour milk, wate, and oil on it everyday. They put the swastika sign on its forehead. Its about 15 feet wide, its stomach is pretty big! Its tail is also very visible. There are many pillars nearby, which are all connected. There is still a market and a school in these pillars! People make their homes here too. In all these monuments, the city of Hampi lives.

Archaeological Museum

Krishnadevaraya -(1509-1530)

• Medium height
• Fair complexion
• Fat
• Signs of small pox on face
• Could possibly be cheerful
• Is feared by people
• Seeks to foreigners
• Subject to sudden fits of rage

His title is: "Krishnarao, Macacao, king of kings, lord of the greater lords of India, lord of the three seas and of the land."

We saw copper statues of Krishnadevaraya, Chinna Devi, and Tirumala Devi.

Now I see a model of Hampi Valley. Its big and very detailed. It even shows the rock where we sat on when we watched the sunset. There is also a model of the monuments, where Dad and I are tracing where we've been.

There are many bronze items, broken lamp stands, small decorative statues and vessels. There are dinner slabs, gun barrels, gymnastic stones, broken porcelain dishes, old inscriptions on copper and black paper, and old gold coins with carvings of all the gods and kings on them. There are many small statues of different gods. Everywhere I've been in Hampi, there has been a small Narasimha statue, but there is never a Lakshmi seated in his lap. This is the first place I've seen a Lakshimi seated on Narasimha's lap. It is a small statue but it is beautiful.

Some of the statues have the heads of many deities. There are two bronze sculptures of Lord Vishnu's processional devi's, Sridevi and Bhudevi.

Some other fabulous statues we saw:

• Shakti Ganesh
• Durga
• Shivling
• Nandi Bull
• Hanuman with tail wrapped around with him with an artistic swirly end of the tail
• Vishnu
• Seated Kali
• Virbhadra
• Shiva
• Mahishasur Mardini
• Nagaling
• Arab Horse Traders
• Worship of Shivling
• Venugopal
• Garuda (the god, not the mall!)
• Rama
• Sita (when captured by Ravan)
• Bahubali
• Nagini
• Surya
• Maha Sati
• Stucco figures
• Things from Neolithic and Paleolothic ages

Well, I've learned a lot from this wonderful trip. With this, I can relate to a lot of Moghul history. I also know about Hampi history. I would really suggest that you come to Hampi at least once. Its a lifetime experience. Now that you've read this, you would enjoy Hampi more. I have collected all these facts just for you, throughout my trip. I really hope you enjoyed them!

Reporting from Hampi,

Rooport