Hampi Chronicles 5 - The glory of ruins

After that day-long excitement amidst the glory of the Chalukyas, we decided to take it a little lighter the next day and decided to go roam around the Hampi island across the river. The plan is not to go look for any ruins but just get some ride and roam around the island.

Virupaksha temple from the Hampi Island

Hampi island is the hippie part of the town (village?) and it just lies across the river along the ruins of Hampi. The river can be crossed at multiple points but the active one - especially in the summer, when the water is low is at the Tungabadra ghats near the Virupaksha temple.

The Fields of Hampi Island

We took a coracle for the fun of it to get to the other side. April is almost summer and it is off-season in Hampi. So most of the shops catering to the 'hippie' crowds of foreigners in the island were either closed or almost empty. There are a bunch of places to stay and cafes - a la Mahabalipuram - and we rented a couple of scooters to go around. There is no petrol pump nearby and so you are stuck with buying petrol from the rental itself.

Riding around the island

As always, we took the wrong turn and ended in a dead-end road. So took the road back and managed to get to the main road. Again, the roads are pretty bad all along - gravels, pot holes and what not - with some tar showing up to remind you that you are in a road. We just rode along a few kilometers on either side and decided not to climb to see the Hanuman temple and decided to loiter around the rich fields of paddy, banana trees etc. After 2 hours of roaming the roads -with plenty of liquids in between - returned the scooters and returned to the hotel for lunch.

Vittala Temple

It was back to the ruins after lunch and went to the Vijaya Vitthala temple. Built in the traditional Dravidian style, the temple is probably the one place you should not miss in Hampi. The temple , though small in size - compared to the other elaborate ones - is basically a beauty in terms of the sculptural elegance in it and the architectural nuances in the stones that are all around to be seen.

The main part of the temple was closed for renovation work that was going on but all the mandapas can be seen. We engaged a guide and he had the usual stories to tell about the temple. But the temple has a charm with its partial gopuram and the beautiful stone chariot - Krishna devaraya's doing. However, compared to the elegance of the Hoysala temples and the Chalukyan ones we saw the previous day, the Vittala temple - at least, architecturally - seems a little underwhelming.

The dancing girls in the walls of the temple

The other reason might be the condition of the temple itself - it seems to be in a state of perpetual collapse. There is all kind of support structures - in the mandapas, the main temple and all around. Just keeping it going in itself seems a challenging one after the ruins from which, the current temple has been (re-)built. However, compared to how they looked - in Alexander Greenlaw's photographs from the 19th century - it is a remarkable job done by ASI in conserving this much of heritage for us to see.

Kings Balance

The Kalyana mandapa and the Uthsava mandapas are complete and are standing with some support. The elation of seeing a fantastic piece of art comes in the moment you enter the complex and doesn't really go away. The King's balance, where the king performed Tula bhara, stands mutely outside the complex, framing the boulders and hills as time passes by.

Royal Enclosure

The step wells

After stopping at a couple of places and finding that the Queen's bath is closed, our next stop was the Royal enclosure. What used to be the elaborate palaces and housing for the Royal family, there is not much left of any of the buildings other than the foundation stones and a few sculptures. But the extent of the enclosure just shows the amount of wealth that must've been here.

The dancing girls in the enclosure

The step wells and the aqua duct system to bring water from the river to the enclosures also show the detailed planning and work that has been done here. Sadly, a lot of the information around is conjecture as the ruins has reached a point of dilapidation when they were picked up and restored to show a little of the glory that was the Vijayanagara empire.

Hazara Rama temple panels

Outer walls of the temple

The real surprise here is the Hazararama temple. Probably the most intact temple in the area - the temple is full of amazing sculptures which tell the story of Rama. Being near the Royal enclosure area, this must've been the Royal temple for occasions - the kings of Vijayanagara were staunch Vaishnavites - and the temple is abundant with sculptures and even the outer wall is full of it.

The next day started with a refreshing bath in the waters of Tungabadra. Few years ago, it was at Kudli - where the rivers Tunga and Badra meet - we fell in love with the river. Tungabadra has a gentleness to its flow and the waters look friendly. And at Hampi, the river with the hills all around cannot look any more majestic or beautiful. So it was to the river in the morning and spend more than an hour in the river. I would say, its probably a must-do if you are ever in Hampi.

Bathing in Tungabadra River

Queen's bath - has the look of the Deccani Sultanate influence in it - but looks abandoned with crumbling structure inside and scrawling graffiti all around.The place need to be saved from the tourists.

Queen's bath

After that we made a quick visit to the Pattabirama temple, which is a little out of the way and looks deserted in the middle of the day. The other two tourists who were leaving as we were entering excitedly told us about this underground passageway we should not miss out in the main temple. We promptly took the bait and got into that. It was just the inner prahara around the garba griha and since the temple has no deity, the place looks empty and dark. We took the round and went back to the hotel.

Pattabirama Temple

 The ASI museum in Kamalapura is a must visit - as it keeps most of the 'other' history of Vijayanagara - coins, utensils, armor, paintings, textiles, copper plates etc from that bygone era and the lack of power when we went there, left a lot to be desired. They don't have a power backup and the museum looks dark in the middle of the day. What I liked is a series of pictures from the excavations - the before and after pictures - which show most of the ruins before they were restored.

The sculptures on display outside the museum

What we saw in the 3 days in just a small piece of Hampi - which lies around 35 sq.kms around. There are many more interesting pieces of ruins which stand there, mute witnesses to history and life passing around, waiting to be explored. And with the promise to return some day in the future again to explore, we said bye this time.