Hampi..... A Timeless Fusion

 

Finally, we set off for Hampi.  A visit overdue by decades. The trigger that got us planning the trip was reading ‘Tejo Tungabhadra’, writer Vasudhendra’s brilliant historical fiction in Kannada translated to English. The story is set in Vijayanagar kingdom in the sixteenth century during the reign of Krishna Devaraya. Present-day Hampi, a UNESCO world heritage site, was the capital city.

The Drive Up

We drove to Hampi from Bangalore at an even pace. Bursts of pink Tabebuia blooms and bright yellow Nile Tulips on Bangalore’s roadside, messy roadworks in Tumkuru town led us to the excellently crafted highway with road dividers full of pink and white bougainvillea blooms. We now picked up speed, but of course were no match for the daredevil speedsters who raced past us in their cars at breakneck speeds. Our long smooth cruise on the road was shattered when we got off the highway. The instructions sent by the hotel to navigate our way from this point did not look as precise as it had at home in Bangalore. We sought help but even the all-knowing Google seemed as confused as us. It was late afternoon by the time we entered Ballary district to pick up again, with relief, landmarks from the navigation sheet. We stared out of the car at the massive set up of Jindal Steel Works (JSW) - steel and cement factories, hospital, sports complex, airport.

Soon we were at the hotel – about 35 kms from Hampi – located inside Vidyanagar. This is the JSW township, a green wooded oasis of trees and birds and water bodies surrounded by arid land, giant boulders and ochre stone hills.

Taken For a Hampi Ride

As planned our taxi to Hampi was waiting the next morning.  As soon as the cab began to move Mahesh, our cheerful driver, tried to convince us to book his cab directly for the reminder of our rides rather than through the hotel. We declined politely but eased our twinge of guilt by telling him we’d keep that option in mind. Then we called Basu, our English-speaking government certified guide who we had spoken to earlier. Basu then spoke to Mahesh and they agreed on the pick-up point for him to join us. We sat back to watch the passing scenery when Mahesh tried once again to convince us – this time to dump Basu and take the tour guide that he would organise at a lower rate. We declined again, a bit more emphatically now. A few minutes later there was a call from one Vishwanath to inform us, in a Hindi-Kannada-mix, that he was waiting at the pick-up point for us. Puzzled my husband asked him what for? He said he was our guide assigned by Basu. Basu, we realized, does not actually go out as a guide but operates as the manager who matches guides to tourists. But he doesn’t tell you that and lets you believe he is your man until someone else shows up. A neat piece of work. Feeling tricked we made our annoyance clear to Basu on the phone, and to Vishwanath when we met him. Anyway, we spent the rest of our time at Hampi with Mahesh and Vishwanath. They were sweet guys really, helpful too. By the time our trip ended we had grown quite fond of them, even admired Mahesh’s entrepreneurial zest, treated both to expensive lunches, given hefty tips each evening and top rating feedback. And we never met Basu.

Donning our ‘made-in-China bought-in-Hampi’ wide-brimmed sun hats we began our heritage excursions in earnest.

 

Heritage Excursions into History, Mythology, and Faith

What can I say about the magnificent Hampi monuments and sites that hasn’t already been said. The hype, the wait………it was all worth it.

We spent an entire morning at the Vijaya Vittala temple monuments marvelling at the amazing art that is embedded in every stone. The unbelievable intricacy of aesthetic detail carved onto pillars, doorways, walls depict scenes from the epic Ramayana, from ‘Dasavatharam’ the ten avatars of Vishnu, stories of Krishna - as a child, a flirtatious teenager, as slayer of demons, the protector of devotees. There were figures of animals, dancing ladies, buyers and sellers of horses, scenes of battle and more, much more. It was endless, timeless beauty etched on stone. 

From here a small walk down across a rugged expanse took us to the ‘Purandaradasa Mandappa’, a memorial to the father of Karnatic music. This is where we had our first glimpse of the grey-green waters of the Tungabhadra, shimmering in the sun flowing gently over boulders……. serene, tranquil, ageless……

In contrast to the exquisite carvings of the Vijaya Vittala complex are the gigantic figures of lion--faced Narsimha, Kadalekalu Ganesha (peanut Ganesha), Sasivekalu Ganesha (mustard seed Ganesha), and Nandi the holy bull. These figures, cut out of single huge rocks, are located across Hampi. Charming legends underpin every figure. 

                                 

The stunning stone chariot shrine of ‘Garuda ‘at Vittala temple, the elaborately designed pillared pavilions where music, dance, religious rituals flourished, the majestic elephant stables and tall watch towers within the Royal enclosure give you a glimpse of the grandeur and riches of the Vijayanagar royalties. 

Stone arcades that stretch along both sides on broad pathways were the famed bazaars of Vijayanagar, teeming with people and trade, merchants intensely engaged in selling diamonds, silks, spices. 

The desolate silence arising from these colonnades today fills you with a strange feeling as you try to grasp at images and sounds from medieval times........... 

Faith of believers and abodes of mythical figures beckon you from every direction.  Hampi region is believed to be the Kishkindha from Ramayana, the kingdom of monkeys that monkey kings Vaali and Sugreeva fought over. The Matanga hill is where Sugreeva hid from his brother Vaali before the arrival of Rama and Lakshmana. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Anjanadri hill is believed to be the birthplace of the endearing Hanuman. We did not brave the steep climb of five hundred and seventy five steps to the temple at the top. Yet I felt an unreasonable joy chanting the Hanuman Chalisa at the foot of the hill.

Deep tones of “Om Namah Shivai” reverberated in the air as we neared the tall ‘Gopuram’, the main gateway of the ancient temple of Virupaksha (Shiva) and Pampa Devi (Parvati) that is said to be functioning uninterrupted since the 7^th century. 

Hemakuta hill, just a climb up away, is where Shiva is believed to have sat in meditation as an ascetic, but finally gave in to the beauty and charm of Pampa devi. The temple, a celebration of their coming together in marriage, was host to another wedding that day – a young techie couple from Bangalore. 

 A huge bull at the temple’s Northern gate was demanding peanuts from a lady vender. We wanted to believe it was Nandi giving us a live sighting, a ‘special darshan.’

The Archaeological Survey of India Museum, our last tour stop, has a collection of tools and artefacts used by inhabitants of the region in the Neolithic age, predating Hampi’s history and probably its mythology. The museum also has a scale model of Hampi that provides a panorama of the whole area, which we found fascinating. Winding up our site visits at the museum thus turned out to be a nice sum up of everything we had seen.

 

Contemporary in Hampi – including a brush with royalty

Even as we lost ourselves in the magic of Hampi’s history and mythology, inevitably we had to slip out to engage with the contemporary. Encounters that alternated between charming, unsettling, and on one occasion, unexpected!

Young men at the main tourist sites beseechingly pushed souvenirs and booklets at us making it difficult to refuse.

Our coconut water pitstop between sites took us to a roadside cart managed by a bright young woman whose husband was tending their flock of sheep nearby. Their two little children were inside a makeshift shelter of dry grass (or probably coconut fibre), eating sweet tender coconut pulp that they scrapped out of the shell themselves.The woman was friendly, confident, and very clear that she would not take the bunch of coins we offered for payment,saying she would not be able to use them. She insisted and we paid paper money. Digital payments are not the norm here. 

 In another instance two women were managing a bigger roadside stall that had, in addition to tender coconuts, biscuits, crisps, chocolates, and a couple of fridges set up under a tree stacked with bottled drinks and water. There was much cheer and laughter when we found out that the name of the younger woman was the same as mine! 

                                                                                                                                                                             

For lunch, at a much-recommended restaurant, we had pasta served on banana leaf.  Autorickshaws, like in any other town, displayed messages that were wise, attempting profound, in the end a bit wacky. 

An interesting family we met at the hotel pointed us to a series of lectures on Hampi being delivered at the ‘Vijayanagara Utsav’ celebrations. We were almost at the end of our tour but had some time and reasonable energy to spare, and decided to go there. The lectures were being held in the former palace of the Vijayanagar royal family in Anagundi, which was the original capital before Hampi. The palace was significantly damaged in the 18^th century by invading armies forcing the royal family to move into a new palace located just across the street. By the time we got there the lectures were over but a young lady, volunteering for the Utsav, took us on a tour of the palace that is now a museum. On display were household items and artefacts that were used by the royals over centuries. A beautiful brass coffee filter caught my eye! Sarees on display showcased beautiful motifs, an initiative of Devaraya Heritage Weaves to revive traditional designs and support rural weavers. As we stepped out, we saw activity across the street. A visitor was leaving. That is when we saw him! Raja Krishna Devaraya – 19^th descendent from Emperor Krishna Devraya and the present titular head of the Vijayanagara Samrajya. Titles and terminology still in use here. He had come to the gate to see off his guest. An unexpected finale to our trip.

Hampi 2024

What we saw was but the briefest glimpse of an incredible past that eludes the imagination. That is Hampi in 2024 - where mythology, faith, history, and the contemporary meet in a timeless fusion.