S and I had decided that we would ‘go somewhere’ come what may during the longish weekend. It was a toss between Badami and Hampi - Hampi’s recall as a more known desitination swung the decision. Shanti Guest House came out tops for boarding options, the fact that it was across the river had S already trying to recall where he had last seen his swimming trunks. Yours truly is not much of a water lover and the thought of sitting on one of those fragile coracles gave me the shivers, not to mention the reports of the Thekkady boat tragedy. I bravely smiled as Shanti Guest House was full up (fate was helping here), but S was not about to let his trucks go back dry. He then found favour with Mowgli Guest House, I could almost picture S in those Mowgli chaddis. So Mowgli it was.
The KSTRC Rajahamsa to Yalburga was just that a derelict KSRTC bus, we should not expect anything better from them. This was not starting well, there were snatches of conversation passing back and forth about how the rains were increasing by the day and that our route was under threat. S and I agreed we were not going to back out - visualising great temples and beautiful statues. And with these pleasant thoughts drifted off to sleep, when suddenly it blared out huskily…. zara zara behekta hai….tan badan, mai pyasi hu…mujhe bhar le apne bahon mei…It was the ring tone of our stone deaf neighbour….and then like those infernal tunes that get stuck in your head, it went on and on in mine. To make matters worse the road or the National Highway turned out to be Notional….just an imaginary phenomenon. We landed in Hospet, bruised and creaking at every joint.
Out of nowhere came along this portly youth asking if we wanted to go to Hampi. I named him Mayavi (the mallu version of Casper, the friendly ghost), he turned out to be a huge help. As we drove along in his autorickshaw called Akhil, S called Mowgli and asked about our rooms and was told that the place was marooned. The tide was turning, I wouldnt drown after all. All through the 14 kilometres Mayavi chattered along. Just as we turned between two huge boulders and into the town, he turned around a la Rajani style and said, ‘Welcome to Hampi Sir’. We couldn’t hold back and all of us laughed together. We drove through narrow lanes and found boarding at Gopi Guest House a small but clean place with a clean loo and clean sheets.

Elephant Stable

The Underground Temple
Mayavi took us around the Hampi, we started with the Krishna Temple with the ten avatars carved at the entrance, I liked the terrocota kind of statues that were on the roof of the temple. The sanctum sanctorum was dark and cool. A guide was saying that the Muslim invaders destroyed the statues, one of the tourists piped in, ‘that’s why we need Narendra Modi’ and there was a roar of approval all around. We then passed the Underground Temple, dont be misled by the name Mayavi said, it is just below the road level. The Band Stand and the Mosque came next. Lalit Mahal, the Queen’s Palace basement and the Elephant’s Stables were in the same grounds. I took out the tripod to get some good shoots and there was mayhem all around, the guards shouted, tripod use maad beda, tripod use mat karo, no tripod Sir, department permison!!!! It was like I was taking out a telescopic rifle. Pride hurt that even a passing guide chipped in I slunk away with a chastened – ok …..dont yell. The Elephant Stables are rows of enclosures to house the palace pachyderms, the one in the centre is bigger than the rest and used to house a White Elephant (Information courtesy: Mayavi).
The Panchkarni was excavated as recently as the 1980’s, it is a stepped tank that has water flowing through a network or stone canals from a nearby lake. on the grounds are the King’s Palace Basement and the Mahanavami Dibba. This is an elevated structure that Krishnadevaraya built to celebrate his victory over Udayagiri. This was the platform from which the King would view celebrations during festivals. The carvings are of processions, dance, music and celebrations.
The Queen’s Bath in the vicinity was our last stop, we had to cut short our plans to visit the Vittala Temple that houses the famous Stone Chariot as the waters from the canals had marooned the temple from the mainland. On our way back to Hampi we passed lines of flattish rock that were on the edge of a mini canal. These were stone thalis hewn on the rock, very similar to the south Indian thali plates in hotels. This was were workers and soldiers were fed, the remnants were washed away into the flowing waters of the canal. Very ingenius.
The next day we rented out a bike to go to Vittala Temple which is about 15 kms away from Hampi. This was the best temple we saw during our visit. The Stone Chariot is brilliant. We also saw the King’s Balance or the Thulabharam which was used to weigh the king with equal measures of precious metals which were given away to the citizens. I saw figures etched on the floor of the balance of people paying obeisance to the king. By then it began raining and we had to return, braving rains, goats and large puddles of water. We left early for Hospet so that we could see the Tungabhadra dam, it was disconcerting to see the fury of the river in spate lashing against the walls spraying brown water. There were other minor distractions like a deer park, an apology for an aviary and a sad musical fountain around the dam.
As he dropped us off at the bus stop Mayavi requested us to recommend him to any of our friends visiting Hampi. S asked him his name and it was Krishna….was I surprised? Not really….
It was a Volvo on the way back and KSRTC redeemed some favour again.
Things to note
Travel - an auto is the best way to get around here especially if you are staying in one of the guest houses in the bylanes. Cars will have to be parked on the main roads.
Stay – if one doesnt mind walking through messy bylanes and staying in 10×10 rooms the guest houses are a good option. The guest houses across the river apparently fall under Gangavati so liquor is allowed there. The other option will be to stay in Hospet and make trips to Hampi, it is only about 14 kms.
Food - Pretty decent and clean, there are a lot of rooftop restaurants. They are pretty basic and not necessarily well kept. Almost all the eateries have Indian, Chinese, Tibetian, Continental cuisines listed out. There were non vegetarian dishes also mentioned, however other than eggs you will get none. We ate at Chillout, Gopi’s and Shanti and all of them offered decent fare, however Shanti was marginally better than the others. One place you have to go to is the Mango Tree Restaurant, which is about 5 minutes walk along the river’s edge. The stone benches and tables overlooking the river and serving some great food. Alcohol is not served in any of the hotels.
Attire - cotton clothes as it gets pretty humid. ‘Respectable clothes’ are expected.
Attitude - an appreciation and a sense for history. At end of it you cannot help but wonder how beautiful the city would have been in its prime.