Hampi - Practical travel guide

      Long ago a gem was lost and  discovered in modern times called Hampi. Though a lot has been said and written about Hampi in most forums, Hampi is a must visit for anyone who loves history and architecture. The shear sizes and concepts of temples and surrounding 'bazar' or marketplaces thrills history lovers. 

    My mind kept going to past when Hampi, once capital of super rich Vijayanagar empire would have witnessed the hustle and bustle of sellers from over the world. As today Hampi still witnesses the tourists coming from all over.

In today's post I will share you some of practical tips and facts that will surely help plan your trip better. 

     We traveled to Hampi on long weekend of January 2018 from Bangalore. Hampi is close to 350km from Bangalore and there are two clear routes, one via Anantpur and one via Tumkur. Both routes almost combine from Ballari. Though most blogs and sites claim one route to be better over other, we experienced both routes with almost same road conditions with last approximate 150 Km being patchy with good and bad road. We started at 5.30am in the morning and reached Hampi at 12.30pm via Anantpur. If one is taking this route one thing to bear in mind is, there are no good restaurants along till Anantpur. So it's is good idea to carry your own high energy snacks and water and then take a break at Anantapur for breakfast. After having a short stopover for idli-dosa breakfast just before Anantapur we continued our journey.

     Our stay was booked at Heritage Resort Hampi and I must say this was wisest choice we made, as this place is just around 2 Kms from the main attractions.

      As we made it to the resort just by lunch time we decided to visit some of the attractions on the same day after lunch.

       Hampi's major attractions can be easily be divided into 4 groups that help make your site seeing plans accordingly. One very important thing to remember is either your mobile data network may not function fully around here or even if you get on Google maps, it may confuse you to a great extent!

Yes you read that right! Let me tell you how :)

Roughly the four groups of sites are: 

1. Virupaksha Temple, Hemkuta Hills, Hampi Bazar

2. Krishna temple, Narsimha Statue, Badavilinga temple, Underground Shiva temple and surroundings

3. Vijay Vitthala Temple and Famed stone charriot 

4. Lotus mahal, Elephant stable, Queen's bath, Mahanvami Dibba and temples around

Virupaksha Temple and pushkarani behind it

      My idea of these groups is based on convenience of visiting and hopping from one monument to others. Virupaksha temple is the only worshipping temple with the diety in and as per locals is usually open till 8.30 pm. Yet if you have to witness the inverted Gopuram, which is the inverted shadow of the temple Gopuram inside on one of the walls, you must visit before sunset. Seeing the spectacular view of the inverted Gopuram is a real treat and leaves of amazed at the thousand of year old architecture. Rest of the attractions are mostly close by 5.30 pm  - 6.00 pm so plan your day accordingly.  Very next to Virupaksha temple is the Hemkuta Hills which you climb and visit around. Best to spend evening witnessing sunset here. Hampi bazar is just across the temple and also bustling with modern day sellers.

Rocky Hemkuta Hills that hosts many temples and monuments

       

Since on first day we reached around lunch time, we visited group 1 monuments after lunch till evening and returned back to resort.

      Day 2 was a little slow start, and we started with Krishna temple. The temple's shear grandness was taking my mind back in time when it would have been in it's full glory. Very near to Krishna temple is the Narsimha Statue and Badavilinga temple which can be visited in short time.

Krishna Temple

Narsimha Statue

Badavilinga temple

After this we headed back for lunch to the resort and I must say this was real advantage of staying very near to monuments. Otherwise as such there are no restaurant near the protected area.  

Next we actually headed to Vijay Vitthala temple which is somewhat away from these group 1 and 2 monuments and here Google maps really failed us and we ended up taking two rounds and heading to Virupaksha temple again and again. So it's best follow the signage on the roads to reach Vijay Vitthala temple from Krishna temple. On the you will pass by the underground Siva temple and spend 30-40 minutes visiting it. Though it will be good to visit this Shiva temple along with group 3 monuments and spend more time at Vijay Vitthala temple.

Bazar in front of Vijay Vitthala Temple

        At Vijay Vitthala temple get ready to take a walk of around a kilometer from the entrance to actual monument. This is where you will also see the famous Stone charriot. There is a bus service that takes from gate to main entrance but there is huge queue and in interest of time we also decided to walk like most were. And that was most difficult to keep our 6 year old walking in hot sun and red dust!! So if you are with kids or elderly, advisable to wait and too on the bus!

        I must say the kilometer of walk difficult but was worth the efforts as the temple and surrounding are very beautiful. Inside the stone structure it's cool and claim and you spend good time here. This temple has entry ticket and interestingly it is also valid at Lotus Mahal entrance on the same day. So make sure you retain the tickets.

The famed Stone Chariot family picture 

Main Hallway of the Vitthala Temple

After visiting Vijay Vitthala temple our last hop was to the royal enclosure which houses the famed Lotus Mahal, Elephant stable, servants quarters and some more temples. While returning one can visit Mahanavami dibba and Qunees's bath which unfortunately we had to skip as it was almost closure time.
Lost in the glorious history of Hampi we headed back to the resort to spend some relaxed family time and mouthwatering food before we would head back to Bangalore the next morning. While returning we took the Tumkur route and reached back by 8.00 pm as we faced a good amount of long weekend traffic entering Banaglore.

       Here I leave you with some more practical tips which I hope will help you plan your trip better.
* Stay in nearby hotel is a better choice so you can return or take rest in between
* Winter is the best time considering one spends most time outdoors
* Carry good amount of sun protection and water
* Keeping light snacks will be good idea 
* Wear  comfortable footwear specially while visiting Hemkuta hills and Vijay Vitthala temple and be ready to walk a good distance

* Most area near the monuments and some of the resorts on outskirts you don't get good cellular connectivity even for most leading carriers. So keep expectations on connecting minimal and be ready with offline maps always
* Also Google map as I said didn't appear perfect so we mainly used the offline map that our hotel provided. You can also buy one at roadsides around the monuments.
* Retain your tickets purchased at either Royal Enclosure or Vijay Vithhala temple as it is valid at both monuments for same day entry

Lotus Mahal

Elephant Stable

Servant Quarters

A Sunset by Lotus Mahal