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Hampi. A mythical landscape, littered with huge granite boulders balanced precariously on top of each other bound by mythology and history. Bisected by the Tungabhadra and ancient irrigation canals that create a sliver of blue and green across the rugged terrain, this is a land imbued with the presence of gods, goddesses and heroes. Scattered among this is the ruins of a once magnificent city. Described as the ‘the best provided city in the world’ the ruins of Hampi is a destination in itself. One that the discerning traveler will relish exploring one leaf at a time.
In this Blog on Hampi we dive back into its history and mythology to bring to you fascinating tales and anecdotes from South India’s largest, wealthiest and most powerful kingdom. While excavating and shifting through the sands of time we invite you to share with us your experiences of this surreal realm.
The quaint little hamlet of Anegundi located on the northern bank of the Tungabadra River is said to be the site of Kishkindha where Lord Hanuman was born. Walking inside the small lanes brings me to a board that reads ‘Banana Fiber Cottage Industry’. Intrigued I make my way inside and am pleasantly surprised to see…
It is easy to mistake Krishnadeva Raya for a character straight out of a fable—a king whose accomplishments and personality are exaggerated to make a great story. Just, benevolent, generous, a patron of arts and architecture, a poet—how could one man possess all these qualities and still manage to be a successful military commander under…
Reading an Italo Calvino novel includes stepping out of the world as we know it. Invisible Cities, the Italian writer’s take on Marco Polo’s travels in Asia, is no different. Calvino’s vignettes of various cities are wildly imaginative, blurring the line between metaphor and reality. In the city of Zirma, a girl takes a walk…
Even a fleeting look across the Koppal landscape (of which Hampi is an integral part even though only parts of it fall within the Koppal administrative district) and you are most likely to see sown or fallow fields and pastoralist groups with thousands of sheep traversing the landscape. Only with a closer look will one…
Anegundi, located near Hampi across the Tungabhadra River, has a history that predates the Vijayanagara Empire. It is believed that the founding dynasty of Vijayanagara were based there before they laid the foundations of their new capital at Hampi. It continued to be a royal town much after the fall of the empire and still…
I went to Hampi as an aimless traveler who was merely looking for something new and it barely took a day to succumb to the charms of this enchanting medieval city. The pure beauty and grandeur of the ruins I saw took me by surprise. This exquisite artisanship surely could not have flourished and sustained…
Hampi is the perfect coming together of unhurried modernity and historical enchantment. The cafés and curio stalls melt away as you enter the Vitthala complex’ five-tiered gopuram (gateway). The colonnades, on either side, are intricately carved with images of the women of Hampi decked out in royal finery. The musical pillars of the Sangeetha Mandapam complex…
When you have friends, who are like minded and have a profound love for history, then why not have a reunion in one of the most popular heritage city like Hampi which dates to 16th century. It was a beautiful month of July, an overnight journey from Bangalore took us to Hospet which is 5Km…
In Lord of the Rings, the ring-bearer and his companions enter the Old Forest- where the trees have mysterious powers that allow them to hypnotize, and use their roots to entrap, intruders. These ancient woodlands symbolize nature’s all-encompassing dominion over everything man-made. The Vijayanagar Empire was utterly destroyed in the mid-1500s. Palaces and temples razed…
Colonel Alexander Greenlaw was an officer in the army of the British East India Company with a weakness for photography. It is not clear when he developed his interest in photography, but he exhibited some of his work in an 1855 exhibition in Madras (now Chennai) and was awarded a second-class medal for his “great…
