Heritage does not remain confined to the relics of the past in Hampe and Anegundi. Across the boulder-strewn horizons of these ancient towns in Karnataka where time scatters itself among granite crags, river bends and temple shadows, more stories bear the same grace as the river that nourished an empire of the past. In Anegundi, heritage today also means an alive story of women who transform the simplest gifts of nature into objects of elegance and purpose.

Anegundi, older than Hampe, holds centuries of human stories with a wisdom that grows from living alongside myth. The soft rustle of banana groves here has always been part of the land’s hymns. But in recent decades, these swathes of groves have begun to speak a new language: the language of livelihoods, sustainability and empowerment. From discarded banana stems once considered agricultural waste, women now craft products of simple beauty and resilience, reimagining what the earth offers, with humility and skill.

Their work begins where most eyes would not linger: on the fallen stem of a harvested banana tree. Within its coarse layers lies a fibre strong enough to endure time, yet fine enough to be coaxed into delicate textures. Through careful extraction, drying and softening, women draw out filaments that gleam like sun-kissed threads. A soft gold. These fibres then find their way into baskets, bags, hats, trays, placemats, coasters and sculptural home décor – pieces that carry the self-assured dignity of hands that have learned to shape nature without taking more than it gives.

In the courtyards of Anegundi, the rhythm of this work is quiet but full of rigour. It spells everything that means a woman. You can almost hear the clinking of glass bangles as strands are woven together, the murmur of shared stories rising and falling like the hum of a loom, and the laughter that threads itself between their efforts. These artisans belong to generations of women who once knew only domestic routines. Today, their craft enables independence, steady income and pride – a profound shift that has nothing to do with a king’s decree but the women’s own will.

Many women train through community initiatives and heritage-based revival programmes, learning not just a technique but also the value of ecological balance. Their products are biodegradable, their processes gentle, their philosophy rooted in circularity. Each creation is touched by both earth and history: an object made for contemporary sensibilities but stitched with the timelessness of a region that has known human imagination in its grandest scale.

To wander through Hampe and Anegundi is to move through centuries of artistic ambition and its realisation. The rock-cut architecture, the towering gopuras and the intricate carvings left by the Vijayanagara kings who seem to have believed that beauty itself was a form of devotion. Against this backdrop, the craftswomanship feels like a continuation of the same spirit, albeit expressed with quieter materials. Stone and fibre, empire and village, palace and bypath – the contrasts dissolve into a delicious singularity that is today’s Hampe and Anegundi.

Their work mirrors the landscape around them and that is poetry by itself. Just as the boulders of Hampe were shaped by wind and time, banana fibre comes alive through patient transformation. Just as the royal city once flourished through trade and artisanal splendour, Anegundi’s contemporary craft economy breathes life back into rural traditions. And just as the Tungabhadra flows eternally between these twin settlements, the women’s artistry connects the memories of the past with the aspirations of the future.

If you arrive seeking Hampe’s exhilarating grandeur, you will also be stirred by these subtler stories before you leave – the unhurried moments that breathe between sunrise at Matanga Hill and dusk at the Vitthala Temple. The banana-fibre artisans of Anegundi offer such moments. Their work unveils a different kind of luxury: one woven from authenticity and true sustainability that is not simply a buzzword. Add to that the enduring grace of human hands.

This craft can become more than a souvenir, it can be a reminder of mindful living, of conscious travel. Threads that tie modern comfort to ancient wisdom. To hold one of these pieces that are light, textured and made with reverence, is to carry a fragment of the land itself: its whispering groves, its yesteryear royal glory, its resilient communities.

In this ancient landscape where art has outlived time, its women continue to weave their own legacy, strand by strand, day by day. The empire of stone may lie in ruins, but the empire of skill, nature and womanhood thrives even in the face of mass-production mania. Here, heritage is alive in more than one way: it is alive in every fibre woven with another and then another, and every woman who looks toward tomorrow with strength woven from the earth beneath her feet.

Sourabha Rao

Sourabha Rao is a professional writer, poet, translator, former freelance columnist and voiceover artist, with literary proficiency in English and Kannada. She deeply cares about producing stories primarily on nature and wildlife, social issues, history and art. She strives to write truthfully and creatively in an earnest attempt to create content that educates and entertains, has impact, and mobilises positive social change. She has written op-eds and photo-stories for leading Kannada and English newspapers, and has collaborated with filmmakers in wildlife conservation and water conservation. Sourabha lives in Bengaluru, while a big chunk of her heart has stayed back in Mysuru, her forever-muse.

Anegundi’s quiet empire of women: the banana-fibre story

Sourabha Rao