Hampi

  You can be an atheist all you want, but when you come to a place like this, you bow down your head; not to the gods, but to the people who created this.

When you come to Hampi, you take a stroll through mythology; you see history unfolding in front of your eyes. When my parents told me stories about the prosperity of this country, maybe they were referring to this place. There are beautiful archaic structures everywhere, temples at every 100 steps; all the dash-avatars seem to have a temple in Hampi. And, it’s not just temples; there are remains of administrative buildings and bustling markets all over the city. You don’t need strong imagination to visualize this city in its grandeur. This place doesn’t require a guide; the city speaks to you. You can stroll aimlessly in this city through the unconventional tourist places and return amused. There are corners in this city that have marvels which remain unexplored. The city is too large to be entirely covered anyway.

As my friends decided to have a stroll at the Tungabadhra Ghat, I decided to sit back and write this. I am sitting on a staircase in Lord Vishnu’s temple surrounding. A monkey went past me on the stair below. Neither did he disturb me, nor did I disturb or frighten him. Today is our third day at Hampi. The days have gone by too fast. Hampi is too large to explore in 3 days anyway. Also, we’re three history geeks who were taking every scene and etching it in their memories permanently. On the first day, we got off at Hospet and left for Hampi. The road to Hampi is built on an elevation and provides a beautiful view of the landscape below. We were welcomed by banana farms and coconut trees, which spread for miles. As we got closer to Hampi, we started seeing huge boulders. The city has a copious amount of these large boulders.  In the distance, we could see the Matanga hill.

When I saw Matanga hill, I knew our day had begun. We started with the main ruins. We saw the Vitthal temple, the Stone chariot, Queen’s bath, underground Shiva temple, Parinidhi, and ended our day watching the sunset at Matanga hill. The Matanga hill is an arduous climb but offers a Panoramic view of the entire city. I sat there in awe of the Vijaynagar empire. They managed to obliterate the city, but they couldn’t destroy its allure. This city, even though in its ruined state, continues to mesmerize. Keeping the tradition and culture of the city in check, my friends recited the Atharva Shirsha and Bheemarupi at the backdrop of the sunset. Although I’m an atheist, and I ridiculed them, I admired it. I didn’t endorse it because I think religion is true, but because of its usefulness. That evening, on that steep climb, reciting the Atharva Shirhsa and Bheemarupi seemed to give them courage.

Our second day was easy. We started our tour at the Chintamani Temple caves, followed by a climb on the Anjaneya hill; and lastly by spending a calm afternoon at the Sanapur lake. After that, we went for lunch at a hipster restaurant. The restaurant made me wonder, how can a place be so hip and cultured at the same time? Later, we went to the Tungabadhra dam- the second-largest in India. This was followed by a long overdue friends night with a sumptuous dinner and cold beer.

Today, we went to the Kadalekalu Ganesh temple. The size of the stone murti left me speechless. This temple inspired me to write this piece. In a way, it was my muse. It was not until we had seen the Virupaksha and Vishnu temple, that I got the time to write this. Hampi has left me spellbound and mesmerised. It also saddens me that we’ll be leaving this place today. I’ve seen the main attractions at Hampi, but I know I’ve missed out on so much more. In this place, every stone has a story to tell. With a satisfied gaze and an ache in my heart, I promise this city, I’ll be back for the unexplored, unconventional Hampi.