Three Days in Hampi

Hampi was one of the wealthiest cities in India .It was rich ,prosperous and had over 5 lakh inhabitants but stands practically abandoned and is also called the “City of Ruins”

Now a UNESCO world heritage site, Hampi attracts travelers from all over the world eager to hear lost stories of kings, battles and kingdoms.

3 days is enough time to explore in and around Hampi. So that’s what me and few of my friends did this time around.

How did we reach Hampi

We started off by boarding buses from Chembur which costed us around Rs. 1500 and took us about 13 hrs, got down at Hospet and took a rickshaw from and moved towards our accommodation “Rocky Guest House”, which was close to the Virupaksha temple

What we did in Hampi

Our day 1 started by visiting the Virupaksha temple which was closed by the time we reached.(Please be mindful of the temple timings, it remains open all days from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM). As the temple was closed we started to discuss further plans,when a group of Rickshaw-wala’s came and asked if they could show us around Hampi for around Rs 600 per Rickshaw.

After a lot of Discussions we hired them to guide and take us around the ancient city,taking us around to about 12 spots throughout the city. Our day long trip was filled with many stories our rickshaw driver told us about the places we were visiting.

Places we visited on the first day were;

Krishna Temple.
Krishna Bazar.
Underground Shiva temple.
Elephants stable.
Hampi bazaar.
Lotus mahal.
Mahanavami dibba.
Queens bath.
Laxmi narasimha temple.
Virupaksha temple.
Hazara rama temple (the inner walls of the temple have phrases containing the most extensive narration of Ramayana while the outer walls show hindu festive processions.).
Hemakutta hills (Do not miss seeing the sunset from these hills,it is definitely one of the most beautiful sights)

The Day ended watching the sun set and the listening to the far of temple bells ringing and Carnatic music playing in the background was a really peaceful thing to experience before ending the Day 1 at Hampi.

Day 2 started with trekking the Matanga hills to enjoy the spectacular view of the entire area and the beautiful sunrise from atop the hill (We couldnt get a glimpse of the Sunrise as it was cloudy). After the refreshing early morning trek it was time to head out to the other side of Hampi also called as “Hippie Island“. We were going to use mopeds and bicycle which were easily available near our hotel at a cost of Rs 500.

Using our mopeds we crossed the glorious Tungabhadra river with our bikes by a boat which helped us cross the river and reached the other side of Hampi.

The first place we visited was Durga temple in Anegundi and vaali caves. As we walked up the temple situated at a little hilltop we were greeted by a doorway which once welcomed the kings. The place now just has tombs standing and one of them is believed to be the tomb of Ramaraya-Krishnadevraya’s Son in law. After enjoying the breathtaking view from the hilltop to exploring the small passages at Vaali caves we headed towards Anjana Parvath.

Anjana Parvath has been named after lord Hanuman’s mother as it is said to be the birthplace of lord Hanuman. A total of 500 steps and you are at the top of the hill. This was the last spot on Hippie islands from where we headed to back to Hampi City chilled at a cafe had some snacks and then headed back to explore the surroundings.

Day 3 was the day we were supposed to head home by a evening Bus back to Mumbai, but we still had one important Spot to cover the magnificent Vitthala Temple.

We started our day by having a healthy breakfast at Kamalpur (the local delicacies Idli, Wada and Puri Bhji) and then headed towards the temple, We had Rickshaws take us here today whereas Yogesh had left earlier in the day on Cycles.
The temple timings are (8.30-5.00pm)
Also it is advisable to hire a guide here to take you around as this place has a very different vibe of its own and having a guide will help you understand the history of the place.

The Vitthala temple is also known as the Vijaya Vitthala temple and is dedicated to lord vithala an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is presumed to be one of the grandest of all temples and monuments in Hampi.

After spending the entire day at the temple we decided to relax and head towards our accommodation where we had to pack our bags and leave for the day. As our guest house did not have a Food place we had our Lunch at Chill out cafe. After a nice lunch we called the Rickshaws which took us back to Hospet and then a Bus back to Mumbai.