HAMPI IS ALIVE 

“Do you want to go to Hampi sir?” The English query took us by surprise as we browsed the auto line outside Hospet Railway Station. Switching to Kannada, we contracted our enthusiastic auto driver to take us to the Kamalapur Guest House of the KSTDC, 13 Kms away. Our driver waited patiently for us to freshen up at the hotel and have breakfast while we debated between taking the tourist bus or hiring him for the day. Our choice fell on a full day ride for Rs 500 in his auto with him as “unofficial” tourist guide. 

The customary visit to the Virupaksha temple came first and we wondered at its 50 metre high gopura or tower, one of the tallest in South India. Unlike the other monuments in Hampi, this temple did not suffer much damage at the hands of the Deccan Sultans, conquerors of Vijayanagar after the Battle of Talikota in 1565. How and why it was spared has still not been explained by the historians. This is not the neatest of South Indian temples, but it does have a fair amount to see. An inner room of the temple displays a pin hole camera effect with the temple tower imaged onto a wall, through a narrow slit in the stone wall. 



Next we were on the Hemakuta hill, with its rock slopes, giant boulders, multiple sanctums and giant idols of Ganesha. The views across the rocks are fascinating, and in the distance we could see high on the Mathanga Hill, a beautiful old temple. It’s tempting to stay awhile longer here, but beware of the heat reflected off the rocks, which could soon make you dizzy. We soon got our driver to take us to a cool green spot beside paddy fields and a coconut vendor. We got talking to a seller of stone artifacts and learnt that his family makes most of the items themselves, and that they hailed from Tamil Nadu. They have always been in Hospet and can’t remember when they came over from their home state. It is typical of the Bellary Hospet region that this vendor and others feel at home in this multilingual area where Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu and English are equally acceptable. 

As we neared the Queen’s Bath, Lotus Mahal and the Elephant stables, we kept noticing how well the ASI has maintained the surroundings of every monument with neat gardens and grass all around. Hampi has certainly become a proud showcase The sun blazed down even more, and thankfully an elderly Islamic gentleman, who was everyone’s uncle, was mixing lime juice with ice, soda and salt in a unique concoction, and this revived us just in time. There was no escaping the sun however as our guide took us to see the public baths and royal residences. 



Signs of the destruction by the conquerors of Vijayanagar are everywhere, but the guide shrugs it off with a “that’s -a– fact-of-life-we-have-moved-on” kind of look. I remembered something very similar at Macau‘s Museum when the Chinese guide explained how it fell into Portuguese hands, mainly through force of arms. Not a hint of rancor or remorse could we discern in the recall of this story. The clever Chinese have instead turned history to their advantage, building a superb museum. 

Once the day cooled off, our auto took us towards the river Tungabhadra and to the high point of the Hampi ruins: the Vijaya Vittala temple. It has everything fit for a king, with wedding halls, dance mandaps, discussion halls and the beautiful sanctum. The stone chariot intricately carved, has held the world in thrall ever since it was fashioned from a single block. A walk behind the temple to the river is worth it, as you can sit and watch the sun set over the rocky landscape and chat awhile with the local boatmen on the bank. We contracted with one of them to meet him next morning near the Rama temple, further west to make the river crossing to Anegondi. 

Next day’s breakfast was planned at the “Mango Tree”, beside the river, a kilometer west of the Virupaksha, and a lovely walk along the river. They used to serve idlis and dosais here in the past, but “market forces” have contrived to transform the menu to something straight out of a café in Paris or Rome. We were happy to have our omlettes and juice however, and sit on stone seats under the giant trees and watch the great river flow by. A meal here is recommended for the ambience the Mango Tree provides. 

Our boatman was missing at the river bank and all the coracles were out of the water, due to the flow having increased after a bout of release from the upstream Tungabhadra Dam. The whirlpools and narrows did look tricky and we decided not to pursue our chances of making a river crossing. This turned out to be an unexpected blessing since we had to take an auto for the day (again!) from Hospet and drive thru the countryside to Anegondi, about 20 Kms away. The route to Anegondi lies through lovely green fields and typical rural landscape, made prosperous by the waters of the Tungabhadra Project, a unique interstate venture of the fifties benefiting both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. (Yes, they used to cooperate in those days!) This mighty project has truly transformed the lives of millions in this basically dry region and can potentially irrigate a million acres of land. We were lucky not to have taken a taxi, as an auto ride gives you a closer feel of the country and all that is going on in the villages. This was rural Karnataka at its best with paddy, sugarcane, coconut, groundnut and ribbons of canals everywhere. 

Anegondi lies across the river to the North and was the earlier capital of the Vijayanagar kings. When at Anegondi, you must head for the birthplace of Hanuman, Anjanadri, a steep rocky hill which can be climbed in half an hour to reach a small temple on top. The summit affords glorious views of the stark rock formations set in green fields and the river making its way through rugged terrain. We were surprised to note that the head priest at Anjanadri and all the temple staff and retainers were Hindi speakers from Varanasi. This is most unusual for a temple in South India. It would be interesting to know how exactly such a migration of holy men has taken place. The same situation prevails in the Raghunatha temple at Hampi. 



Our auto driver was well educated and I’m sure if we had switched from Kannada to English, would have handled the situation fairly well. We didn’t, and he provided us lots of local information. His family had lands as well as many goats which they kept for the wool they produced. He took all types of tourists in his stride and was well aware of the somewhat aggressive Israelis and the cultured politeness of the Japanese and Koreans.Anegondi he said was a popular spot for the Western tourist to hang out, with rooms by the river at Rs 100 per day and none of the Hampi crowds to pry around. Motorbikes and bicycles on hire were plenty and the whole ambience was just right for this kind of tourist. Our driver knew a thing or two about the activities of some of them, but that’s another story. 

Day three and we were on the way (in another auto!) to the remote Daroji Bear Sanctuary about 20 Kms from Hampi. It was beautiful fields of sunflower and sleepy villages this time. The last 5 Kms were really out of the way and lonely and my wife and I were totally in the hands of the auto driver and his pal who had jumped on for the ride. At the Sanctuary gate there was no one in sight and it was desolate all around. We passed a few empty office- like buildings and then drove 3 Kms in to the lookout point. Being daytime, we couldn’t see any Sloth Bears, nor could we spot any denizens of the Forest Dept! A lonely spot indeed, except at 4 PM when the bears are fed by the guards with jaggery. Daroji is a tribute to Mr. Ghorpade of Sandur who has almost single- handedly created this haven for the Sloth Bear in Karnataka. 

If you do go to Hampi, do not go just for the ruins. Beautiful rural landscapes fed by the bounty of the Tungabhadra Project , a climb to Anjanadri or Matanga Hill and possibly a boat crossing of the river should be on your menu. The multicultural, multilingual legacy of King Krishnadevaraya surely lives on in the tolerant people of this region who have made all the world welcome and who can surely tell the rest of us :”We are like this by nature and by choice and not at the pleadings of some self-styled leader” Close