Chennai: Standing atop the Matanga Hill and savouring in every element of the rocky Deccan terrain that lay ahead, with the serpentine Tungabhadra unwinding to unknown extents, all I could think of was how elegant something can be even in absolute ruin.
That was the beauty of Hampi. With around 700 ruined structures, big and small, and guarded by hillocks of boulders typical to this region, Hampi is majestic even in a state of decay.
The plan to travel to Hampi was quite accidental and not the slightest thought had been given on how hot it could be in May, or the fact that it was off season. But as the train pulled up at the Hospet station, the nearest railway station from Hampi, I soon realised that my fears were unnecessary, as the off season ensured that Hampi was relatively relaxed and less crowded compared to the frantic season, and our five day trip seemed to be a promising one.
Our first stop after finding a good hotel was the Virupaksha Temple, which has a mangled mix of various architectural styles owing to its patronage under various dynasties. This Shiva temple, with his consort Pampa Devi, is one of the oldest structures in Hampi and has a history of uninterrupted functioning ever since its early days in 7th century. In fact, Hampi derives its name from Pampa, the erstwhile name of the river Tungabhadra.
The Virupaksha temple has several alluring features but heat is not one of them! The killing heat dissuaded us from further sightseeing and the river with its cool water became the revered sanctuary for weary tourists. A few even wondered if this was the right time to come. But by evening, we found ourselves bearing witness to one of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve seen — a full view of the sun sinking into the distant hills of Bellary with the orange hue of the sunset lighting up the boulder hills that surround Hampi.
The ruins of Hampi are classified into two — the temples and the royal enclosure. The two are largely separated by Matanga Hill and its adjoining small hillocks and farms. Each temple has broad roads leading up to it, and is flanked on either side by continuous stretches of stone mandapas, that run up to several kilometres.
It was much later that we discovered that these were actually bazaars that had even sold diamonds and other precious stones in the long. Unlike the first day, the following days were pleasant with showers that brought down the heat. For the next two days, we spent our time shuttling between the various ruined structures such as the Vithala temple, the zenana, lotus mahal, the stepped well and the elephant stable, the Narasimha statue, Matanga hill, the underground Shiva temple and many other places.
But nothing could beat the charm of the Queen’s Bath, with its intricately carved balconies, which in its heyday had musicians performing in them while the Queen had her royal bath! Perhaps the most fascinating feature of Hampi, personally speaking, would be the view. The perfect spot for the best view is on top of the Matanga Hill — a breath-taking view (quite literally as climbing up is quite a task for the untrained!).
This small trip was nothing like the ones that my friends boasted about, like the trips to Paris or London. But Hampi did to me what earnest travel (travelling not for social media) does to everybody — remind me that there is more to life than the people in it. Indeed, Hampi made us feel insignificant in the wheel of time.
How to get there
Since there are no direct trains from Chennai to Hospet (closest station to Hampi), one can split the journey via transit stations such as Tirupati, Renigunta and Guntakal. Kholapur bound Rayalaseema express from Tirupati passes via Hospet. About three daily trains (Mumbai Mail, Mumbai Express, Chennai Express) connects Chennai to Guntakal.
