Published: January 26th 2018
Woolly says – We were up bright and early and having found probably the worse tea in the world, breakfast hadn’t been a great success, we’re in India home of tea growing, how can they make such a bad cuppa? Having left the barely consumed cups we headed outside where our driver, Winkie, was ready for us with his three wheeled chariot. As we bounced and bumped our way back to Hampi, we again enjoyed watching the scenic views and working animals going about their daily tasks. Flying past some of yesterdays temples we pulled up at the Zanana Enclosure, which housed a couple of things that couldn’t be missed on a visit to Hampi. Having walked past the base of where the Queens Palace would have once stood my eye was instantly drawn to the very ornate Islamic looking Lotus Mahal. The amazing building was almost orange in colour and with its’s open sides and intricately carved doorways and window frames it was a wonder to behold, as a large group of visitors descended on it as we took our last shot and we decided to wander onto the next area of the enclosure and one that stood out from anything else.
We were all excited to see the former Elephant Stable’s where the royal beasts had once lived.
Woolly says – The long domed topped building was a marvel to behold, with eleven stalls, each one circular in design I could image my distant relatives standing at their doorways trumpeting to each other. Inside was cool and small doorways led from one to another, not big enough to get an elephant through but certainly big enough for me! The complex housed a huge variety of other buildings some with shaded walkways and former sculptures on show and many that were ruined and now derelict, with hundreds to choose from we strolled in and out of some of the ones that looked as though they were safe to enter sighing in joy at the decoration and work that was still there to look at. One of the worst buildings repair wise gave us a chance to see the inside of the shrine with its broken roof and biscuit bricks on display. The views across the arid land of rocks and more and more temples was starting to blur in the heat and as we sat drinking some semi warm water we realised it would be impossible to see them all in a lifetime.
Before we all baked completely in the desert like environment, we finished our water supplies and headed back to our driver.
Woolly says – With his foot to the floor more and more temples flashed past us as we headed to the Archaeological Museum, it was a reprise to step into it’s cool interior and survey the hundreds of Gods and statues on display, we couldn’t take photo’s inside but the other thousand or two to look at outside made up for that. Each area had more and more Gods until we were completely confused as to which God linked to which and settled for naming the ones we had any clue about, Nandi the cow, Nagi the snake, Ganesh the elephant (an easy one), Hanuman the Monkey God and odd ones that might or might not be Siva, Vishnu or Rama, it was a game that could go on forever. Having worn out the ability to ‘name the god’ it seemed like a good idea to break for lunch. Winkie led us through to a tree shaded restaurant where we could enjoy some food and cool down at the same time.
Full to bursting after our Aloo Gobi and nan breads we chivvied the smallest member of the group away form the table before he started consuming the leftovers of the lady sat next to us!
Woolly says – it seemed such a waste to leave such good food! Having licked my paws clean I padded after the women and climbed back into the rickshaw. A ten minute ride through the banana plantations took us to the Vitthala Temple. Dating back to the 15th century, the temple was built during the reign of King Devaraya II (1422 to 1446), It is dedicated to Lord Vitthala, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu (another confusing God). Myth has it that the Lord had found the temple to be too grand for his use and had returned to live in his own humble home, a non assuming bloke by the sound of it! The complex inside defied description, as we entered our mouths dropped open and it was difficult to know where to even start looking. The huge hall in front of us had column after column many with further columns carved into the rock, the décor was incredible and so detailed you could hardly take it in. The next hall had many more pillars each one different to the last and perfect in every way, the bases on which the halls and temples were stood were works of art in themselves, stonemasons must have been kept busy for years chipping away to make all the splendour.
The thing that stood out from all the rest had to be the stone chariot, considered to be the most stunning architecture of the Vijayanagara kingdom. The Stone Chariot or Ratha stands in the courtyard of temple. Designed as a shrine it certainly didn’t look like one, it was dedicated to Garuda and had an image of Garuda enshrined into the sanctum. As per Hindu mythology, Garuda is the carrier of Lord Vishnu, and yet another Hindu God to try and work out! Having waited for the other tourists to complete their photoshoots Jo busily snapped away as Zoe and I headed into the Ranga Mantapa which is renowned for its 56 musical pillars. These musical pillars are also known as Saregama pillars, indicating the musical notes emitted by them when the pillars are tapped gently. Having tapped a paw on the base I nearly jumped out of my skin when a note sounded out, Zoe tapped another one and a different musical note filled the air, this could bring a whole new meaning to making music, although it might be a bit difficult to get them moved for concerts!
Before he could start chiselling them down to remove them, I suggested a walk around the exterior walls of the enclosure, more and more temples appeared in front of us until we found ourselves sat on a rock swearing that we couldn’t look at another one for quite a while…. Famous last words!
Woolly says – Hot, tired sticky and dusty we left the other hundred or so temples and checked in with our man, he took one look at the three of us and suggested a cool drink before attempting the last part of the day, he’s not only a good driver but a mind reader! As I slurped away at a freezing cold lime soda I sighed in pleasure, what an amazing place Hampi was even if we did have temple fever by now. Having finished our refreshing drinks we climbed back on board for the last treat of the day, as the rickshaw climbed higher and higher among the thousands of rocks that cover the whole region I wondered if we would make it to the top, a final chug and we parked in the shade and headed into …… a TEMPLE! Was there no end to them!
Obviously not, although this temple had two extra assets, it had the best views of the sunset and the temple was kept alive by the singing that took place twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year.
Woolly says – Malayavanta Raghunatha Temple, a Rock temple dedicated to Lord Rama was constructed in the 16th century, like many of the others it’s pillars were incredible inside. I sat happily listening to the slightly untuneful songs coming from the main temple and watching the cows and monkeys enjoying their feed for the evening, as the sun starting to tip down in the sky we made our way across the huge rock face to find the best position to watch the sun lower itself behind the paddy fields. As we sat on the hard surface and Jo tried not to look down we all agreed it was a perfect way to end our time in the lovely Hampi, hopefully our next destination would be as good to us as this place had been….. well we can live in hope!