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This is the story of stones; stones that speak of a glorious past. They are the silent and wistful reminders of a prosperous and affluent kingdom. Let’s take a trip to Hampi, where silence speaks volumes…

We were all pretty charged up for the journey ahead, a journey that will take us through Hampi’s old stone city, Bijapur’s cemeteries and Badami’s cave temples. For all those who are regaled by the years of yore then Hampi and Bijapur is the place to visit. Places, where even in dead silence stones scream of a celebrated history.

It was a balmy evening in June, neither the sun nor rain wanted to take the stage. All in all a good day to begin our five day journey which would take us through three states and cover 2400 km. The UNESCO heritage site Hampi and seven tourist spots in Northern Karnataka were on our agenda. It was going to be one race of a trip if we want to make it to all the places and get a good idea of each one. But chaos reigned as we were already running late and everyone was a bundle of nerves.

' With a legacy that can be traced back to the period of Mahabharata and Ramayana, this land was ruled by the Shatavahanas, Kadambas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas and Hyderali in succession 'Most of the tension was gone as we started on the journey. We eased back as our black Accent car took the NH 47 to Salem which will be our camp for the night.

After a hot breakfast in the morning, we started for Bangalore. We sped through the NH 7 and passed Dharmapuri, Krishnapuri and Hosur . On the way there were huge cargo trucks lumbering along the road which made us trail them at their slow pace. They moved in a line trying to overtake each other and we couldn’t overtake them because we may be trapped in between. Almost fifteen minutes passed with the game of tailing the trucks and moving at snail’s pace before we reached Hosur on the outskirts of Bangalore. We finally reached the city at 11:30. The omnipresent traffic jam and the construction of a fly-over in the city made us even late.

We had lunch at Indiranagar in Bangalore and it was close to 2 o’clock when we finally left for Tumkur. The NH super highway made up for the delay by reaching there in one and half hour! The fact that Tumkur is 85 km away shows that the highway is indeed super. The four lane road was nearly empty accept for us and a few lone trucks so the speedometer often touched 160. It was 6:15 when we reached Chitradurga travelling 220 km from Bangalore. We took NH 13 which is the Mangalore-Sholapur highway.

Chitradurga is nestled in the valley of the river Vedavathi. With a legacy that can be traced back to the period of Mahabharata and Ramayana, this land was ruled by the Shatavahanas, Kadambas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas and Hyderali in succession. It was also part of the Vijayanagara Empire for a long time. The centuries old temples and forts here still attracts many visitors.

The centuries old city of Hampi was made prosperous by the King of Vijayangara, Krishnadevaraya. The Sangam dynasty was established by Vijayanagara and the kingdom flourished under this Tuluva King. From the beginning of the 14th century onwards Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. It was also known as Vidyanagara. A powerful kingdom in terms of both military and financial strength, its capital Hampi was considered one of the major cities in the world during that period. Temples of Hanuman and Sugriva here leads to the belief that Vijayanagara is the fabled Kishkintha of the epic Ramayana.

In the present Karnataka state, Hampi is part of the Hospet taluk of Bellari district. It was almost dark when we reached the dusty roads of Hospet which can be called as the gateway to Hampi. To reach the heart of Hampi we would have to travel 13 km more.

Our stay was at Hotel Mallige at J N Road. We heard that actor Jackie Chan and his friends had stayed there during production of his film, The Myth. The hotel boasts of luxury suites and a swimming pool but it also has rooms for nominal rates too. Ours was spacious and clean. After a refreshing bath and dinner we lay down to sleep thinking of the next day when we would see the majestic old city for real.

In the bright clear morning the ruins looked like something out of a fantasy movie. Lying scattered to almost 26 sq kms, the stone temples, cemetery buildings, huge banquet halls, merchant lanes, pillars and colossal forts all appeared deep in ascetic meditation. It would take several days to capture the essence of each in detail. The beautiful river Thungabhadra was meandering silently between the rocks. It was a rewarding sight that took away all our dreariness.

' Ruins of a market lay in front of the temple where even precious stones were said to have sold in barter 'It is easy to get guides near the ruins without whom it will be impossible to fully grasp the wonder that is Hampi. They charge Rs 100 per hour. We paid Jathayya our guide, Rs 200 and set out to experience the ancient city of stones.

Our first visit was to the Vittala temple which is said to have begun construction during the period of Devaraya in the middle of the 15th century. There were a lot of intricately sculpted pillars here which are the speciality of the Vijayanagara temples. Ruins of a market lay in front of the temple where even precious stones were said to have sold in barter. There were scales in the market that were used to balance grains and pulses equal to the king’s weight. These would later be given as a gift to the people. The framework on which these scales had hung can still be seen here.

Near the hills of Hemakudam and Mathangam on the southern bank of the river Thungabhadra lies the sacred hub of Hampi. It is formed by the Vittala, Virupaya, Krishna, Achutharaya and Narasimha temples. The palaces and their courtyards were near to a canal that was constructed to irrigate farmlands. Water for this canal was diverted from the river Thungabhadra. The queens’ bathing pool and relaxation area known as Lotus Mahal, Hazara Rama temple, the elephant shelter and gardens are also situated in this area. From here we could see the beautiful flourishing farmlands made fertile by the Thungabhadra.

The stones here are symbols of a past entwined with myths and history. They sit in their pensive silence despite having countless tales to narrate and mysteries to reveal. We bid goodbye to Hampi, the land of memories… Continued....

© travelbird