Hampi Weekend.....

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चाहत एसी हो की मुलाक़ात भी बरकत लगे |
इबादत ऐसी हो की चाहत भी कम  लगे || 
पहाड़ो से इश्क़ एक तरफ़ा ही सही | 
पर ऐतबार ऐसी की जुनूनीयत  भी कम  लगे || 
हक़ भले ना हो मेरा उसपे | 
पर मोहब्बत ऐसी की बेइंतेहा भी कम  लगे ||


Hampi is Ecstasy... 
Hampi is Bliss...
Hampi is afterworld...


It was supposedly a trip to Pondicherry but somehow after much alterations and discussion, we ended up finalizing Hampi, around 250kms from the dying city of Bangalore. I call this a dying city for a reason, groundwater at 1000ft thousand feet. Anyway back on track A car ride from Bangalore, it took us around 7 hours. I will not boast about it, but I only drove for like 30 odd km... All through the journey, we see wind turbines(a good sign of being environment-friendly)...

btw how does the Zoomcar work? I m not asking you, this is what I was thinking when we were going to get the car early morning, parked in a residential complex in front of a house. Neatly cleaned, new perfume and each every scratch on the car explained in the app.
When you see this, you know you are down south in India. Gajra tied in the hair is so common here. 

The roads are pretty good and you would want to zoom past on the roads at max speed you can, but to stop you and my free ka advice " Don't cross the speed limit of 125km/hr in a zoomcar, or else you get to pay a hefty fine of 2.5k. Btw the roads after a place called Chitradurga won't let you cross 70km/hr.

We had booked a stay by airbnb in Hampi. ek aur free ka advice lelo "Don't book your stay on this site, reach the place and find a place to stay in the Hippie island." we had booked it after seeing the rating, and to tell you. It was altogether at a different location, no place to park the vehicle etc etc etc.


This is the so-called place but then looks can be deceptive at times. Apparently, the government had demolished his and many homestays in the Hippie island in an effort to keep the balance of nature alive at this place but he still sells this place as the same location (Murali Guesthouse). BTW free ki advice ही दूंगा। ...बाकी  आपकी इक्छा, व्यर्थ जाने दो या भविष्य के लिए  ज्ञान मान कर रख लेना || 

 After resting briefly, we ended up walking to the Hampi island, which is a short ride along the boulders and mountains. There are several restaurants along the line (Hema, Pushpa etc etc) having comfortable beds surrounded by low tables.


Lying there and listening to soothing music, I felt so close to myself, life's harder moments swept away making my travel diaries more like a fairy tale with only a difference that this tale does exist and I am living it.


This is the sunset point, a Hanuman temple atop the hill is an addition to the beauty of the spot. A pathway of around 300 steps. Beware of the monkeys!!!!

Next morning someone told us about a much-hyped waterfall. And I fall for the waterfall story as always (Read the Dalhousie ride for the storyline). It was hot and sunny. Quest for searching the much-hyped waterfall around the boulders began. Car parked in some shady bush and walking aimlessly, even the civilization seemed uncertain at a point. Finally, we look at the so-called waterfall and it wasn't a eureka moment for sure. Don't try to search for a fictitious waterfall.




After the waterfall fiasco yet again. We decided no more before we see the main city, a boat ride from the Hippie island to the main town. 


The river connecting the Hippie Island and the main city.


Someone told me this is one of the holiest temples in all of India. Unlike big temples, I didn't see many pandas queuing around us for monetary gain. 


The temples here are spectacular, especially this Virupaskhsa Temple almost at a height of 50m is situated at the centre of this city. Even if you tried you cannot miss this temple. There are around 14 temples in total, All the Best for trying to visit all 14.  An elephant also lives in the temple, Lakshmi who is supposed to be the living deity of the temple. Unfortunately, she is more trained to fetch money from those who seek blessing or selfies in today's world. That poor animal, chained in shackles, has to stand for the entire day. As it is, I didn't really have the courage nor the will to make all 14 Gods happy, maybe you can!!!!
😛😛😛


The broken stand you see was a flourishing market once. Traders from across the place would come here and sell their goods. Seemed like a supermarket of that age. 



People are more interested in the carving of walls than the idols kept at the centre
क्यूँकि ईश्वर तो हर घर में भी मिल जाएंगे |


I stopped guessing after awhile as to what it might have been. 
It would have taken me days to visit all the temples.




After a while, I stopped count of the temples. According to some famous scholars like Nicholas Gier, Hampi-Vijayanagar was world's second-largest medieval-era city after Beijing and also probably India's richest. Traders from around the area, Persia, Portuguese etc would come down to this city for trading.

Way back to the Hippie Island on these boats. These boats are the lifeline between the hills and the main city.


Hampi is an entirely different place on the planet, in spite of heavy rocky terrain I saw much farming of paddy being done extensively, banana plantation, palm trees etc. They have worked hard to make it look like a paradise 


Next day it was back to Bangalore, the same road. 
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
A looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth......
......
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.......
By Robert Frost


For everyone's ज्ञान , we did shoot up above 125km/hr. Need for speed  खेलने का मन था पार्टनर का  and the message was instant. 
2.5k was the penalty, ले दे के काम नहीं बनेगा यहाँ 
But then my friend had a friend in Zoomcar so ले दे के काम बन गया यहाँ 😀😀😀


I would want to come back to this place, take a week off. Just wander in the sun and find those 14 temples and put a tick in my diary.

This Blog had been pending for a long time and it took me the longest to write once i sat down. 
I did lose some of the photographs as my harddisk became unserviceable.
somehow I could save some of the pictures...
and I had to cut a lot of things to keep it censored... :P

If you like it 
Do comment and follow my Blog.
and yes, do let me know if can come along in any of your trips.


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