Hampi, India

Since the time I moved to Bangalore in 2013, have been wanting to plan a trip to Hampi. Finally, made it happen in October 2016. Yep, it took me three years!

I took a bus to Hampi and reached around 6 AM. As it was just a one day trip, I had no room booked. I freshened myself up in the bus stop restrooms, which were pretty clean.

So, Hampi is this very calm and quiet place which has very less or no commercialization, which I liked about the place. You have no fancy restaurants or hotels.

The first tourist attraction that I visited in Hampi was the 'Virupaksha' temple. It is very near to the bus stop.
It is huge and rich in architecture. The temple elephants were having their morning bath. After, taking a full tour of the temple and taking enough pictures, I left to discover more of Hampi.

Next up was the Market place of the Vijaynagar empire. I was just awestruck when I came to know that they used to sell everything from vegetables to diamonds( just by the road).They just have the ruins of it, but if you put your imagination to use you can see the whole place come alive :).

From there, I went to visit the Vittala temple, which is another huge temple of the Vijaynagar​ Empire. It's a long walk from the market place but along the way you come across a lot of other ruins. Vittala temple is again rich in architecture. The carvings on the temple walls are beautiful.

The other main attraction in Hampi is the Queen's bath. The Queen's bath as the name suggests was used to by the Queen's for their bath. There was a whole monument built for them. It was grand in every aspect. It had such rich carvings on the insides. There was a gallery for the Queen's helpers to be seated. The Queen's privacy was well taken care of. After seeing the monument, you would only wish you were a queen at that time :)

There are lots of other small attractions, which speaks highly of the architecture of that period and also of the opulence of the empire. I returned the same day, took a bus back to Bangalore.

Hampi, is like the time traveling machine which takes you back in time, far away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. And, reminds us that we have a very rich past.

If history and travel excite you the most, then Hampi is a must go for you.

Happy Hampi!Read more