26th, 27th April 2008
Domingo Paes beat us to it. The Portuguese horse-trader called Hampi the "the best provided for city in the world" and found it "...as large as Rome and very beautiful to look at..." during his richly detailed visit to the city in 1520.
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|  We took the Hampi Express to Hospeth to give Kip an authentic taste of India. | We picked, probably, the worst of the season to go there with the mercury perennially stuck about the 40 degree Celcius mark. |
Day 1 |  We retained four rickshaws for the two days that we were there. For the better part, they allowed us to drive around the ruins and the town. |  Queen's bath was the first stop despite telling the group that the name referred to the place not the process. |
 Kip proving that the moat at the Queen's bath was not broad enough to keep away the peeping toms |  The handsome walls around the queen's bath were very Cuscanian |  The popular victory platform in Hampi. |
 The stepped tank that resonated with Kip's "Abe Chup" (sic) |  The team besides the super sized Kings bath |  Sankar, Sunil and Shringar at Diwan-E-Aam or the hall where the king met the common man. The photograph shows the "security counter" used to frisk people as they entered. |
 Shringar and Vijayam near a panel depicting the Sugriva-Bali fight in the Hazararama temple |  We ate some spicy food at the picturesque Mango Tree |  and stole 40 winks before plunging back into the 500 year old city |
 Sankara and Ananth in front of a rock overhang used by Indians 8000 years ago as a canvass |  The two-storied gateway on the Hemakuta hill. The three layers representing different energy levels (four is you include the photographer) |  The Hampi heat had just about started to hit us before we drenched ourselves in cold water at the pre-Vijayanagar era Triple Shrined Temple on the Hemakuta hills |
 The metaphorical FY09 target.. |  .. which the girls seem to find easy |  Kip's "cow on the road" India photograph. This one near the Virupaksha temple. |
 Ananth inside the Virupaksha temple |  Kip comes across a slightly bigger animal in the Virupaksha temple and gets his blessings |  The ancient steps to the top of the Matanga hill |
 And the wait for the .. |  .. sunset |  The proud Vijayam |
Day 2 |  The open air Bhojan-alaya with plates carved in Schist and a very, very hungry Vijayam and Shringar |  The 500 year old terrakota pipeline at the Octagonal Fountain |
 The grand entrance to the flooded Underground Siva Temple which lay buried underground for over 500 years |  The marriage mathapa in the Prasanna Virupaksha |  The team atop the Octagonal Pavillion with Ravi in the gargoyle pose |
 Sunil in front of the beautiful Lotus Mahal in the Zenana enclosure. Was it really the harem or the HQ of the commander-in-chief? |  Kip seated in the elephant drivers pavilion with the 11 pens of the elephant stable visible in the background. |  The Krishnadevaraya funded Krishna temple clicked from the exact same spot that Colonel Alexander Greenlaw clicked in 1856 |
 And once again, Kip and Ravi, unable to resist the temptation to scale the boulder of Hampi |  \While the ongoing repair works prevented entry into the main shrine of the Vitthala temple (and access to the musical pillars), the 16th century courtyard kept the jaws open. |  Sankara and Ravi with KIp at the Hanuman stone in the Vitthala temple courtyard, before they took off for a dip in the Tungabhadra |
 The dragons in the Vitthala temple proving that the "Chinese have been here" |  Finally, the after photograph. A little sleep deprived, a bit hung-over, a tad sun-burnt and thoroughly impressed |
Hampi resources
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The new Cambridge history of India: VijayanagarAuthor: Burton SteinISBN:978-81-85618-46-3 Price: Rs. 195/- |  HampiAuthors: John M Fritz & George MichellISBN: 81-7508-336-0 Price: Rs. 396/- |
Vijayanagara: Origin of the city and the empireAuthor: N. Venkata Ramanayya ISBN: 8120605454 Price: Rs. 265/- |  New Light on HampiJOhn m Fritz and George Michell ISBN:978-8185026534 Price: Rs. 2250 |
