Drive to Hampi

It had been a while since we were hearing from friends traveling to Hampi, and coming back with ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ about the place, and showing off the beautiful photographs they had taken. After planning it for a while and finally finding some time to spare, we packed our bags and cameras into the cherry red Zen on a Friday morning and headed towards Hampi.

Also see: A brief report on Hampi Utsava(Hampi festival) and Hampi Photo Album

Hampi Information
Hampi is around 350kms from Bangalore. You can take buses or train from Bangalore to Hospet which is a town 20km from Hampi. If you are driving, you may find good roads all way but there was lot of road construction work when we drove there(December 2004). Take NH 4 towards Tumkur from Bangalore and continue driving till Chitradurga. Turn right at Chitradurga towards Hospet and drive till Hospet. Hampi is another 30 minutes drive from Hospet. It took us 8 hours since the road was under construction and should take 6-7 hours otherwise. Too many plying trucks make the road dangerous and I suggest driving daytime.

Places to see

There are lot to see in Hampi. It is good to keep 3 to 4 days if you want to see everything without hurrying, but you can still manage to see a lot in 2 days. Don’t miss the Vithala temple and walk past the river. Read through this article for other places to see. Nearby places of interest includes the huge Tungabhadra reservoir.

It was a pleasant December morning and we started early to enjoy the good weather and escape the city traffic. Within an hour, we were out of the city limits and hit the national highway 4 connecting Bangalore and Pune. The next one-hour was a pleasant drive on the four lane expressway, which is part of the golden quadrilateral project. After a brief stop for breakfast by the roadside, and loosing our way for a short distance in the next town, we got back on track, and drove steadily at three figure speeds for next 2 hours on the smooth and fenced roads. Every now and then we came across trucks lying upside down by the roadside that seemed to tell us to drive safely!

The pleasure of the good roads ended after 3 hours of driving when we hit upon the patches where construction was in full swing. We were reduced to driving on one side of the road, competing with lethargic and overloaded trucks spewing smoke and dust. We drove this way till we reached our diversion to Hampi after Chitradurga. Chitradurga is a historical town with a huge fort that was protected fiercely by the local rulers against the invasion of Hyder-Ali. Songs and novels have been written and movies have been made that glorify the heroics and bravery of the local warriors against the invaders. We did not get to see the fort while driving past, but colorful sunflower fields and tall windmills on the top of wavy hills kept our spirits and enthusiasm on the bad roads. We left the national highway 4 here and took a deviation into the smaller and less crowded Hospet road to Hampi.

A few stops for some pictures and a cup of chai later, we reached Hampi around 2pm – 8 hours since we left Bangalore. After resting and stretching for some time and filling our hungry stomachs, we headed out to start our visits to the temples and monuments. We were armed with maps from 2-3 sources and had planned our itinerary based on the locations. It took us some time to realize that our maps were completely wrong and we were reduced to finding the way by trial and error. And unlike any other place in India, we didn’t get to see many of people walking by the road who could help us with the directions. Luckily, there were plenty of signs put up by Karnataka Tourism Department and we finally managed to get on the right track.

We first went to the Queen’s bath, which as the name says is the bathing place of the royal women. From the size of the structure it sure looked like the royal women would have been spending a good amount of time in their bath! The next stop was the newly excavated underground Shiva temple that was dark inside and seemed to be unattended. From here, we drove into Hampi Bazaar and walked down to Virupaksha temple. It is the tallest structure in Hampi with an 11-storied tower. The Bazaar is a small walkway in the center of the town with shops and restaurants on both sides that lead you right into the entrance of the temple. After paying an exorbitant fee to take our cameras inside, we walked in and took a few pictures of beautiful arrays of pillars and the tall structures.
Viroopaksha Temple, Hampi

Pillars of Virupaksha temple

Hampi

An old man with a long trumpet walked into us and offered to blow it and let us take pictures for a small fee. He got what he wanted and we managed to shoot some pictures. The sun was about to set and we quickly headed out to nearby Hemakuta hill to witness the sunset. After watching skies turn crimson after the sun disappeared beyond the distant hills, we walked down to see a Ganesha statue lit up nicely between an assembly of pillars.

Hampi/></p> <p><i><span style=Hampi By Night… Enclosure of Kadalekalu Ganapa

We setup our tripods and shot some pictures for next 30 minutes. That ended our day’s activities and we returned to our quarters for a quick dinner and retired very soon.

As much as the ruins and historical monuments, Hampi is known for its colorful sunrise and sunsets. We were up early in the morning next day and drove back to Hampi Bazaar to witness the much talked about view of the sunrise from the top of Mathanga hill. After debating for sometime on the rationale in climbing the tall and lonely hill all by ourselves in the darkness of 5am, we finally decided to give a try and slowly climbed up to the top. We were one of the first to be up and were soon joined by a group of three foreign tourists.

Matanga Hill, Hampi

Just Before Dawn

Matanga Hill, Hampi

As the sun comes out…

Matanga Hill, Hampi

The expanse of Hampi and the Tungabhadra river

As we waited, light started creeping into the day giving us a view of the expanse from all around us. There were boulders and boulders covering the hills all around and the river Tungabhadra seemed to have magically made its way between them. The planes below were covered with temples and ruins and where neither of these existed, it was occupied by expanses of plantain farms. Soon the sky turned colorful and we jumped with excitement(look! look!!) at the sight of the rising sun. The eastern sky had turned bright orange and the hills and temples were lit up with the wonderful warm light of the morning. We sat there quietly and watched the beauty of the nature unfold in front us. The misty orange waves of hills arranged neatly with the sun behind them made a fine-looking picture in my eyes that I would never forget.

As the sun was high enough, an enterprising chaiwalla who had carried his tea making gear all the way up to the hilltop offered to make us some tea. A cup of tea and some more pictures later, we walked slowly downhill savoring the beauty of the river and the rocky terrain surrounding it. We noticed during the descent that it was an excellent place for birding too. We spotted a pair of rarely seen coucals, spotted doves, some magpie robins, plenty of parakeets and many more. After giving some more work for our cameras on the way back, we returned to the Bazaar for a filling breakfast and an eventful day ahead.

We had enough places to visit for the entire day. Wasting no ti
me after the bre
akfast, we quickly got ready and headed to Vithala temple complex. The complex is a plane area by the riverside laden with old structures and ruins. We parked near the temple and took the walkway that lead us through king’s balance and the Vishnu temple. There are many old structures on the way and we soon lost track of what is what.

Vithala Temple, Hampi

Vithala temple premise

King's Balance, Hampi

The King’s Balance

A watchman at the Vishnu temple introduced me to some of the structures. He pointed out at a distant rock that seemed to open into a cave and said that it’s the path where Ravana dragged Sita after kidnapping her from Rama. Hampi’s origin has some stories borrowed from mythology as well as history. The hills of Rushyamooka, Hemakoota and Mathanga are where the army of monkeys in the Ramayana were known to have made their habitat. And in the times of Mughal sultanate, local warriors are said to have witnessed a scene of a dog being chased away by a small hare. The event was attributed to the bravery embedded in the soil of the place. On witnessing this, Maharshi Vidyaranya, with his disciples Harihara and Bukka made this land as the base to fight the penetration of the Muslim rulers towards south. This lead to the inception of the Vijayanagara Empire.

We walked ahead enjoying the structures and shooting them as we please, and reached the riverbank. Someone offered to take us back to the Vithala temple on a coracle, which we gladly accepted. The river was calm, and the cool breeze made the ride pleasant even in the mid-day sun. We noticed many carvings on the boulders next to the river. A magpie and some mynas followed our coracle all the way to our alighting point.

The Vithala temple is the most well known structure in Hampi. It is recognized as a UNESCO world heritage monument for its musical pillars and a pretty stone chariot. Each pillar is known to produce a distinct musical note when you knock with your fingers. But a sign says not to touch the pillars, and there are some security persons to ensure that you don’t ignore the sign. I was tempted when I saw a few kids sneaking from behind and enjoying the sounds, but decided not to try it myself. An old tree with spooky branches and no leaves added a strange glamour to the temple. I took more pictures of the tree itself, keeping the temple in the background.

It was turning out to be an exciting day seeing the temples, pillars and ruins all around and we could not be stopped easily. After a heavy lunch at the Bazaar, we rested for a short while and headed out again not miss taking photographs in the evening sun. We managed to spend rest of the day walking though Mahanavami Dibba where the royal functions were held, then to the famous Lotus Mahal and the large elephant stables. The royal elephants sure seemed to have royal stables to while away their time.

Elephant Stables, Hampi

At the elephant stables…

Before we knew, it was evening already and we decided to head back to Hemakuta hill to catch the sunset again. We seemed to have got carried away looking at the monuments! We were late to reach the place and only managed to catch a brief glimpse of sun saying goodbye behind the hills.

Rocks around the ruins…

Lotus Mahal, Hampi

At Lotus Mahal

The next morning, we visited the Pattabhirama temple just behind our hotel. The pillars of the temple made nice patterns of light and shade in the early morning sun. It was amusing to see a studious young man sitting leaning to a pillar and studying a history textbook! This was our last monument in Hampi. We drove out from there and stopped on the way for a quick visit to the Tungabhadra reservoir. The dam is so big that we couldn’t see the other end of the water body. We saw many of water birds including a few herons and a pair of river terns hovering around trying to catch fish.

Pattabhirama temple, Hampi

Inside Pattabhirama temple

We drove back from here to Bangalore stopping for a few breaks in the middle for food and rest. The trip ended with a stop just before Bangalore, by a lake to watch the beautiful sunset and its reflection in the water.


Driving in monsoon – Jog Falls, Karwar and Goa

We started from Bangalore on Friday night a 3-day weekend. The places we were planning to cover included Jog falls, Karwar and Kadra, Goa if time permits.

Jog is a well-known waterfall, the tallest in India where river Sharavati falls from an unbelievable 300 meters high. While the number looks big by itself, those who have managed to climb down to the base of the waterfall and hiked back know how tall and steep really it is.

Greenery of western ghats

On the way to Jog

Jog Information

The Jog waterfall is approximately 400kms from Bangalore. If you start on a Friday night, you can reach here next morning and spend a day. It is well connected by road and train. You can take bus or train to nearest town – Sagar and travel on local buses to Jog. If you are driving, the entire stretch of road is national highway in good condition but you may encounter a few rough patches. It takes 7-8 hours to reach Jog. You need to take Tumkur road(NH 4) from Bangalore and turn left to NH 206 in Tumkur, drive via Shimoga and Sagar towns. Shimoga is a good place to break for some refreshments if you are driving daytime. Continue for another 30kms on the highway from Sagar town. The waterfall is a short 2kms deviation from the highway.

Places to see

You can spend an entire day around the waterfall. If you are fit, climb down to the base of the fall. It takes around 20minutes to walk down, and may take an hour or two to come back depending on your fitness. You can take a dip in the water when you are in the gorge. Drive to the other side of the waterfall and you can get close to the falling water. In summer, you can even bend down from the fall to see it descending all the way down from up close. It is a great experience, but definitely not for the acrophobics. Drive further down the national highway into deep jungles and enjoy the views of the Sharavati valley.

Jog Falls

Jog waterfall

We reached there around 9am and strolled around for sometime. It was raining on and off and many times the view of the fall would get completely blocked by fog. It was a good view to see so much water there after many long years. It comes down to a trickle in the summers, primarily owing to the dams built for the power generation that redirect all the water. Incessant rains this year have filled up the dams and hence there is plenty of water. It was fun watching the fall in the rains.

We moved on after staying for around 2 hours and reached Sharavati valley, a few kilometers down where river flows between the hills and offers amazing view from the top. I took a few photographs; none of them seemed to justify the beauty of the place. One of the lucky pals who had descended the valley a few years back described us the adventure and fun involved. They had gone into the jungle and descended the steep valley, and had camped by the river for a night a few years back! Boy! That must have been fun.

Sharavati Valley

The beautiful Sharavati Valley

Further down, we encountered a stream by the road that tempted us to stop. We walked along the stream for a while and soon encountered a series of waterfalls. We were too tempted to take a dip, and did just that! It’s a great feeling to dip into a running stream and lie down against the running water. Even more fun is when you sit under a waterfall and feel the gush of the water. I would love to be doing that everyday!

Our next destination was Karwar, a beach town. We reached there around the time of sunset. The time did not matter because it was cloudy all through the day. It looked the same – dull and cloudy from morning to evening and you could never tell the position of the sun! After a brief stop at the small port, we hit the beach and stayed on till it was dark. Lovely beach it is! It started raining cats and dogs while we were there and we got wet. Thanks to rain gods, its absolute fun getting wet on a hot day. From here, we left the seashore and drove interior towards the village of Kadra where we were to stay with a friend for two days. Kadra hosts one of the 7 dams to Kalinadi and has a powerhouse. We had made plans to see the scenic Kali region the next day and return to Bangalore the day after.

Kali River

The beauty around Kali river

Our friend, who worked for Karnataka Power Corporation arranged permissions for us to visit the powerhouses. They are enormous machinery with great level of automation. It houses huge turbines and various assemblies that needs no to day-to-day maintenance and management. Just 3 engineers will be working as stand-by in the powerhouse at any given point of time! While the powerhouse looked good, it was the river, hills and greenery that we were more interested in. We drove further into a 30km long private road that leads us to another reservoir and power station. The road crawls right along the banks of Kali and the river is surrounded by thick evergreen rain forests typical of the Sahyadri ranges. Out friend mentioned about people seeing leopards, Black Panthers and even tigers in the area! He had seen leopards himself! The place looked too good to be true. And it was drizzling all along, which gave a poetic romance to the entire atmosphere. I though – “Oh my god! I would like to spend rest of my life here!” My friends echoed my feelings. It all seemed too beautiful to be true!

Paddy fields and Hills

Paddy Fields

Kali River

We spent the entire day walking or driving around this road. Late in the evening, we saw some fishermen having a nice evening, catching a good lot of fish. We stopped, had a chat with them and took some photographs around the place. Every inch of the place was absolute beauty! A lot of people apparently go swimming in the river in summer. I decided to return for a swim myself, and I certainly will. It was evening and we ended the day’s journey in a very content state.

The next morning, we drove to Palolem beach in Goa for a short visit. The weather was good and the sea was calm and nice. After frolicking for a while, we drove back to Bangalore. We had moved so far away from the town, it took us 14 long hours to drive back. We returned to Bangalore around 4am.


Monsoon – Chikmagalur, Mullayyanagiri and Charmadi

+ Also: More monsoon journeys on India Travel Blog.

Every year, monsoon rains rock India in the month of June and stay on till September. This is the only time of the year when it rains and provides a much-desired relief from the heat for everyone. These monsoon rains are also the primary source of water for all purposes – drinking water, irrigation, industrial use and anything else. Along with being a lifeline, it is also a romanticized phenomenon. People love it when it rains. The cool breeze and relief from the heat that it delivers, the smell of earth that raises with the early rains, the beauty of the droplets are all a cause of joy. The dry earth turns wet and green in the season and looks pretty. Every year, people anticipate anxiously for the rains, and celebrate when it arrives. In these days I normally spend some time around the rainforests in the Sahyadri hill ranges in South India, where it rains incessantly and the world looks picturesque. Once avoided due to constant rains, monsoon tours are now becoming a popular activity.

Also see more monsoon stories on paintedstork.com
* Hiking Brahmagiri Peak in Coorg
* Trekking on tracks – between Sakaleshpur and Subrahmanya
* Driving in the rains – Jog falls, Karwar and Kali river
* Tubing in Kaveri – some adventure and some stupidity
* Riverside picnic places around Bangalore
* An faq on monsoons
* Monsoon photo gallery

This year when the monsoons started, we decided to drive down to Chikkamgalur, a five-hour drive from Bangalore and spend some time watching the rains and trekking the hills. We packed bare minimal clothing and other requirements for a 2 day trip, and started late on a Friday evening. We reached the town too early and decided to catch some shuteye before dawn, and checked into planter’s court on Mudigere road. Planter’s court offers decent budget accommodation and I had stayed there earlier. Other options in town include small budget hotels all around, or Taj Garden Retreat on the higher side. It was around 4.30am by the time we crashed into the bed.

It was pleasantly cold and drizzling mildly in the morning. Getting out of the covers and getting ready turned out to be a difficult exercise. By the time we got ready and got moving, it was already around 9 in the morning. But outside, it hardly looked that late. Sun was hidden and every part of the sky was cloudy. There wasn’t much light and it looked as if it is early morning. Now and then it rained briefly and stopped. Although we had a few places in mind to go, we had not really planned anything for the day!

Monsoon - Girl in raincoat

At first, we went to see a small lake just outside the town, in a village called HireKolale. I hope I remember the name correctly. It started raining hard on the way. The lake was surrounded by small hills, fields and farms.

Hirekolale Lake near Chikmaglur.

It was misty and looked pretty. We strolled there for a while and worked on the next plan – to head towards Charmadi, deep in the middle of the hills.

Charmadi
Stream at the bottom of the valley

It kept raining on and off and poured heavily at times. We stayed on there till evening and headed back to our car. We were back in Chikkamagalur around 8 in the evening, and after a quick dinner crashed into the bed.

The next day was not planned too! But we figured there is no need to wake up early, since the weather remained the same all through the day – raining or cloudy. We did not get to see the sun at anytime during the two days of our trip. After a brief discussion over breakfast and coffee, we decided to head to Mullayyanagiri. Mullayyanagiri is hill located around 25kms from town, situated in the same ranges as other well-known hills – Bababudan giri and Kemmannugundi. We drove through the wet roads facing the usual intermittent rains. It started getting foggy again when we started driving up the hill. After halfway or so, visibility had reduced to almost nothing.

Fog on Mullayyanagiri
Fog on the way to Mullayyanagiri

It was raining too and the narrow road with deep valley right next to it made it a not-so-easy drive. But being used to such conditions helped. We decided to stop somewhere in the middle and walk the later part of the journey. It was so windy on the hill that we were almost carried upwards by the wind! Walking was hardly an effort. Sometimes wind made spooky and funny noises! After a short walk, we reached the top where they have a temple. Well, no surprises that one! When was the last time you climbed a hill in India and did not see a temple?!

At Mullayyanagiri
The temple compound on the top of the hill
Clouds and Sun

The foggy weather did not let us into any view of the valley below. After walking around there for a while, we headed back to town. After a brief stop in town to hill our hungry stomachs, we started our drive back. We had planned a visit to Belur temple, a beautiful historical monument on the way, but it was getting late and we could not make it before they closed it for visitors. After driving for a few hours on Mangalore – Bangalore highway, we were back in town around 11pm.