Drive from Mumbai to Hampi and Back.
The Vijayanagar kingdom reached the pinnacle of its glory
during the reign of its popular king Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1529). Hampi was
once
a capital of Vijayanagara. The ruins of Hampi are now a UNESCO world heritage
site.
Located on the banks of Tungabhadra river , this town offers insight into the history. It is a very popular destination of history lovers. Locals visit as a pilgrims and the foreigners visit here to explore the magnificent Indian history, Inricate carvings on the stone monuments and Monolithic stone structures. Hampi is located on ruins of Vijayanagara Empire.
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| #Virupaksha Temple |
First we visited Virupaksha Temple. The entrance tower of the temple is 49 m high and is full of intricate carvings. I instantly fell in Love with Hampi. The monuments and temples are so captivating that one would require at least three days to visit all the places.
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| #Elephant Stable |
As our guide narrated the history, my thoughts wandered into imagination, I was thinking of the glory of Vijayanagara empire and its king during its existence days.
Its feeling of going back in time and connecting with the Vijaynagara you always wanted to know.
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| #Lotus Mahal Queens Palace |
We
were overjoyed to have lunch in the ancient temple facing Tungabhadra river.
My desire to have authentic local
cuisine was fulfilled when were invited by a local family to have lunch served
as Prasadam in the century old temple carved out of stone.
. 
Its feeling of going back in time and connecting with the Vijaynagara you always wanted to know.
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| Stone Chariot in front of Vitthala Temple |
Hampi is home to the significant Vitthala temple. Temple presently does not have any statue in the sanctum, our guide told us that when this temple was attacked, the priest of this temple shifted the statue of Lord Vitthala and Rukmini to Pandharpur in Maharashtra.
This temple is a must visit place for magnificent Stone Chariot in front of temple and Musical stone pillars that played sound of various of Indian ancient musical instruments. My profound respect to these artisans and creators of this wonder, we are greatly indebted to you as you in a way remind us of our roots, glory, and where we belonged. This ancient temples and monuments created by them thousand years a ago help us to define our existence today. A humble salute.
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| Intricate Carvings on the stone pillars |
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| #Ugra Narasimha |
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| #centuries year old paintings done with natural colours |
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| #Tourist Capturing the glimpse of History @ Hampi |
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| #Artist engrossed in maintenance of History.. |
Me
and my friend Balachandran just concluded the drive from Mumbai to
Hampi and Back. We logged 1560 kms and covered Hampi, Tungabhadra Dam,
Daroji sloth bear sanctuary.
Hampi is about 580 kms drive from Pune. we started from Mumbai around 6:00 a.m and reached
Hospet town around 9:00 p.m. since we had not booked hotel in advance
we explored a bit and found a good hotel with AC rooms. After finishing our dinner we retired for the night. Next day in the morning we drove to Hampi which is 14 kms from Hospet.
Route Details : Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Hubli - Koppal - Hospet.
Way Back: Started from Hospet at 4:00 p.m. - Bijapur (Night Halt) - Solapur - Indapur - Pune - Mumbai..
Total Distance : 1560 Kms.
(More pics coming up)
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