Humpi was the capital of Vijayanagara empire and later was destroyed by the Muslim sultans.Now Humpi houses the ruins of the empire . Humpi is now a world heritage site thereby drawing aplenty local and foreign crowd.For us it was like a walk through history textbooks, like stepping out of a time machine . Humpi is kilometers and kilometers of realization of India's glorious past, a proof of the golden era.Its monument after monuments of historic importance , a structural showcase of the once great economic and cultural richness of our country. Precisely I would say u have to see it to believe it.
Our trip was for two days and enough to cover all the major tourist spots. We stayed at a guest house , which was at the center of Humpi bazaar, the main street of Humpi.. all other places are easily accessible from here.On our first day in the morning we visited the Virupaksha temple . This is still an active temple and not ruined in any major way. We got a glimpse of the deity and
also got a personal blessing by the temple elephant. Later we visited the monolithic bull temple, and then took a coracle ( after much bargaining we settled for 220 rs for 4 people ) to Vittala Temple. In and around Vittala temple you can find many ruins ,various monuments and sculptures including the famous monolithic stone chariot and Kings balance.By early evening , we returned to Humpi bazaar with a grumbling stomach. We were guided to MangoTree , a restaurant in the middle of vast expanse of greenery, under huge mango trees as the name implies and some mouth watering food were served to us while we sat on a mat on the cemented floor facing the Tungabadra river. The place was abrisk with foreign and western tourist even at that time of the day.After devouring the loverly food , we enjoyed a heavenly sunset sitting on the banks of the Tungabadra ..watching people crossing the river and flocks of birds flying one after the other returning to their nest.In the night under a crescent moon we climbed a mountain which houses more than a dozen mandapas and structures.Standing there we got a top view of Humpi in the night. Later after dinner at a restaurant where a petite waiter (who spoke impeccable French) treated us to King size black coffee ,ginger tea and fired momos, We retreated to our guest house.
On second day , we rented a bike from the bazaar ,as this is the best way to see Humpi .We can also hire bicycles for hourly rates . We visited the underground Siva temple , Saraswati temple , Sasivaleku Ganesha , queens bath , the royal enclosure , Ugra Narasimha and also the Krisha temple, the spectacular pushkarni and also the Kadalekalu Ganesha . By evening we crossed the Tungabadra to the other side of Humpi , loitering around for some time, we ended up in Goan corner, a resturant reached by walking through paddy fields .On one side are huge rocks standing tall and hiding a million tales. This place is a must visit for all Humpi travelers for the hospitality of both the host and their adorable dogs and also for the food. The taste of steak with mushroom sauce from here will linger in my mouth for a long time.
Returning back to the bazaar, we did some lazy shopping and there were quite a lot of interesting things to choose from. The locals of Humpi , be it the shopkeepers or the auto drivers ,are just like their counterparts from any other tourist place of the world, working their charm for some easy extra money. But as my friend commented they have not lost their sense of humor yet and one such auto driver we befriended on our stay there dropped us to the Humpi railway station for our travel back .
They say Humpi is poetry on stone and I refuse to disagree..its a sad but a spectacular one. and a must visit. some pixs from humpi below ..
