Hampi - historical sites

March 16, 2013 by Kiran | 2 Comments

This post was to capture just the various sites we saw in Hampi. The Hampi trip details are here – basically Part 1.

The first day was a guided whistle-tour of various sites within Hampi; the massive-boulders strewn landscape, and the temples and sculptures that merge into this landscape are really breath taking. We managed to see some more of these sites the following couple of days. A quick list of the sites we visited.

Sasve-kaalu Ganesha – a massive Ganesha idol carved out of a single rock; apparently commissioned by a spice-merchant/trader.

Sasve-kaalu Ganesha

Kadale-kaalu Ganesha – another monolithic statue of Ganesha; bigger than the Sasvekaalu one.

Kadale-kaalu Ganesha

Virupaksha temple – it was the occasion of Shiva-rathri, and the temple was crowded with pilgrims, devotees, and tourists. This happens to be among the very few temples which are still functional within Hampi.

Virupaksha Temple

Badavilinga - This Shiva-linga was apparently paid for by a poor woman (hence the name). 3 meter sculpture, with its base always in water; the nearby aqueduct brings the water from the TungaBhadra river.

BadaviLinga

The Ugra or Lakshmi Narasimha – this sculpture has had a fresh lease of life thanks to work done by the ASI. Rather massive sculpture, which was once housed in a stone structured room topped with wooden roof / gopura. The Lakshmi sculpture is missing, though the broken-arm of the Lakshmi sculpture is still visible.

Ugra Narasimha

Lotus Mahal – by the time we got here the noon heat was getting to us. The description of this Mahal cooled with flowing water within its pillars was a pleasant thought. Some of the stucco work is still visible and rather intricate, and the general structure is eye-catching, in an otherwise rather “plain” building.

Lotus Mahal

Lotus Mahal arches

Elephant Stables – the ASI guidebook states that this may not have been elephant stables, but rather the secretariat. In any case, this is an imposing building, and the imagining  this as elephant stables is a lot more interesting.

Elephant Stables

Queens Bath, and Octagonal bath – Interesting to see how well the aqueduct and water supply system was harnessed within Hampi – the construction of these bath sites is one such example.

Queens’ bath

Octagonal Bath

Pattabhirama Temple – we were the only visitors to this temple complex. There were a couple of school-going kids who were sitting around revising some study material. This is a spacious temple complex. Also, it was just a couple of kilometers from the resort.

Pattabhirama temple

Vittala Temple – this contains the now famous chariot, and is a rather beautifully built temple – the pillars are more ornate, slender, and with a level of detail I didn’t find in the other temples. The mahamandapa, and portions of the rest of the gopuras had caved in or collapsed. Some of it was being restored, during our visit.

Kalyana mandapa, within the Vittala temple complex

Stone Chariot, within the Vittala temple complex

Hazara Rama Temple – the sculptures on the outer wall are visually rich, and captivating.

Hazara Rama Temple

Hazara Rama Temple

Royal Enclosure – contains the stepped tank, and the mahanavami platform, and quite a few other ruins of buildings within the enclosure. The stepped tank was breath-taking in its symmetry.

Mahanavami Dibba or platform, within the royal enclosure

Stepped tank within the Royal Enclosure