As we stared at 2012 coming to a closure, I & my wife were wondering where we could go for a brief vacation, something which would be a memorable experience. As we were pondering, in a supplement of one of the daily newspapers was the mention of Hampi, the Capital city of the famous South Indian kingdom of Vijayanagar. My wife brought up the topic during evening tea & we finalized it. It is one thing to read history & see pictures on the net. Going to the place, exploring, experiencing, & appreciating history first hand is an entirely different matter. I & wifey wanted to soak in the magnificence of the art & architecture, rich culture, & history of Vijayanagar. Finally, when we covered most of the places to see @ Hampi, we decided to return to spend more time on every pillar, every carving on those pillars; listen to, introspect, & comprehend the history and stories behind those magnificent temples & the ruins lying all across the place on the banks of the beautiful Tungabhadra, who seems to be a witness to the glory of Vijayanagar and also its ruins. Seeing the ruins lying everywhere is a stomach churning experience. Such wonderful architecture...how could anybody feel like destroying such magnificent sculptures? Nothing was left eventually...after that fateful battle of Talikota, in which the Vijayanagar army was routed although they had made early gains during the initial stages of the war. The beautiful city of Hampi was plundered, ransacked, set on fire, & destroyed. The scale of destruction was so much that, i feel it must have been like a ghost city for many centuries after the destruction. During the peak of power, it is famously said that gold & other precious metals, precious stones, etc., were weighed & sold in the famous bazaars (market places) of Hampi. There were many market places - Krishna bazaar, Hampi bazaar (opposite the Virupaksha temple), & pan - supari bazaar, to name a few. There was a market place for prostitution also; this is called Soole (prostitutes') bazaar, where prostitution was carried out officially.
As we landed in Hospet railway station, which is the nearest station to Hampi, we were stalked by a battery of auto rickshaw drivers, asking whether we needed a rick. It was quite a mayhem outside the station, what with our visit coinciding with the best time to visit Hampi. Hospet is a Taluk head quarters & comes under Bellary district of Karnataka State. As we were trying to make way, we were greeted by Harsha, one of the auto wallahs. He inquired which hotel we wanted to go to & upon being told, he mentioned a reasonable amount to take us there. As we were going to the hotel, we inquired if he could take us around Hampi and the surrounding places of interest & what'd he charge for that? Our son loves travelling by rick & also, a distance of about 14 Km from Hospet to Hampi is nothing. We closed the deal (which i think was quite reasonable), & headed to get ready for our Hampi expedition. After a sumptuous complementary breakfast at the hotel, we started in Harsha's rick to explore Hampi.
Upon arriving, we were told to hire a local guide who could show us around prominent places & also explain some of the historical & architectural details. I must admit that the local guides do not come cheap, & we should be prepared to shell out quite a sum (approximately INR 1500 per day) to hire the services of a good guide. I do not think we'd need the guide for more than a day because, after seeing the important places & listening to some history, we should rather read more in detail on our own & explore the place ourselves. After a lot of difficulty, we managed to find Bharat, a local guide who is not yet a licensed guide, but he is preparing to get the license. We found him to be flexible, open minded, & reasonable, although we wished he narrated more stories. We started our expedition with the Virupaksha temple, which is one of the only places where the presiding Deity, Lord Virupaksha (Shiva), is still worshipped. Krishnadeva Raya (AD 1509 - AD 1529), the most prominent among the Vijayanagar kings, has presented a golden crown to Lord Virupaksha which weighs about 5.5 Kg. In the same premises is also a small temple of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, who was worshipped & whose blessings were sought by Krishnadeva Raya before carrying out any military campaign.
As soon as we enter the Virupaksha temple thru' the mukhya dwara (main entrance), on the left we can find the idol of a small 3 headed bull, Nandi, the escort of Shiva. The bull has a common body with 3 heads, which represent Brahma, Vishnu, & Maheshwara. The common body represents the unity of the Trimurtis. As is said in Vedantic Philosophy - EKAM SAT, VIPRAH BAHUDHA VADANTI...Truth is one, people call in many names...One of the heads of this Nandi is mutilated (after the battle of Talikot) & hence no offering or worship of this Nandi is carried out (as per Hindu tradition, mutilated idols of Gods or Deities should not be worshipped). It is common to find 3 Nandis in front of any Shiva temple in Hampi, representing the Trimurtis. But, they are mostly separated & not united like this one. This is perhaps the only united Nandi in Hampi.
We asked Bharat, our guide, why the Virupaksha temple was spared of the destruction after the fall of Vijayanagar? He informed us that the temple is an amalgamation of Hindu & Islamic architecture & hence it was spared. In fact, we noticed that the entrance at the Mukhya dwara was sculpted like that of a Mosque & could appreciate what Bharat told us. So, all the temples and structures which had pure Hindu architecture were destroyed, whereas the ones with Islamic architecture amalgamated were spared. As we came out of the Garbha Griha or Garbha Gudi (sanctum sanctorum), we headed to the Kalyana Mantapa within the same premises. Here, there are exquisite paintings on the roof which showcase the Dashaavataara (10 avataaras of Vishnu), the Ashta Dikpaalakas (heads of 8 directions, namely - N, E, W, S, NE, NW, SE, SW), Arjuna looking at the rotating fish & then subsequently shooting it looking into the reflection during Draupadi swayamwara, & few more. I could not take pictures of them.
This is the Mukhya Dwara Gopura (main entrance) of Virupaksha temple from a distance. As we enter the temple premises thru' this entrance, we can notice that it is designed in Islamic style (like that of a entrance to a Mosque).
This is the Garbha Griha Gopura (sanctum sanctorum) of Virupaksha temple from a distance.
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