Postcard from Hampi

Hampi transports you to back in time with its famous historical lineage. For me it was a dream come true. Instead of traditionally spending Diwali at home amdist all the noise and pollution, we decided to pack our bags and land in Hampi.
Its a small place and tourism is its only source of income. So accomodation and getting around can be expensive. But its well worth your time.
All the places of interests are closeby, so you can go around Hampi in just a day. But with the sun beating down on your face, it can be very tiring. For the photographer, it is nuthing, but paradise! Every frame is more lovelier than the other. Krishnadevaraya had me spellbound with his vision and love for art and architecture. One cannot, but imagine the splendour of those times. It can put even the snootiest millionaires to shame.

I think one should keep dreaming and never let go, and you never know, your dreams will come true. I had dreamed about Hampi since my school days, and so many years later, I finally visited the place I so yearned for.
The Stone Chariot and the Lakshmi Narasimha (now known as Ugra Narasimha), are Hampi's icons and famous all over the world. The latter is massive, and carved out of a single piece of granite. Hence structure rather than detail maybe a dominating theme in some places. The Sasivekalu and Kadalekalu Ganesha are other fine examples of such massive monolithic structures.

The Stone Chariot, the Vitthala temple, the Virupaksha temple, are some of the finest examples of that period and will floor you with their attention to detail. They unstand strong, and unbowed, against the test of time.

An interesting aspect of the architecture is the inverted shadow of the Virupaksha temple. From a certain opening from within the temple, one can see the shadow of the Virupakhsa gopuram inverted. Noone knows how that happens!

One must experience the place rather than plain reading.
I dont want to go back again lest the memory of the place be overshadowed by something less exotic. I am just happy to be back and savouring the aroma of Hampi forever.