Flying with the time-machine – The world where history meets mythology

It is a national highway- probably the straightest road of Karnataka. In the far the black top road is meeting with the deep blue sky. Sunflower plantation on both side of the road. The blades of the wind mills are rotating clockwise. The brand new Xylo is at an speed over 60kmph and suddenly we heard the snoring sound. I looked back to check whether Soumya is sleeping or not and finally realized its our driver who is already in the dreams. The journey to Hampi and Badami begins.
This is probably the most unplanned trip of my life. Just a few days before our departure , I have got a call from my friend Soumya- “ Can we plan something in this Christmas?”.
“Lets go to Hampi then” – I replied recalling these pages of history.
Came back from office early that day , and opened the Karnataka map given in the lonely planet. No train tickets were available – So booked the bus tickets from Chennai to Bellary and we are all ready to head-on to Hampi.
Thanks to Beach and other IMers for enriching IM with enough information on Hampi.Also there is excellent photo log in progress fron Naveenamohanrao on this part of the world. There is no specific information that I might be able to add to this forum. This is mostly a photo sharing blog , more than anything else.

Next post-->

Bah, bah!!!!! I see it has begun! I am sure I'll sit glued to it (and of course the other in the making ) for quite some time now.

On a side note - your Sikkim TR is yet to be completed, and how on earth can you start a new TR??? . Just joking....keep them coming Mithun, and share those wonderful Hampi shots that you've shared with fortunates like us who are lucky to feature in your FB friends list (mother of all co-incedences : I was the first one to comment on your fb album...and it holds true for this TR too ).

Hope this TR will be as good (if not better) as your 'Wonderland of nature...'.

Thank you Sagar. You along with other IMers are the inspiration of writing a log. I have started this log just because not sure when "the other in the making" would appear due to some constrain . I would also eagerly wait for that.

I remember the other one is still pending , will try to finish both of the TL together.

The prime intention of this log is to share the photos. You are so kind while commenting my FB album. Thanks Sagar.

I will try my best Sagar, but the biggest challenge is this one was much shorter trip and Utpal is also not there in this trip.(Most of the good stories are missing) And I didn't have to plan anything. But lets hope, it gets some shape.

Heheh. Reminds me of a local joke when I used to sail from this small historical Dutch town way in the outback, note Dutch trains are painted yellow with blue stripes:

What's yellow & blue and goes slowly back in time? The local train to said place, of course.

(And it's true, must be the only Dutch train I've known in my lifetime to halt along the way to pick up a local on his bicycle and flagging it down in the fields.)

Anyways: Sorry for the interference, keep on writing

Now I know where the local bus drivers (specially those plying in the rural areas) in India get trained!! No doubt why they like the bright orange tee shirts!

Sorry to go off-topic. Start you flying machine, Mithun!

Glad to see this trip report! (And as I have had a sneak preview of the pics on FB I know that they are worth waiting for....!)

<---Previous Post

Hospet , the nearest town to Hampi , is very much off-beat specially when it comes to communication from Chennai. There was no direct train from Chennai- not even any direct bus from Chennai that is listed either on Redbus or any other internet bus booking site. We have opted for the KSRTC bus service from Chennai to Bellary. It was one of the horrible experience of my life. There was a family sitting just behind us , and as soon as the lights of the bus are switched on , the old lady of that group start gossiping loudly – as if she wants to complete all her stories that very night- but we needed a sound sleep after tiring office hours.
Finally the bus reaches at Anantapur at about 4 AM and Bellary at 6 AM. We started searching for our next bus toward Hospet and reached hospet at 9AM. And after a heavy breakfast finally we started proceeding toward Hampi.


Travel Time :
Chennai to Bellary : 12 hours
Bellary to Hospet : 2.5 hours
Hospet to Hampi : 30 minutes

There are few overnight bus service which runs from Bangalore and few trains as well.


Next

Thank you Theyyam.

A next time, there are three daily trains Chennai-Guntakal: http://erail.in?T=MAS::GTL:. You can push on from there to Hospet and Hampi (presumably by any which transport); Guntakal-Hospet should be some 2-3 hours by train.

Yes machadinha. Thank you so much. I was aware of the trains but as this was a last minute plan and that too during festive season we didn't got the train tickets. And due to some internet connectivity problem I could not book the tickets on Tatkal( A railway reservation system which opens only a day prior to schedule departure of the train).

<---Previous

A few teaser snaps before I start writing on Hampi.























NEXT---->

Previous



Few more before I start.


















Next

Sitting beside the romantic river Tungabhadra , Hampi is located amidst the ruins of Vijaynagar empire. Just 12 KM away from Hospet , this place is the perfect confluence of Mythological age and Historical age. It is the “Khiskhindha” of the Ramayana age and one of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Mythological significance : This place plays an very important role in Hindu religious epic – where it was the kingdom of Vanara.Sugriva was the king of Vanara(Monkey) , and Pavan-putra Hanuman(The superhero of hindu mythology) was the minister of this Kingdom.

Historical Significance : In 1336 , this place was set up as Vijaynagar empire by two brothers Harihara and Bukka. This place carries the symbol of one of the most modernized culture in the historical age before it faces a major defeat against the Deccan King.

Here are few of the maps (Downloaded from official website of Hampi) that will help to understand the geography of this place.

[Source : http://hampi.in/ ]


Mod Note
Mithun, please give us the links to where you found all these maps. Otherwise it is a copyright infringement. Thanks.

There should of course be mention here of Beach's thread Hampi: Everything you want to know., as well as the website he maintains on Hampi: http://hampi.in/.

Edit, and cross-posting: Where you now inserted those maps from just above, Mithun. It's not an official site; it's just one person's work of love. (E.g. those maps he may of course have gotten from elsewhere, or maybe not, but that's up to him.)

Anyway, do please give due credit and link on to third-party material where you use it.