HAMPI
“In India, everything is exotic. But  I  was  promised  even  more  exotica  and  history and  culture with Hampi.  Traditionally   known  as   Vijaynagar,   the  name  'Hampi'  is an anglicized version of the Kannada word 'Hampe'. Our journey to Hampi took place by the Golden Chariot train, a convenient way to travel around the area.

I  began  in  the  small  township  of  Hassan,  where  I  spent  my  day  visiting  the temple  sites  of  Halebid  and  Belur   that  were  built   in  the   12th  and  13th centuries  by the celebrated patrons of art, the mighty Hoysala dynasty. They are Indian architecture at its finest. Lavish decoration with not even a hint of restraint. This compact sculptural style, exclusive to this dynasty, came to be known as Hoysala art. And as I looked around, I decided that the Hoysala artist was a perfectionist, whose chiselling was so fine, it resembled lace. I actually touched a bangle that rotated on a sculpted hand as stone bells rang.

Halebid, was once referred to as Dwarasamudra, the gateway to the sea. Its fame began in 1127 and went on for more than 80 years. This temple was never completed but is still a masterpiece of Hoysala architecture.

The star-shaped Chennakesava temple at Belur is the earliest temple built in commemoration of a military victory over the Chola rulers near Madras. It took more than a century to build and is still in daily use, a remarkable feat by itself. I then passed Hospet, another small South Indian town that forms the gateway to the magnificent World Heritage ruins of Hampi, formerly the great empire of Vijayanagar. Setting foot in Vijaynagar is a privilege as I stood in front of the world’s most spectacular ruined city.

Its rulers patronized a variety of Hindu cults, while permitting the practice of other religions. The city thus became a rich cosmopolitan blend of people who led the city to excel in music, literature, sculpture and architecture, warfare, building, waterworks and agriculture.

Historians like Nuniz and Paes called it greater than Rome with palaces plated in jeweled gold, the best provided city in the world.

As   I   walk   through  Hampi,  the  ruins  talk   about   markets  that  overflowed  with the richness of silks, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, spices and cotton. They show me courtesans passing by in ornate palanquins. They share with me the despair of a proud, beautiful capital of the last Hindu empire that was systematically destroyed by the Moslem Deccan Sultans in 1556.

Excavation at Vijayanagar was started in 1976 and is still continuing. All the ruins are by far, the most spectacular ones I have seen, but the Vittala temple with its delicately chiseled  Lotus Mahal  in  the  women’s enclosure,  the  Watch  Tower,  guarded  once by eunuchs  from  where royal  maidens  observed  festivities,  the queen’s bath and the elephant stables, stands out.

Hampi also occupies one of the most spectacular natural settings. Volcanic eruptions have shaped it into some sort of a mix of formations and ruins that have their own forlorn aura. The sunsets here are truly a picture-perfect moment.

I take the train to Badami and spend the morning in Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole. Built by the Chalukya dynasty, the temples at Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal are amongst the most fascinating of India’s sacred monuments.

Not only are they the largest group of stone buildings preserved from the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries anywhere in the subcontinent (there are over fifty temples still standing), but they are also an exhibition of many styles at once.

It became obvious to me that the master architects, sculptors and painters, and a host of other craftsmen were brought from different parts of the country and were responsible for the most creative phase in the history of Indian architecture and sculpture, and that has had a profound impact on the style of Hindu temples forever.”