India 2007: Ten Days in the Hampi Archaeological Site

February 2007

It was our friend Bangalore Mavis who told us about Hampi, a very old archaeological site in the middle of southern India, just west and a little bit north of Bangalore, near Hospet, which was where our train from Bangalore landed. Hampi is almost unknown outside of India, or even in India, so few tourists go – which makes it just the kind of place we like.

We spent ten days in Hampi, living in a room we rented from one of the families that live in the small town that is right in the archaeological site – many of its buildings are either made of old slabs and stones, or are themselves ruins. The one bank there, at which we were, much to our surprise, able to cash travelers cheques, was, both inside and out, a crumbling ruin.

The Hampi site is huge – over 16 square miles, with over 1600 monuments. These are mostly Hindu temples, shrines, halls and royal or sacred complexes, some of which date back to the 10^th century, although most were built between 1336 and 1570. In the 14^th century Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, and was a prosperous and grand city on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was the world’s second largest trading city, after Beijing. Traders from all around India and from Europe and Persia visited the city, some calling it the ‘most beautiful city’ in the world.

Market or bazaar area with wide road

The site is in a fairly open, and somewhat hilly area with large granite boulders. The site is divided into three main zones: the sacred centre, the royal centre and the rest of the metropolitan area. The sacred centre, along the river, contains the oldest temples. The royal centre contains many ruined temples from the Vijayanagara empire. It also contains the broad roads – broad enough to accommodate two chariots, the huge water tanks and associated aqueducts, and several market areas or bazaars.

In the ten days we were there, every day heading out on foot to explore a different area, we still did not see anywhere near all of the temples, ancient villages, temples, shrines, palaces and bazaars that are contained within the site.

The huge elephant stables

Vitalla Temple

Lotus Mahal

Inside the Lotus Mahal

Apart from being awed by the sheer scope and scale of Hampi, I was constantly struck by the skill and artistry of the thousands of sandstone sculptures that adorned almost all of the buildings, both inside and out. These exquisite sculptures and reliefs were mostly of Hindu gods, goddesses and lesser deities, but also included common people, animals, plants, flowers and complex geometric designs. At times it was overwhelming. In places like this I often think about the culture in which we live today, the civic architecture, the ‘monuments’ we have created, and the terrible paucity of artistic works associated with them. What will our ‘ruins’ look like, even 100 years from now, let alone 500. The works of the Hampi builders and artisans has not only stood the test of time, but has done so with truly incredible beauty and grace.

Probably the best known and most visited monument in Hampi is the Garuda stone chariot. The detail in this huge sculpture is wonderful. I could imagine it thundering down the Hampi boulevards, drawn by elephants, a Vijayanagara prince urging them on.

There I am, just visible between the two elephants - I'm there to show the size of this sculpture.

One day, as we sat by the river that runs through the ruins, watching the towns-people and Indian pilgrims bathing, and the women washing their brightly coloured saris and clothes, I noticed that one of the washing rocks was in fact a piece of a larger relief sculpture of Hanuman, the monkey god. At home, this piece would be in a museum. Here it’s just a part of the women’s everyday life, a place to slap the wet laundry.

Bird-watching in Hampi

One of Hampi’s unexpected charms, at least for us, was its ample and diverse bird life. One afternoon as we sat drinking chai at a little café by the river (it sounds romantic until you factor in the dirty tables and cutlery, the greasy cups, the excruciatingly slow service – even for India – and the persistent swarm of flies), we spied several turquoise-winged killdeers, bright green parrots, white egrets, yellow, blue and green bee-eaters, eagles, cormorants and several other equally colourful kinds of birds we didn’t recognize.

The parrots especially loved the ruins, making nests in the cracks and crannies between the layers of rock. We also spotted a couple of owls in the ruins, and both saw and smelled hundreds, if not thousands, of bats in the darker recesses and rooms of the ruins. In addition to being both colourful and lively, which the ruins of course were not, many of the birds were sweetly tuneful, and we were able, because of the paucity of tourists, to hear and enjoy their songs.