Days 30 & 31 - Hampi

Hampi, located on the banks of the Tungabhadra river, was the Capital city of the Vijayanagara empire. It flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries. The Vijayanagara empire covered the whole of South India, and even stretched into Odisha and Maharashtra. However, in the mid-16th century, the Sultanates of Bijapur, Bidar and others came together and defeated the armies of the Vijayanagara empire. Hampi was looted, set on fire and destroyed. It was only from 1960 onwards that the ASI started excavations and gradually discovered the massive ruins and the remains of a glorious bygone era. 

Hampi is, today, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Excavations and restoration works are ongoing. 

We drove into Hampi, post-lunch yesterday, after a 380 km drive from Hyderabad. We've spent yesterday evening and all of today visiting these monolithic monuments. There is so much to see in Hampi. This visit is yet another dream come true for us! 🙏🙏During the 16 years that we lived in Bangalore, somehow, we never made it to Hampi, and it's always remained in our bucket list!

The Temples, palace ruins and other associated structures are stunning masterpieces in stone. I should not forget to mention that they are engineering marvels, as well...👌👍

At the Virupaksha Temple in Hampi, the Temple elephant, Laxmi, will bless you if you gift her a bunch of plantains! She is really cute!! 😍 One small bit of trivia.....the magnificent Chariot at the Vijay Vitala Temple in Hampi is imprinted on the reverse of our 50 rupee note. Earlier, we wrote about the Chariot wheel at the Sun Temple in Konarak imprinted on our 10 rupee note. 

That's all for today, guys.....a wonderful, memorable trip to Hampi is in the kitty! 🙏😃 Tomorrow, we set off on a 400 km drive to Mangalore. 

Cheers, take care, and...... Stay with us 🚘👍😀

The stunning Virupaksha Temple🙏👌

👆This is the Chariot on our 50 rupee note!

The Elephant stables at Hampi....