Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Ruined in Hampi - Day 2 [3 Days]

Day 2


As I started my day after a good breakfast at the hotel, we had several plans for today at various sites


Queens Bath:
Surrounded by lawns this looks a fairly ugly building from the outside but is beautiful inside. Interesting to imagine what it must have been like full of water (I could have done with a swim on the day I visited, it was so hot!).



Lotus Mahal:

This building is within the Queen's enclosure that also houses the elephant stables. Admission is a very pricy 60 rupees which also includes admission to Vitalla temple.  
That one grumble aside, I liked the peaceful garden and this particular building is thought to be the queen's recreational building. It's a very pretty building with lots of decorative archways but you're not allowed to set foot on it.





Elephant Stable:

This is part of the Queen's enclosure (which also entitles you to visit Vitalla temple). 

The stables are situated beyond Lotus Mahal, through a gate. You'll find a long line of tall stables that once were home to the royal elephants. They make for an interesting and slightly quirky place to visit. The gates are no longer there so you can enter each one.









Stone Chariot:
This is a beautiful Vishnu temple in Hampi famed for its musical pillars and the beautiful Garuda chariot. The hall with musical pillars was used as a private dancing hall by King Krishna Deva Raya to watch his consort's dance performances. The Garuda chariot is chiseled so beautifully that it retains a lot of finer details despite the ravages of time and weather. Though parts of the temples were vandalized by invaders after the 1565 battle, you can still view a lot of its glory even now, thanks to some great restoration efforts.




Underground Temple:
The temple itself isn't big but the interesting (and unique) thing is that you descend steps and have to wade through knee high water to explore the dark pillared rooms. I've visited lots of temples around Asia but I can't remember once having to wade through water. It's very atmospheric.

Be careful though because some of the stones underfoot are quite slippy.





Matanga Hill:
Went to see the sun go down. Although i wouldn't let it. This place was for me the most beautiful place I saw sunset in India. Although the sun in India are always exceptional. Only downer was right after the sun was set, the security guard started blowing a whistle to make us all go down. So You didn't really get to cherish the moment much longer.






Following were the details of my Day 2 planning with precise GPS location
Lotus Mahal
Karnataka 583239
15.320301, 76.471328

Treasury
Queen's Palace Basement
Watch Tower

Elephant Stable
Guards House

Parshwanatha Temple
Karnataka 583239
15.320508, 76.474171

Hazra Rama Temple
Karnataka 583239
15.317766, 76.468775

Group of Monuments at Hampi
Monkey Temple
Sri Virupaksha Temple
Hampi, Karnataka 583239
15.335176, 76.458726


You can always find more photos @ KhatriSuperShots

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