History of Hampi in Brief – Some evidence (which was found in Nittur and Udegolan in Bellary district, Karnataka) suggest that Hampi was the part of Mauryan Empire Ashoka in BC 3rd century. After the Mauryan Empire Hampi became the part of Chalukyas. in 10th century AD, the local king Kalyana Chalukya allocated the land to build Virupaksha (Lord ShivaTemple) which was also cited in the temple after it was built. After the Chalukyas, Hoysala dynasty ruled in Hampi from 12th to 14th century AD. After Hoysala Dynasty, Hampi ruined by Allaudin Khilji and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq in early 14th century AD. In 1336, Vijayanagar Empire arose from the ruined of Kampili Kingdom and later it has become well-known hindu empire in South India which ruled more than 200 years. Hampi was the centre and the capital of Hindu Vijayanagar empire in 14th century. Many countries travellers visited the city including Persian and European and said, the city is prosperous, wealthy, grand, full of temples, farms, and trading markets. The Vijayanagar Empire has entered the ‘Battle of Talikota’ with Muslim Sultanates and after badly defeated by Muslim rulers. They captured and beheaded the local king and till six months destruction of infrastructure, massive loot, and burn the entire palace was going on. These ruins now called the Group of Monuments Hampi where you can find more than 1600 monuments. Right now, entire city is UNESCO World Heritage site.
Personal Experience and Overview About the City – First time I went Hampi with my clients in 2017 and after visiting the city, clients compared Hampi with Palmira, Syria. I said, I do not agree with you, but the client said, please believe me because here you can see similar and more monuments than Palmira. The city has a well developed 500 years old water irrigation system where people still use it in their daily life including growing different agriculture products. After one year in 2018, again I visited Hampi and realised that the city was well developed by everything because of its great location. There were three main reasons for Hampi development and the first one is its location and second is located nearby Tungabhadra River which provide huge and good quality water source and third most important reason is availability of stones which contributed immensely for the city’s different building development. The entire city is full of monuments and how the city was well developed, after visiting you can feel. Among all monuments, personally I like to visit Vitthal Temple, Virupaksha Temple, Krishna Temple, and Hemkunta Hill and its sunset point. Hampi was the capital of Vijayanagar empire and the 2nd largest and richest city in the world after Beijing in 1500 century AD.
What to visit – The entire city is full of monument (around 1600 monuments) and when you will reach in the city, you will be confuse that what to visit here and from where I should start to visit the city but no need to confuse as I am going to tell where to visit and what to do exactly in this historical city.
First you should start from – Virupaksha (lord Shiva) Temple which is one of the oldest buildings in the city and built by Dev Raya II of the Vijayanagara Empire. Nearby the temple you can visit Hampi Bazar which is not so big but interesting to visit as you can see the local people here.
After visiting here, you must go to Achyuta Raya Temple by walk because you can’t go there by vehicle. The temple is not well maintained but you can imagine, when this temple was in absolute form, how this temple could be beautiful. After visiting this temple, go to the Royal Palace area where you can see Hajar Rama temple, Royal Palace, lotus mahal, Elephant Stables, Stepped Square Water Tank, etc.
After visiting here, you can visit Queens Bath where you can see Arabic style buildings. Another main attraction is Vitthal Temple which is the highlight of Hampi and you shouldn’t miss this place. In the temple courtyard you can see the famous The Garuda Shrine in the form of stone chariot which is one of the famous architectures.
Other main attractions are – Krishna temple, monolithic Shiva Linga and Yoga – Narsimha, Jain Temples near Hemkunta Hill and Hemkutna Hill also one of the main attractions for sunset in the city.
Where to Stay – Earlier there were many hotels and guest houses but Hampi is an UNESCO world heritage site so all kinds of commercial activities are prohibited in the main Hampi city. These days there are many good hotels nearby Hampi and if you go little bit far from Hampi, you can find lot of accommodations in Hospet. The best hotel of India like Orange County, Hampi is also available and cheap budget hotels are also available. This is also depending on your budget.
What to Eat – You should try local foods in Hampi. If I go there, I like to eat in the local restaurant and specially Udupi foods are popular but other options are also available which depend on your budget.
Best Time to Visit – Hampi is the best to visit between October to March. Monsoon period is also good to visit
How to reach Hampi – the city is well connected with the train route and the main railway station is Hospet which is around 15 km from Hampi. Another way to reach is by air and the closest airport is Hubli and it’s 200 km from Hampi. If you can travel by road, first reach to Bangalore which is well connected from all big cities of India. Hampi is around 350 km from Bangalore and takes 8 hours around. If you want, you can visit Chitradurga fort and it’s on the way to Hampi.