Hampi - A stroll through the Vijayanagar dynasty ruins

Intro

Hampi falls in Bellary district of Karnataka and is around 12kms from nearest well connected town Hospet.The ancient Vijayanagar capital which is now known as Hampi is on the southern banks of river Tungabhadra and is centered around the old religious center Virupaksha Temple.

How to reach

Bangalore to Hospet - via train (424km) or bus (380km)  [ Train : Hampi Express , 16592 ]

Hospet to Hampi (12kms) - via bus or shared auto (Rs 15) or auto(~Rs 150)

From Anywhere else to Hospet can be done by either trains or buses.

Places to visit

Virupaksha Temple, Monolith Bull, Lotus Temple, Elephant Stables, Ugra Narasimha, Queen's Bath, Matanga Hill, Mahanavmi Dibba, Tungbhadra Dam

My Diary

Caught the night train from Bangalore to Hospet (Hampi Express - 16592), which takes around 9 hours and we reached Hospet around 7.45, half an hour late.

Now as we were passing by Bellary town, got an opportunity to have a glance at Jindal Steel Plant

(JSW) where a lot of our college friends work.

Took a guide book of Hampi, two mopeds and off we were to the historical sites.

We started with the Krishna Temple which is on the road to Kamalapur (nearby town ~ 5kms from Hampi). This temple was built by Krishnadevraya, it is protected by a thick wall (fort) on all sides, the carvings on the pillars depict the life story of Krishnadevraya in a pictorial form.

The central portion Rangamantapa (below) is very spacious and beautiful.

Krishna Temple (Rangamantapa)

Inside shot of the entrance structure

 All the pillars were carved with pictures and it could be comprehended to some extent, but this pillar took my attention and I could just take a snap staring at it like a lame duck.

There we missed not having a guide. Probably he could have given an interpretation of this lipi or you never know he would have made up a story and narrated.

So having spent a good amount of time in Krishna Temple we moved towards the Krishna Bazar and a small Puskarni  (btw Puskarni means a well ) which was immediately opposite to the temple.

Krishna Bazar

Puskarni(well) at the end of Krishna Bazar - This stepped water tank was the main source of domestic water in Vijayanagar dynasty

Moving on the Kamalapur road  the next places were Badavi Linga (Shivling) and Ugra Narasimha huge idol. A minute walk from the road, these two temples are opposite to each other. 

This is the biggest of all lingas in Hampi and is made of black stone. The structure is always surrounded by water because of the small canal flowing along the temple.

The Ugra(angry) Narasimha is the biggest idol in Hampi. The idol is quite sits on the coils of a snake "Adisesha" who rises behind him with seven hoods. To me it looked a little scary and funny at the same time. The smile on this idol reminds me of the Batman's Joker (The Dark Knight). 

"Why so serious son, Let's put a smile on your face"

The small irrigation stream near the temple was quite a relief in that scorching April heat. Vinnie was juggling around the stream to test "auto mode" of the camera and finally was able to take this snap.

500m from this spot onto the Kamalapur road is a small and lesser know temple called Chandikeshwara Temple. The carvings on the Mukhmantapa pillars(central part) have roaring lions, trailing elephants and vaishnava representations carved on them.  Due to the Vaishnava representations it is believed that the temple was originally dedicated to Vishnu and the creation of this temple dates back to 16th century.

The next spot was the underground Shiva temple.
The snap on the left shows the entrance of Shiva Temple and it is atleast 15 m below the ground level

The inside chambers in this temple are dark and all the snaps were clear because of flash. 

The darkest and innermost chamber of the temple with Shivalinga

One of the most beautiful carved water storage tank with four steps.This tank is built in chloride schist and was used by royal family members and for religious purposes.

Mahanavmi Dabba (down) is the highest formation in Hampi. It is a square structure with carvings of elephants, horses and people. People climb up here to spend time for watching sunrise and sunset. We shunned climbing up due to scorching heat

 Lotus Mahal in Zenana Enclosure

This rich beauty of the surrounding and the ambiance of the place is remarkable.

Full shot of "The Elephant Stable"

On the eastern side of Zanana Enclosure this building is a fine example of Indo-Islamic architecture. It has eleven large rooms with high ceiling and  was used to tie royal elephants.

Hazari Rama Temple - This temple is dedicated to Lord Rama and has large number of Ramayana Panels on the walls. This temple was considered to be the private place of worship of Royal Family. The Ramayan epic is carved in detail even on the outside walls of the temple. Below are the few idols and carvings in this temple.

A shot while returning back to the Hampi City

On the way to the most famous restaurant in Hampi "The Mango Tree". The walk towards the restaurant with tall trees and cool breeze will set the tone for one of the most relaxed meals you can ever have. This place is set along side the banks of river Tungabhadra.

View from one of the tables inside Restaurant. The setting is such that you need to sit on the stepped floor with raised cemented tables. The river view, mango tree shades and excellent food makes this place one of the most relaxing and cool places in Hampi. You can spend hours reading a book, sipping one of the best lassis and relaxing here.

The food is a bit expensive though as they charge premium for the view I suppose

We headed towards the famous Tungabhadra dam after a heavy lunch which is around 16 kms from
the Hampi. One of the most mesmerizing thing about this dam is the vastness of the river which makes it look like a sea. The snap on the right  and bottom explains what I am trying to express better.

Pahalgam Kashmir - Land of valleys and meadows

Intro
Pahalgam is a hill station and small town in Anantnag District of Jammu & Kashmir around 98 kms from Srinagar the summer capital. The 2-day famous Amarnath Yatra to Holy Cave and magical ice formed Shivling starts from Pahalgam(Chandanwadi).

How to reach
Delhi to Jammu (620 kms) - via train or buses or flight.   http://www.ixigo.com/trains/JammuTawi-JAT
Jammu to Khanabal (240 kms) - via bus or private taxi
Khanabal (Anantnag Sumo Stand) to Pahalgam (40 kms) - via shared taxis
OR
Delhi to Srinagar - via flight
Srinagar to Pahalgam (98 kms) - via state buses or private taxi

Places to visit
Chandanwadi Glacier
Betaab Valley
Aru valley - Baisaran meadows
Golf Course
Mammal Shiv temple

My diary

Day 5 and we headed towards Pahalgam,a small town in Anantnag District. We left Srinagar early morning around 5.30 am to cover approx 100 kms and passed by Khannabal at 6.30, Aishmugam at 7.30. Our car brakes failed at Aishmugam so we left the driver there to get the car repaired and took a local jeep to Pahalgam which was around 16 kms and reached by 9.30.

While entering the town  there is a bridge on Lidder River, the water current  is turbulent and river appears completely white raging over small rocks and boulders.

Pahalgam is a small town with  few gardens, hotels, a police station.
We headed straight towards the golf course which you see towards right. It is also one of the highest golf courses in the world. They charge around Rs 150 for an hour to play and if you want clubs then they charge another Rs 100.

 The golf course wasn't open yet, anyways we had no intention to play, just wanted to have a look as we had to cover lot of places.

Towards the right, we taking the shortcut by avoiding the road and  sliding straight down the hill from golf course back towards the town.

We again crossed the bridge, took some snaps at this location shown below and headed towards taxi stand. All tourists have to take a taxi here to see Chandanwadi and Betaab Valley as outside vehicles are not allowed.

 

Just opposite to rest house is Mammal temple. This Siva temple is on the right bank of River Lidder and is 8 square feet internally and has a porch supported on two columns. It's an ancient temple dating back to 5th century AD.

We hired a maruti van for Rs 600 to visit Chandanwadi Glacier and Betaab Valley. Now Chandanwadi Glacier is the starting point or base camp for Amarnath Yatra and it takes around two days to reach to the holy cave  where the magical ice shivling gets formed inside the holy cave. The yatra starts around late June and continues till late Sep or early Oct.

If you are interested you can visit this
http://www.amarnathyatra.org/



Even though the distance between Pahalgam and Chandanwari is 16kms it takes close to 50 mins due to terrible road. Reached around 12 and roamed around on Glacier for an hour or so. The river flowing out of a huge ice boulder.

The pic on right shows the river on one side and the bottom pic shows the river entering the boulder on other side. So we trekked over this huge ice boulder to reach the other side.

 While crossing the small glacier we  took the dangerous patch where the ice sheets were thin  and chances of a fall were high. Anyways two policemen followed us from the other side to warn us but we had already crossed by the time they reached us. We didn't notice them and got caught there doing some mischief but finally convinced them

Betaab Valley (top), you must be thinking quite a filmy name right- yes it actually got it's name from the Bollywood movie Betaab starring Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh. Sunny deol's farmhouse and major part of the movie was shot here. Lidder river loses it's flow passing through this plain valley and water color changes from white to greenish making the top view of the valley simply delightful. For a better comparison see the left side snap which shows the Lidder river just 4 kms upstream and compare how it transforms from being completely whitish wild (left) to greenish serene(top).

We reached back  Pehelgam around 2 and then took up an hotel named "Pahalgam Hotel". Our balcony view (top) of Lidder valley and high peaks with gusting sound of rough Lidder was just perfect. By the way the nice view room cost us just Rs 600 for the day.

Got fresh quickly and were ready  for our next trek to Baisaran Meadow by 3.30 in afternoon. Locals guided us through the way and it was around 7 kms from Pahalgam but the climb was really steep. It was the first time in Kashmir trip I had to take breaks to gather my breath so I would advise travelers to either take it slow or take the horse. The trek was so steep that we were not able to click anything on the way. Finally 1.5 hr of struggle paid off and we emerged out onto this beautiful lush green meadow, a perfect picnic spot.

I really enjoyed the walk barefoot on the grass enjoying the peaks all around and even took a short nap.

We started moving on a different route from here and this was long around 12 kms but an easy trek. It started getting dark around 5.30 and we were still very far from Pahalgam somewhere in deep forests. Our common sense got the better of us and we started following a group of ponnie boys waiting here and there for some snaps.

This trek was really nice and we passed through a stream (top) and a gujjar village(left). Local boys with horses advised us to move fast as it might be dangerous if night falls with wild animals and some locals around that place. It took us around 2 hrs to descend and by the time we reached  hotel it was around 8.

So this was our day 6 of Kashmir trip in Pahalgam. Tiring in terms of trekking but a pleasant adventure.

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Sonamarg Kashmir - Heaven on Earth

Intro
Sonamarg is a hill station and small town in Ganderbal District of Jammu & Kashmir around 90 kms from Srinagar the summer capital. Sonamarg (hindi meaning - "meadow of gold") is a trekkers paradise with rowdy Sindh River alongside in the backdrop of snowy mountain peaks. It falls on the the Srinagar-Leh National Highway 1D and is at an altitude of 3000m. The 5-day Amarnath Yatra also starts from Sonamarg.


How to reach
Delhi to Jammu (620 kms) - via train or buses or flight.   http://www.ixigo.com/trains/JammuTawi-JAT
Jammu to Srinagar (300 kms) - via bus or private taxi or flight
Srinagar to Sonamarg (90 kms) - via state buses or private taxi
OR
Delhi to Srinagar - via flight
Srinagar to Sonamarg (90 kms) - via state buses or private taxi

Places to visit
Sonamarg Thajiswar Glacier
Sonamarg Gangabal trek
Krishnasar Lake - trout fishing

My Diary


Our day 5 in Jammu $ Kashmir and we had planned for Sonmarg and Thajiswar Glacier which falls on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh Highway (NH -1D) around 80 kms from Srinagar. So like always, enthusiast travelers we are, we hit the roads by 7.40 morning.

Our breakfast point was just beside this bridge on river Chenab a place called Wayul at around 8.30.It was a very small place with a police check post and few restaurants. We stopped by here because of this bridge and fast flowing Chenab River.

We filled ourselves with north Indian national breakfast alu paratha's n hot tea. 

 Around 9:15 while we were passing through  Kalgan we noticed raft boats on a truck and a small office, without further delay we jumped off to check out. Got a good deal 300 rs per
head for 6kms of white water rafting. They took us upstream to the starting point and we jumped into our life jackets ready to experience
the thrill. The experience was value for money as the stretch had around 20-25 rapids and by the time we finished we were drenched atleast a
dozen times. I enjoyed the ride and my bravado with one hand gripping the raft but the river was a quite a rowdy I should say.

Crossed Sarfawara Hydraulic Power              
Station over river Sindh at around 10.45 and all along the road we had either Chenab or Sindh flowing along our side.The snow covered peaks appeared quite close now.
    My friend meanwhile was so much mesmerized by the scenery that he started writing a story. His three pages outlining the foundation of this trip, traversed from his work and chennai city frustration to the serenity and calmness he expected to get out of here. I still have that story in my notes.








 We passed through Gund at around 10.50 and Kulan at around 11.15. This snap above shows the river Sindh current at Kulan, frightening huh. It seemed to be the perfect location for a thrilling white water rafting
but as a matter of fact Indian Govt doesn't allow life-threatening sports to tourists without proper certification

 Finally we reached Sonmarg at 11.45. It took us 4 hrs from Srinagar because of rafting and breakfast stops but it's usually a 2.5 hr ride as there are rough patches in the National Highway.
   These are the camping grounds, and I am not sure if they all are for tourists but atleast some of them are.
   FYI this is the place from where the 5-day Amarnath Yatra starts that is the longer one, the shorter one starts from Pehelgam (Chandanwadi Glacier). The yatra from here starts around mid June and continues till end October.

 So here we were at Sonmarg all set to start our trek for Thajiswar Glacier. There were lot of horse and ponny guys persuading tourists to take horses, but we decided to take it on foot. It's just a 4 km pleasant trek and unless you have reached here late in afternoon or u are not capable of hiking, take my advice on it you should do this mesmerizing trek on foot and it will be a lifetime experience.







So this was the exact moment a great philosopher said


 "You can't ask for more from Nature"
                                               Viky

and then, I captured  that moment for eternity and now I am doing the same
with the quote.

Feeling like a bird, just needed the wings

The trek continued and we kept on getting startled by the sheer beauty of Kashmir pondering over how much nature had in store.

We were spellbound by the snow clad-en peaks, the hustling river, the green meadows, the rocky terrain even the horses and birds, that's how I will define "serenity"

 This was our lunch spot beside the river on a big rock. We didn't carry any stuff so had to compromise with maggi, chips and soft-drinks from a nearby shop. This was kind of mid-point and some cars (local jeeps with permit for Thajiswar wildlife sanctuary) could come till this point, beyond this the terrain was very rocky for any vehicle.
    We relaxed here for an hour or so, clicked some snaps and then around 2.30 started off towards the Glacier.

Though it was a wildlife sanctuary we just managed to see two animals apart from horses, a sheep and a small reptile i guess somewhere between snake and lizard.

Another 45 mins of slow trek and we touched the base of thajiswar glacier, we weren't too excited about climbing the snow because we already did that yesterday so lied down on grass after quenching our thirst with freshly melted water.  Neither Himalaya nor Aquafina could have beaten that taste of water.

 As we were about to climb up suddenly the weather turned against us and it started raining. We took refuge in tea shop where some locals offered us hukka along with hot tea.

They asked us if we were coming from "Hindustan" as if pakistani's were frequent visitors there, but then I realized later that he meant we were not from Kashmir.

 In the meanwhile we decided to hike back as we were getting late and there were chances of heavy rainfall. We had just started and it started snowing, it took some time for my friends to realize it's snow as it was quite thin. Got to see 15 mins of snowfall too in the trip.

Not even did the weather clear up in half an hour but it actually turned up quite well so we even enjoyed the return hike which normally is not the case.

Met an Army troop on the way back

We noticed this house or cottage on the way back and wished we could have one as our vacation home.

The location of this cottage was just awesome with snow-claden peaks in the backdrop and gusting river alongside.
































This was the end of our day 5 and it was one of the most memorable days in terms of natural beauty we witnessed.

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