Beautiful Hampi, the AngkorWat
of India, what a great site you are. Such a welcome escape from the hustle and
bustle of Indian life, to just walk among the 500 year old ruins, with no-one
around, to listen to the silent words the walls of these places speak. The
vastness of this place is incredible as we cycle around the area, true this bizaar
landscape formed by the forces of erupting volcanoes. Making it look like a
couple of angry giants started to throw rocks at each other, resulting in these
huge boulder mountains as far as the eye can see.
The temples are made of the rock excavated from the lava
rock using a technique where they would chisel squares out of the rock and
place wood in it. They wet the wood which then would expand and split the rock.
It then is carved into the most amazing stone figures varying from
lion-dragons, elephants, horses and temple maidens, forming the pillars and
walls of these immense buildings. Most of the temples are Hindu temples and the
main one on the square next to our guesthouse is still an important Hindu
temple where people from all over the country come to bring their offerings.
Most of the other temples have their shrines removed. We are told that happens
after the reign of the great king who build all these structures after the
Moors took over in 1565.
They themselves build the Islamic quarters, which is an amazing
sight as well, with some astonishing architecture. It’s a huge premise of
59,000 sq.m and it was fully surrounded by two double wall, about 3 meters high. And if
that wasn’t enough, they had a zenana enclosure within that, to keep the queen
extra safe. The walls are 6 meters high
there. But boy, her palace does look like it just left the story of Aladdin and
Jasmine. She had a private bathhouse the size of a swimming pool, with again beautiful
shaped windows and carving inside. And at the back side of her private asteate
we can admire the royal elephant stables, wordy of a king. It’s great to just cycle
around this beautiful landscape and visiting temple an route as we please. Most
of them are for free as well and not crowded at all.
On the end of the day we visit the Vitalla temple, 2 km down
the river from where we are staying, to see yet another crown jewel of architecture
and craftsmanship. The tops of these temples are covered in very detailed stone
work, made out of brickwork, covered in plaster, which in some places you can
see. It just doesn’t last as long as the stone carvings. I wonder if they had
to, because of the sheer weight. The pillars of the temple are made in such a
shape and hollow that they vibrate when you tap them, producing a sound. The top attraction is a stone carriage, which
is said to be able to move on its stone wheels at some point in time. I wonder
how many elephants they needed for that though.
This is a really cool place to visit and shows a different
side of India, we conclude as we enjoy our vegetarian food, sitting under the
mango tree, overlooking the river, with some water buffalos crossing.
On to our next adventure in Delhi and Agra.
