The Hampi Diaries : #4 Monkey Land
As I opened my laptop to type up this post, Ma informed me that it is Hanuman Jayanti today. Which is cool for a few reasons. Because if there is a god that I pray to, it's Hanuman. He's the best. And Hanuman Chalisa has helped me in milieus ranging from Indo-Pak cricket matches to feeling low in general to feeling safe when I'm walking down a lonely, dark, alley. Its also cool because the first place we visited in the Hampi area was Anjaneyadri Hill & Temple, apparently the birth place of Hanuman (on the birth day of Jejus!).
Remember how I mentioned that we planned once we had 'freshened up', eaten and talked to Nani? And also about how we had an auto rickshaw wala arranged to take us around for the day. And so armed with a map and no water-bottles, we took off for our first day around.
As I had mentioned in a previous post, Hampi has this Ramayana theme woven into it. Legend has it that the Kishkindha kingdom of Ramayana-fame was situated near Hampi. And Kishkindha was ruled by the monkey-chiefs Vali and Sugriva - I mention this because I wonder if seeing many many many monkeys in the area was supposed to corroborate that myth. Anyway, coming back to our first stop - Anjaneyadri Hill & Temple.
Anjaneyadri Hill is located in the centre of the Anegondi area. According to the World Heritage Series book on Hampi, 'The town and the fortress of Anegondi that once formed the northern outpost of Vijayanagara, is now little more than scattered ruins on the northern bank of the Tungabhadra.' Now, even though the WHS book doesn't mention it, our vaahan chaalak/auto-rickshaw walah as well as some websites believe that Anegondi was the former capital, the one before Hampi.
So this Hill, birthplace of Hanuman, has a tiny Temple atop. And a beautiful view. And a ton of monkeys. But here's the tough part, it's a steep climb. Of course, there are steps. But it's high. I really don't remember the exact time it took us to climb up but it should have been at least 45 minutes, with stopping in between to take in the sights (and sighs). And it was then we realised how much we missed the water bottles with all sincerity. Inside the Temple, there was a young boy (an apprentice of the Main Priest Saab perhaps) who handed the Prasad. Its quite a tiny temple. But you can spend your time just taking in how ... pristine, calm and beautiful the surrounding look. Oh, the air! Its so clean! Obviously, living in Delhi tends to make you all high on clean air.
A view of the Tungabhadra, below.
Ek : Way to Shree Ram Feet (Sabri's Ashram). Ignore Archita in the photo.
Remember how I mentioned that we planned once we had 'freshened up', eaten and talked to Nani? And also about how we had an auto rickshaw wala arranged to take us around for the day. And so armed with a map and no water-bottles, we took off for our first day around.
As I had mentioned in a previous post, Hampi has this Ramayana theme woven into it. Legend has it that the Kishkindha kingdom of Ramayana-fame was situated near Hampi. And Kishkindha was ruled by the monkey-chiefs Vali and Sugriva - I mention this because I wonder if seeing many many many monkeys in the area was supposed to corroborate that myth. Anyway, coming back to our first stop - Anjaneyadri Hill & Temple.
Anjaneyadri Hill is located in the centre of the Anegondi area. According to the World Heritage Series book on Hampi, 'The town and the fortress of Anegondi that once formed the northern outpost of Vijayanagara, is now little more than scattered ruins on the northern bank of the Tungabhadra.' Now, even though the WHS book doesn't mention it, our vaahan chaalak/auto-rickshaw walah as well as some websites believe that Anegondi was the former capital, the one before Hampi.
So this Hill, birthplace of Hanuman, has a tiny Temple atop. And a beautiful view. And a ton of monkeys. But here's the tough part, it's a steep climb. Of course, there are steps. But it's high. I really don't remember the exact time it took us to climb up but it should have been at least 45 minutes, with stopping in between to take in the sights (and sighs). And it was then we realised how much we missed the water bottles with all sincerity. Inside the Temple, there was a young boy (an apprentice of the Main Priest Saab perhaps) who handed the Prasad. Its quite a tiny temple. But you can spend your time just taking in how ... pristine, calm and beautiful the surrounding look. Oh, the air! Its so clean! Obviously, living in Delhi tends to make you all high on clean air.
A view of the Tungabhadra, below.
There are shops at the bottom of the hill. I saw them selling some Snickers and Mars bars! But we settled for a desi thirst quencher - coconut water. Maybe because we were super thirsty at that time, after all that climbing up and down, or maybe it really was super tasty!
Even though we three aren't the voluntary temple go-er kind, it seemed as if we had no choice but to go with the temple-filled itinerary that had been planned for us. Anyway, the plan was for us to visit the Hampi ruins on our second day.
Next stop : Durga Temple and Pampa Sarovar. The temple was closed at that time. So instead, we chilled there for some time and saw some interesting stuff.
 |
| Ek |
Do : Pampa Sarovar - or place where Rama killed Vali (or so I was told).
Teen : Self Explanatory. Or is it?
Friends. Chilling.
By this time, we decided we were optimally hungry. Also, logistically, it made sense to have lunch then because Shanti Restaurant was close to this place. The location of this restaurant seemed idyllic. --> Notice the Tungabhadra flowing by? So cool. What was cooler was that we were the only people there to lunch at that time and place. Now the menu had a great variety (Indian, Israeli, etc and milk shakes, teas, everything). We decided to experiment with north Indian food (pyaaz kulcha, naan, a paneer dish, fried rice and some daal). There seemed to be only one guy on the staff. But the bongos and unlit electric lights and speakers in the corner led me to believe that this place must come alive at night. The prices were decent, btw. And even though the guy who took our order seemed to be making everything on his own and from scratch (except, possibly growing the vegetables or even buying them, right then), the food was amazing! Loved it. Loved the ambience too. And loved how he called out to Akshay Bhaiya with a "Dude!".
Anyway, baaki break k baad.
End of Chapter 4
 |
| Teen |
 |
| Do |
Friends. Chilling. 
By this time, we decided we were optimally hungry. Also, logistically, it made sense to have lunch then because Shanti Restaurant was close to this place. The location of this restaurant seemed idyllic. --> Notice the Tungabhadra flowing by? So cool. What was cooler was that we were the only people there to lunch at that time and place. Now the menu had a great variety (Indian, Israeli, etc and milk shakes, teas, everything). We decided to experiment with north Indian food (pyaaz kulcha, naan, a paneer dish, fried rice and some daal). There seemed to be only one guy on the staff. But the bongos and unlit electric lights and speakers in the corner led me to believe that this place must come alive at night. The prices were decent, btw. And even though the guy who took our order seemed to be making everything on his own and from scratch (except, possibly growing the vegetables or even buying them, right then), the food was amazing! Loved it. Loved the ambience too. And loved how he called out to Akshay Bhaiya with a "Dude!".Anyway, baaki break k baad.
End of Chapter 4
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