Saturday, September 19, 2009

The Hampi Bazaar is a kilometre long road which starts at the Virupaksha temple. The end of the road is clearly visible from the temple. We really do not know what type of bazaar existed neDSC00714ar the Virupaksha temple - today we only see modern constructions.

As we move towards the other end of the road, we see old one storey mantapas made of stone, now being used as houses by the locals. Some part of the mantapas are remodelled to suit the residents.

As we move along, at a distance we see what should have been the Hampi Bazaar. It is nothing but a long corridor with stalls on either side of the road, with space enough to seat a person with his iteDSC00715ms for display. It depicts a typical bazaar-like scene.

Although the place is not used today, we can imagine people selling  their items. Probably this is the place where precious stones and diamonds were placed openly and sold for weight instead of by piece. Some part of the corridor is remodelled and currently used as the Police Station of Hampi. The government art gallery is also located here.

At the end of the road, there is a small open air auditorium where some events of the Hampi Festival are held on 2nd, 3rd and 4th of November every year.

The Monolithic Bull: Just behind the auditorium, there is the Monolithic Bull. This stDSC00720atue of Nandi is carved out of a single stone and stands elegantly at the end of the Hampi Bazaar. This statue is in an elevated mantapa, at the foot of a small hill. There are steps beside the Mantapa which will lead to the other end of the hill to the Achyutharaya Temple Complex. The Nandi is worshipped everyday by the locals and is a must visit site for tourists.

The Matanga Hill: Just to the right of the small hillock which holds the Monolithic Nandi, there is the huge Matanga Hill. There is a very old Veerabhadra Swamy temple on top. The journey DSC00726to the top of the hill is very tiresome as the ascent is over largely natural terrain. Petty thieves are believed to be prowling on the hill as very few people visit the temple. So it is advised not to venture there alone.

I managed to climb 75% of the hill, when someone getting down informed me that there are no tourists on the hill and to be careful. I was very tired of the climb then. So I slowly got down instead of taking any risk. However, we can have a very good view of the whole of the Hampi Bazaar starting from the hill. The Main Gopura of the Virupaksha Temple will be visible at a distance from between trees.  A nice view…

After the Hampi Bazaar, we move on to the Krishna Temple Complex.

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