Hampi

Near the village of Hampi are the ruins of the city of Vijayanger (city of victory), the capital of a large and prosperous south Indian Hindu kingdom. The Vijayanger kingdom was founded by two brothers during 1336. From the 14th to the 16th centuries the kingdom flourished and the rulers of Vijayanger built many impressive temples and palaces. For two hundered years the rulers of Vijayanger unified all of southern India and created a force strong enough to hold back the Muslim invaders from the north. The Vijayanger kingdom was often in conflict with the Muslim kingdoms of the north Deccan and in 1565 the Deccan Muslim confederacy conquered the city and pillaged it.

During 1986, Hampi was added to the UNESCO world heritage list of sites considered to have outstanding universal value. In 1999 Hampi was added to the UNESCO list of world heritage in danger because of the construction of road bridges and heavy motor-vehicle traffic nearby.

The ruins of Vijayanger are spread out over a large area of about 26 square kilometers. Among the ruins are some notable temples. The Vitthala temple, dedicated to Vishnu, is famous for it's stone chariot drawn by a pair of elephants, originally the wheels of the chariot could revolve. The `musical' pillars of the temple make the sound of different musical instruments when lightly struck. The Virupaksha temple with it's 50 meter high tower is still used for worship.

Travel tips for Hampi

• Location of Hampi: About 340 km north of Bangalore in Karnataka state.
  
• Getting to Hampi: The nearest train station to Hampi is Hospet junction, about 10 km away. There is a daily direct train from Bangalore to Hospet which takes about 10 hours. See the train timetables below.
  
  

  Train 6592 - Hampi Express from Bangalore to Hubli via Hampi, runs once every day

  SNo	Stn Code	Stn Name	Arrival Time	Dep. Time	Distance
  1	SBC	BANGALORE	-	22:05	0
  15	HPT	HOSPET (HAMPI)	07:40	07:45	481
  23	UBL	HUBLI	11:05	-	624

  
  
  

  Train 6591 - Hampi Express from Hubli to Bangalore via Hampi, runs once every day

  SNo	Stn Code	Stn Name	Arrival Time	Dep. Time	Distance
  1	UBL	HUBLI	-	17:00	0
  9	HPT	HOSPET (HAMPI)	19:50	19:55	144
  23	SBC	BANGALORE	06:30	-	624

  
  
  If you are going to Hampi from Goa, a train runs three times a week from Vasco and Madgaon train stations in Goa to Hospet, see train timetables below.
  
  

  Train 7228 - Vasco da Gama Vijayawada Express from Goa to Hampi, runs only every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

  SNo	Stn Code	Stn Name	Arrival Time	Dep. Time	Distance
  1	VSG	VASCO DA GAMA, GOA	-	06:50	0
  2	MAO	MADGAON, GOA	07:13	07:15	30
  9	UBL	HUBLI JN	12:25	12:40	232
  16	HPT	HOSPET (HAMPI)	15:20	15:25	375
  37	BZA	VIJAYAWADA JN	05:45	-	925

  
  
  

  Train 7227 - Vijayawada Vasco da Gama Express from Hampi to Goa, runs only every Monday, Thursday and Friday.

  SNo	Stn Code	Stn Name	Arrival Time	Dep. Time	Distance
  1	BZA	VIJAYAWADA JN	-	19:45	0
  22	HPT	HOSPET (HAMPI)	08:45	08:50	550
  29	UBL	HUBLI JN	12:15	12:30	693
  36	MAO	MADGAON, GOA	18:23	18:25	897
  37	VSG	VASCO DA GAMA, GOA	19:15	-	925

  
  
  
• Accommodation: I stayed at a budget guest house at Kamalapuram, run by the Karnataka state tourism development corporation (KSTDC). There are lots of cheap budget guest houses in Hampi but I prefer Kamalapuram because it is a bit quieter.

Good Points for Hampi

• Lots of interesting ruins to explore.
• Hampi is fairly easy to reach from Goa.