The small village of Hampi, in terms of the number of ancient monuments and mysterious megaliths, can give odds to the more famous tourist centers. It is here in the northern part of Karnataka that you will find the famous ruins of the once majestic Vijayanagar Empire, whose rulers in the XIV-XVI centuries. conquered the lands of the Hindustan peninsula, stretching south of the Krishna River.
Alas, in 1616 the Hindu state fell, and the glorious capital “city of victory” Vijayanagar turned into ruins.
In the vicinity of Hampi, the landscapes are amazing. On the one hand, the ancient capital is covered by the sacred river Tungabhadra, on the other sides - heaps of huge stones. Interestingly, many boulders are not just scattered over the territory, but laid out in the form of fantastic compositions.
The impression is created as if the unknown Gulliver was amusing himself here with giant toys, constructing fabulous houses from 15-meter cobblestones.
Promotional video:
Some huge megaliths are stacked on top of each other in the form of towers, while others are held on wobbly supports of smaller stones. There is also a "round table" here - a monolith of an unusually regular shape. According to legend, this pedestal served as a "take-off platform" for the mythical king of birds, the god Garuda.
In the midst of such an incredible stone kingdom, even far from small surviving temples from a distance look like toys.
According to Hindu legends, the megaliths were brought here by the ape-like deity Hanuman.
According to scientists, the famous placer of stones arose as a result of a terrible release of volcanic rock. The presence of such an amount of building material allowed the architects of the Vijayanagar empire to erect many interesting structures here.
In the vicinity of Hampi, there are unused split boulders with smooth edges and traces of hand tools.
The total area of the unique ruins is over 26 km².
The "Royal Center" of Hampi houses the Lotus Palace, the Khazar Rama temple, an elephant arena, and a royal bath. The local museum has many magnificent ancient sculptures for viewing.
Another famous landmark of Hampi is the Virupaksha Temple, whose history can be traced back to the 7th century.
The shrine was badly damaged during the Muslim invasion, but in the 19th century it was restored, re-painting the ceilings and restoring the wonderful gate tower (gopura).
