Jagannath temple | The Lost Lander

From a tourist’s perspective, Hampi can be broadly divided into two parts, separated by the Tungabhadra River. The heritage site of historical ruins is in the Vijayanagar district, whilst places of mythological importance and most homestays offering local experiences are concentrated in the Koppal district side (This is popular as the Hippie island). So, if one is planning a trip to Hampi for the first time, this geographical classification should provide you with a brief idea before you arrive there.

Everybody knows Hampi and there is enough content widely available on places to explore in this historical town. But here are some lesser-known experiences that I loved during my repeated visit to this UNESCO heritage site.

A. Vijayanagar Side:

1. Sunrise at Matanga hills: How much amazement can your voracious vision hold? “Boundless” defines the view from the top of the Matanga hills. It was a dreamy view of the entire historical town in its ruined form scattered across the river flowing from one end to the other. And adding to the already picture-perfect frame was a bloody red rising sun in the backdrop. This is by far the BEST sunrise of my life. The early morning climb up the hill and the wait in the cold winds was so worth it that I had goosebumps watching the magic unfold.

2. Sunset at Hemkuta hills: A short ascent to the rocky hill by the side of the Virupaksa temple leads you to this best spot to catch the sunset at Hampi. Comfortable benches or the grainy-pebbly ground, you can choose the surface to just lose yourself in experiencing the glorious horizons of Hampi turn from Indigo to blue to misty to bright to rosy to a star-studded sky.

3. Bathing in the canal water: This is a closely guarded secret. There are irrigation canals passing through the villages in which you want to enjoy a quick dip, only if you befriend a local. If you do not get to enter the water, no worries, simply sitting by its side and seeing the time go by itself would be so comforting.

4. Coracle riding & elephant bathing: The river flows right behind the Virupaksa temple, and the temple elephant has a daily schedule of taking a shower in the river. Time your visit right and you can lend your helping hand too. A small ticket can help you cross the river on a coracle-a traditional round flat-bottomed boat built by knitting seasoned bamboo or cane. You can also see locals transporting their bicycles and motorcycles across the river through these boats.

Elephant bathing in Tunga river at Hampi

5. Cycle tour around the historical monuments: Several shops rent out bicycles to tourists. If you have a tourist map in hand and the luxury of time, trust me, it is one of the highly recommended ways to explore Hampi. For a little more comfort on a sunny day, you can opt for an autorickshaw with a good driver dueling as your tour guide.

B. Koppala side:

6. Sunrise at Anjanadri Betta: Believed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman, it is frequented by pilgrims which tends to receive higher footfalls as the day progresses. So, if you make it to the peak of this hill as early for sunrise, you can enjoy the view of the surroundings in peace and calm.

7. Sunset at Bala Anjaneya Betta: Another popular spot in the hippie island, it is best when visited during sunset.

8. Bouldering: This area is part of the larger Deccan plateau, and the rocky boulder terrain forms its core geographical feature. Short workshops in free hand bouldering is a great way to either learn a new skill or simply let the inner monkey in you to hang around in the land of the monkey kingdom (it is the birthplace of Lord Hanuman after all).

9. Bike riding in the paddy fields of Gangavathi: Gangavathi is called the rice bowl of Karnataka, and this is where you can see infinite stretches of green paddy fields. Now imagine large boulders and bare old trees standing scattered across these green fields as if they had witnessed all the stories of the past. And then you cut across on a moped or a motorbike casually soaking up this view. Trust me the views will linger in your mind long after you leave Hampi.

10. Cliff jumping & Coracle riding at Sanapur lake: This is not really a lake but the backwaters of a reservoir. It offers amazing activities to get your adrenaline rushing while you jump off a cliff to the depths and a crazy coracle ride along the rapid of the waterbody. A must do while you are on a trip to Hampi.

Are you going to try these experiences on your next trip to Hampi? Or what else have I missed out in this list? Tell me in the comments below.

This place happened as part of my family’s road trip through Bengaluru– Telangana – Chhattisgarh – Odisha – Andhra Pradesh – Bengaluru.

Not in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would be waking up for a new year in a place so new! Never had I imagined that I would be waking in Odisha for a new year. I did not have an idea even until the evening of 31-Dec-2020. It was a spontaneous decision to proceed with our journey from Bastar, Chhattisgarh that late evening. We decided to cut the driving time to reach Vishakhapatnam, by covering the distance by night. We chose to stop at any good hotel that we would come across along the highway for the night’s halt. It being the New Year’s Eve, we were okay to catch some sleep in the car itself in any eventuality of not being able to find a good hotel.

Anyway, the National highway was patchy for most of the way and the night driving kind of got annoying with several trucks and enormous amounts of dust in the atmosphere. Hence, we decided to halt and settle down after finding accommodation at a highway side hotel in Jeypore. With the Covid-19 related curfews around, there was no pomp, no party or toast for the night of the new year and we all surrendered to the sleep gods for the night! However, before falling asleep, my brother and I did a bit of google search for things to do for the next morning at Jeypore before proceeding on our journey ahead.

After waking up on the next morning, we realized that the inhouse restaurant at the hotel was going to open late that day. Even at 08.00.a.m., the rest of the city too seemed to be still sleeping. We couldn’t find any place to have our breakfast and the most important meal for us to keep us going for the whole day. While we were randomly driving around the city in search of food, we could not spot a single shop that was open for anything else apart from farm fresh vegetables and fish being sold by the tribal folk from the surrounding villages on the roadside. Someone suggested us to visit the Jagannath Mandir to serve dual purpose. One, it would be good to visit a temple on the first day of the year and secondly the ‘Bhog’ could be bought at the temple and complement as our breakfast.

Jagannath temple and the colorful Rangoli at streets around the temple

The suggestion seemed good to us and so we parked our car around some space and walked the streets towards the temple. It was quite surprising and interesting to see that almost all households had their front yards or doorsteps cleaned with water and decorated with rangoli designs drawn in front of their houses. And all rangolis had the wishes for a ‘happy new year-2021’ written in them. To think of, it was a traditional but a modern approach to conveying new year wishes without meeting people in times of Covid-19. But to our dismay, even the temple was shut. I’m not sure if this was closed only now to avoid people from gathering due to Covid or it was normally shut on all new years’ days. But it did seem a little weird from what I have been used to seeing- people thronging to religious places on the first day of a new year. Also, that meant we had to wait to find food or satiate our hunger with the raw veggies and fish from the streets. Anyway, that was unthinkable for us and we decided to head out of Jeypore. Although the Jeypore palace was just around, that too was closed due to some renovation work. With nothing much in particular to do in the city, we decided to proceed on the highway towards our next destination.

We stopped at least two dozen times to take photos of our car set in the empty highway and in the middle of the panoramic green scenery around. We reached Araku, our next major stop by noon for lunch. Having said that, though there is nothing much to do here, Koraput district as a whole is huge and has great potential for nature tourism in future. My first and small stint in Odisha has been a pleasant one. This trip has been an enriching one in-terms of the knowledge, experience, perspectives I have gained with respect to geo-political scenario in central India, culture and demography. Indeed, a happy new year to me!

Various views from our drive out of Jeypore, towards Araku valley

However, I found it challenging to find good food. Firstly, the towns wake up late. Secondly, large population is comfortable with street food. I found it a little uncomfortable and unhygienic. Idly and Dosa are the most common breakfast items. But for being someone who hails from the heartland of these dishes, the flavors of the Sambar and chutney was unfathomable. So, unlike all my other travel where I look out to try new and local culinary specialties, I mostly survived on fruits and biscuits for my meals during this trip.

When we reached Koraput town, we ate some fruits for our breakfast. I found a small shop selling milk and some local sweets. I bought a small portion of ‘Chenna poda’ and ‘Rasbara’, that were quite heavy for the small quantity that we ate.

For those of you who might be interested to know what landmarks are there to explore in Jeypore:
* The Jagannath temple & the Jeypore palace are the two things in the heart of the city.
* There are several waterfalls as you move towards the periphery of the town.
* Gupteshwar is a cave temple and an important pilgrimage site at a short drive towards the Chhattisgarh border.
* We stopped by at the ‘Subai group pf Jain temples’, a lesser known place with rich heritage.
* We also happened to get a little intrigued with large throttling sounds of aircrafts while we were driving on the highway, only to realize that they were the sounds of aircrafts being tested at the distant hills. HAL has its engine assembly plant around there and you can see it on your way.

Apart from these places, it is mostly the drive and the scenery that pleases you all along your way.
* There are several tribal communities inhabiting the hamlets around Jeypore, whole of Koraput and the surrounding places that may be of one’s interest in tribal culture.
* As we drove towards Araku valley, we stopped multiple times to just stand and enjoy the views, the mountain range and innumerous large lakes all along our way.

* There is also the upper and lower Kolab dams for a short getaway or a picnic.

If you are travelling with the right company, then drive slowly and enjoy the journey.