Hampi

It is located inside the Vijayanagara city in the east-central Karnataka. Hampi is a UNESCO heritage site that brilliantly displays detailed carvings in rocks that has always been captivating travellers for years.

How Hampi got its name

Hampi is also known as Pampa Kshetra, Kishkindha kshetra and even Bhaskara kshetra. These names were derived from the famous Tungabhadra River Pampa. Hampi word is another version of Hampe, a Kannada name. Today, Hampi is also known as Vijayanagara who used to rule the city. The monuments speak volumes about the history of Hampi that used to be a prosperous and rich kingdom in the 14th century which was eventually ruined owing to the attacks made by the Moghuls.

The ancient temples, monuments and forts such as Pampapathi temple, it is one of the oldest functioning temples. Elephant stables, a place where the royal elephants were kept during the Vijayanagara empire. Lotus palace, known for its lotus like dome. Hampi Bazaar is famous for various artifacts. The most appealing structures Vittala temple is famous for its marvelous architecture known for the SAREGAMA pillars. The Archaeological Museum situated close to the town of Hospet shows many pictures of Durga, and the Lakshmi statue juxtaposed with the solid Narasimha of Vijayanagara.

The popular Hazara Ram temple in Hampi are carved with Ramayana and has presence of historical objects and fossils during Ram and Krishna’s era. The unique design of the 8 feet tall Ganesha’s statue tied a snake along his belly has four hands holding pasha (noose), goad, his broken tusk and modak is made out of a single rock.

With all these historical temples and monuments Hampi is known to be the best tourism place in Karnataka