Lost in the Bewitching Ruins of Hampi

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

~ JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

How does ‘wandering in the ruins’ sound? Adventurous? Laid back? Romantic? Perhaps even pensive?

I lived every such emotion roaming in the streets of Hampi, like a nomad.

As if, if there was anything missing from my travel diaries, I found it here.

And no, I don’t want to ‘belittle’ Hampi by calling it a ‘quick weekend getaway.’ The only way to really live Hampi is to come here without a check out date and then get lost among the rocks for as long as you want. Seriously!

When I planned to go to Hampi, I had no idea what was waiting for me. Like any ‘tourist,’ I went through dozens of pictures over the internet. So I had virtually seen it all. I was under this fallacy that there was nothing new awaiting for me there. But seeing those boulders strewn across the landscape for miles and miles, I was no longer a tourist, but a traveler.

And no, Hampi is not just for those with interest in archaeology and old world-architecture. I for one, am not a fan of history. I like calling a rock a rock, no fancy terminology for me. And then I touched the granite smoothened by years of tempering, I felt as it I was getting transformed.

My junior science teacher had it all wrong. Rocks are living – they breathe, they feel, they tell stories.

And no, I am not exaggerating.

Have a look at it –

Hampi in Karnataka, India is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To get more information on Hampi, visit this comprehensive website by Laya and Pratheep.

Read about places to visit in Hampi at Hampi Impressions.