Stone chariot of Hampi

The first time I saw the stone chariot was Feb-1996 during the biking trip around Karnataka with my friend Gulveer. We spent a day at Hampi and covered the key monuments like Virupaksha temple, Kadlekalu Ganesha, Sasivekalu Ganesha, Badavi Linga, Lakshmi Narasimha, Elephant stables, Lotus Mahal, Chakra-Theerta, and Vittala Devastana. Those were the times of film-roll cameras. We carried a Yashica aim-n-shoot and few rolls of Konica/Kodak rolls. We had to exercise austerity for obvious reasons - cost of rolls, developing and printing. We got some decent shots, few bad shots and rest were okay but the trip was memorable.

We must've spent an hour at Vittala Devastana in the company of a guide, a soft-spoken person he was. He had patiently explained us the temple's features and demonstrated the sound effects in the musical pillars. We could actually hear different tunes in those pillars when he knocked gently with his fingers. He had told us stories about the stone chariot which was under maintenance, scaffolding pipes surrounded the it. That was disappointing. After the tour, we bought some banana from a vendor and sat under the Neem under next to the complex. A monkey out of nowhere, our guide gave it a banana or two. It was nice to see the trust between man and an animal.

This photo was shot during my second visit i.e. in 2003 with my brother, mama and two business associates from Goa. Hampi visit was a break during the business trip.

The history of the stone chariot goes like this: During one of the campaigns to Odisha,  Krishnadevaraya happened to see the chariot at Konark Sun temple. He was so fascinated by it that he got this chariot made. This is actually a temple, dedicated to Garuda, made to look like a chariot complete with wheels fixed over the shafts. Also, it seems like a monolith but its a clever assembly of multiple blocks. The pair of elephants are placed here for decoration, they do not belong to this monument. Originally a pair of horses drew the chariot. Just behind the elephants, the remnants of horses' legs can be seen. Between the elephants is the damaged stone-ladder to climb on to the shrine. When Hampi was discovered in the XIX Century by Alexander Greenlaw, this chariot had a crown which can be seen in his photographs. It is said that the chariot was painted during its heydays, so was the entire Vittala temple complex.

Now, I remember one thing our guide had told- when ancient musicians played on musical pillars, the music was heard over a radius of one kilometre. Yes, probably it was heard when air was still.

I visited Hampi few more times between 1996 and 2017. Over the years, crowds visiting Hampi has increased exponentially. During the last visit, the temple was so crowded that its almost impossible to photograph anything without any humans. You must see the groups posing for pictures.. shots after shots.. two more groups are waiting close by waiting to pounce.. some people really take things for granted! Its time we Indians respect basic etiquette at tourist places. Hopefully, in the future, I get to see the chariot peacefully. I guess the best time to do that is early morning as soon as the temple gates open.
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