There is no doubt in every visitors mind that Hampi has a special something even if pinning down that something is impossible.

1. Hampi A Natural Fortress

Hampi the erstwhile seat of the fabulous Vijaynagar kingdom is spectacular a city carved out of low lying hills and massive boulders the treacherous terrain provided ample defense with only a few welldefended accesses.

The Tungabhadra river meanders gently through and at night the boulderstrewn landscape has an almost magical quality.

Fortifications outlying fields and a fifteen mile long aqueduct were the defence against a siege. This city has been the subject of many an impassioned travelogue by Portuguese and Persians travellers of yore.

2. Hampi The Fabulous Capital of a Glorious Empire

According to a 15th century Persian ambassador the city of Vijayanagar is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it and the ear of intelligence has never been informed that there existed anything to equal it in the world.”

Opulent palaces magnificent temples massive fortifications huge perfumed baths markets that sold everything from diamonds pearls silks thoroughbred horses… the city was perhaps an assault on the senses of epic proportions.

Today as one wanders around the ruins under the steady gaze of a hundred stone eyes walls covered in frescos whisper secrets of a bygone era of hunting scenes dances war celebration and nature. They tell a hundred stories but conceal a thousand more. An aura of mystery hangs thick and heavy in the shadowed confines of these structures.

3. Hampi The Mystical Enchantment Lives On

Describing the atmosphere of Hampi is as difficult a task as describing the allure of the desert dawn or the hypnotic attraction of tribal music but there is no doubt in every visitors mind that Hampi is special.

Try and describe the wildly disparate images of the stark beauty of the red rock formations that dominate the landscape Mountains of rocks stacked up in gravitydefying balancing acts with boulders seemingly about to roll down onto the town.

Or the ruins themselves At once a fortress city designed to ward off marauding hordes An engineering feat that rivals the Pyramids of Egypt A mystical experience of hearing a tune being tapped out on a stone carving of a drum

Astounding architectural wonders like a comprehensive aqueduct system for filling the citys water tanks and bathing pools

Underground temples used for secret meetings

Ancient waterbased airconditioning on the first floor of the queens chambers

A refractive light trick that reflected a gopurams [tower] image upside down on the wall inside the temple

Indeed according to another visitor of that time Ancient Rome itself could not compare with the wealth and grandeur of Hampi.

Every step of the way the crumbling grandeur of temples the broken dance of a nymph the impassive resistance of fortifications worn sculptures of dancers demons gods soldiers elephants snakes entice and excite your imagination. Every silent ruin one enters the excitement of an explorer on the verge of discovery is palpable.

There is always something new to discover in Hampi and if one is lucky one can find an experience to cherish for a lifetime.