Sridhar’s Blog

We ended the previous evening with the locals feeding monkeys.  The next morning was all about Hanuman, our favourite monkey god and experiencing a small part of the Kishkidha Kandam in the epic Ramayana.

Close to Hampi, across the river Tungabadra is Kishkinda, the monkey kingdom referred to in the Ramayana.. Anjanadhri Hills is considered the birth place of Hanuman.  The name comes from Anjana Devi who is Hanuman’s mother. I set out my day’s plan with the visit to the Anjanadhri hills. 

While this leg of the Hampi tour does not require a guide, guidance from the resort and my driver were useful in charting out our journey.

A 40 odd minute drive from the resort, we reached the foothills of the Anjanadhri Hills. 

The day was cloudy, but it was not raining.  So I decided to start my ascend to the temple atop the hill.  It was definitely not an easy climb. There were around 600 steps with some of them being steep.  I had to take a couple of halts on the way.  Of course, each stop was a great photo op. It took me around 40-45 minutes to reach the temple.

All through the steps, you come across a lot of monkeys, of course, you should expect it to be so given the vanara sena that Rama garnered was from here. Make sure to carry a bottle of water if you are climbing this hill.  I did not come across any stalls either on the steps or on top of the hill.  Of course, you also need to be careful enough not to lose the water bottle to the monkeys on the way.

Hanuman is in the form of a rock carved statue.  Priests were performing pooja in the temple.  There is a shrine for Sita, Rama and Lakshmana along with Hanuman.  A separate shrine inside the temple of Anjana (mother of Hanuman) was special. 

After spending around 45 minutes at the temple I descended the hill taking in not just fresh air, but also a breathtaking aerial view of Hampi and enjoying the flow of River Tungabadhra. 

Our next stop was the caves of Vali and Sugreeva.  I could only cover Vali cave and it started pouring.  So I had to return to the car.  

Another short drive from there, we reached the Shabari’s ashram.   When Rama came in search of Sita, he reached Shabari who offered Rama fruits (after she had a bite to see if they were good enough for Rama).  It is also believed that Shabari informed Rama about Hanuman and Sugriva and suggested that he take the monkey warriors’ help in search of Sita.  

Just across Shabari’s cave is the pampa sarovar, a sacred lake which is associated with Parvati doing penance and where Rama took a holy dip. There is a nice Siva temple near the pampa sarovar. 

The morning reminded me of various ramayana kathas I had heard since childhood, specifically the Sundara Kandam in Kamba Ramayanam. The role of Shabari, Hanuman, Sugriva and the army of monkeys flashed through my mind during the visit. 

After a blissful day of experiencing Ramayana, we went to the Anicut across the Tungabadhra river, only to see that the water levels were higher than the anicut.  It was drizzling a bit when we reached there.  We spent some calm and soothing time in nature and drove back to the resort for lunch.

I have covered tourist and religious locations in Hampi over 3 blogs primarily with photos. Will add another blog on the travel plan and the food.