Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Videos from India - Part IV - Hampi
Here are some videos from my visit to the medieval 16th century city of Hampi (previously discussed in my Hampi, rocky beauty post), the capital of the Vijayanagar empire.
1. A view of the old Hampi city from Matanga Hillock. The temple in the background is the main Virupaksha (Shiva) temple, with the modern Hampi village in front of it. This video is from a temple on top of the hillock and gives a great view of the terrain. The video is a bit shaky because I was walking around on the roof of the temple, trying not to fall a few hundred feet down onto hard rock.
2. A view of the main ancient throughfare in Hampi, the Hampi Bazaar. Parts of the stone dwellings are being reoccupied to build the modern bazaar. The Virupaksha temple is again visible in the distance.
3. Courtesan's street: Another bazaar and complex in another section of the city. This is a grand complex, whose scale is apparent only from a distant high point view...coming up...
4. A grand view of the courtesan's street and complex from halfway up the Matanga hillock. I found a barely-visible half-carved stairway up the hillock, which was fenced off, but decided to jump the fence and try climbing it up anyway.
5. Yes, the rock formations in Hampi are crazy. I was taking shelter under this rock, and started wondering what stopped this extremely top-heavy rock from turning over and pulping my humble self. Here's the explanation...
6. The royal complex, complete with aqueducts and bathing tanks with intricate stepped patterns. The tank was found intact, buried and has been restored only in the last couple of years. It is made of black marble.
7. A grand view of the Royal enclosure from top of a high stone platform.
8. Another view of some of the crazy rocks and temples hidden therein.
9. This is one of the star attractions of Hampi. The Vitala (Krishna) temple with its musical pillars and the stone chariot in front of it.
10. A group of school kids, with an extremely plucky leader from a village around the area on a school excursion. There pastime seemed to be to track down anyone with a digital camera and look at their own pictures. I don't think they knew what email was. Technology still has long ways to go.
11. Those kids again, after I taped them :)
1. A view of the old Hampi city from Matanga Hillock. The temple in the background is the main Virupaksha (Shiva) temple, with the modern Hampi village in front of it. This video is from a temple on top of the hillock and gives a great view of the terrain. The video is a bit shaky because I was walking around on the roof of the temple, trying not to fall a few hundred feet down onto hard rock.
2. A view of the main ancient throughfare in Hampi, the Hampi Bazaar. Parts of the stone dwellings are being reoccupied to build the modern bazaar. The Virupaksha temple is again visible in the distance.
3. Courtesan's street: Another bazaar and complex in another section of the city. This is a grand complex, whose scale is apparent only from a distant high point view...coming up...
4. A grand view of the courtesan's street and complex from halfway up the Matanga hillock. I found a barely-visible half-carved stairway up the hillock, which was fenced off, but decided to jump the fence and try climbing it up anyway.
5. Yes, the rock formations in Hampi are crazy. I was taking shelter under this rock, and started wondering what stopped this extremely top-heavy rock from turning over and pulping my humble self. Here's the explanation...
6. The royal complex, complete with aqueducts and bathing tanks with intricate stepped patterns. The tank was found intact, buried and has been restored only in the last couple of years. It is made of black marble.
7. A grand view of the Royal enclosure from top of a high stone platform.
8. Another view of some of the crazy rocks and temples hidden therein.
9. This is one of the star attractions of Hampi. The Vitala (Krishna) temple with its musical pillars and the stone chariot in front of it.
10. A group of school kids, with an extremely plucky leader from a village around the area on a school excursion. There pastime seemed to be to track down anyone with a digital camera and look at their own pictures. I don't think they knew what email was. Technology still has long ways to go.
11. Those kids again, after I taped them :)
# posted by technophobicgeek @ 11:02 AM 
