HAMPI TRIP, Part -4.

       This is the last part of the Hampi series[as far as present trip is concerned].

       Moving further, we entered into Royal enclave, which houses Palaces, Treasury offices and court Halls.
        The Lotus Mahal is the main attraction here.  A number of people were already shooting here, where we too joined. We were so enamoured by the structure and shot extensively.

The famous Lotus Mahal.

Shot from Front.

One row of arches- framed.

Framed from the other side.

The Canopy protrusion -  The colour of the building contrasts with the Sky and I thought it would balance the composition.

One segment of the building- shot on the basis of the last shot.

                  At the corner of the enclave, there are two Watch towers, out of which, this is  the first.

The first Watch tower- framed.

The same one- zoomed in.

The structure  at another corner of the enclosure.

The Lotus Mahal shot with the foliage.

A nearby tree was in a stratagic place and I thought of including it - to balance the picture.

At the diagonally opposite end, stands the second watch tower, which is bigger and taller too. We  took several photos of the same.

The live green of the Grass, competes with the strong Blues of the Sky.

Shot from dead centre.

The tower shot from an angle to emphasise the canopies.

Shot from other side.

The Treasury, Now has been converted as a Museum.

Gajashala- The Elephant stable.

The Stable- zoomed in.

The elephant Stable- central segment with dome.

The Dormitory for soldiers- now a Museum.

The Elephant stable shot from the corridor of the Soldiers' dormitory.

The corridor of Soldiers' dormitory.  To emphasize the Light and Shade, this one has been converted into BW.

                          We moved further and reched Palace area.  Actually, it can be called ruins- because only the remains of walls are there. A secret Vent for the King to escape is also there. I am not going into details, since I look only at shoot-worthy  scenes.

Mahanavami Dibba.

Stepped Pond.

The same pond shot for the vertical orientation.

                           At last, we returned from the royal area and headed towards Malyavantha hill. It was almost the time of sunset. We rushed to the backyard of the Raghunatha Temple, which is situated at the top of the Hill. A number of people had  already gathered there, to watch and shoot the Sunset. We too joined them and shot some Sunscapes.

                It was end of the day and we returned to our rooms.

                The next day, We did not have any serious plans, so went to the TB Dam[ Tungabhadra]. We were waiting for the Bus to reach the top of the Hill, but it did not turn up. Changing our plans, we decided to enter into the Garden next to us.

                  The Garden has been well maintained and we took some glimpses of it.

Pathway leading to Fountains.

Metal Arches at the entrance, next to the parking area.

I shot this picture, just to record the diversity of colours.

The Restaurant at one end of the Garden.

A Pond has been created there to beautify the Garden.  The Hill in the background is the one which houses a watch tower for having a bird's eye view of the Dam.

The pathway has many decorative arches, which house some flower plants. I shot one part of  the arch with Flowers.

                  The time was running and we had to make arrangements for the return journey.  So  we left the place.  

A TRIP TO HAMPI, Part-3.

                 After returning from Purandaradasara Mandapa, we entered the Viroopaksha Temple.  This temple  has been the only one, where Pooja rituals are still in practice. The approaching street was once upon a time, the famous jewellery Bazaar where pearls and diamonds along with Gold were sold like household commodities.

The Lord Viroopaksha temple and famous Jewellery Bazaar street.

  Photography is prohibited inside the temple and we came out to take some shots from outside.

 The same temple,  side view.

A bird's eye view of Viroopaksha temple.

 There is a Rock hill at the rightside of the temple, which houses some Jain Basadis and other structures. I did not shoot anything there.

 The main road leading to Bus station  near Viroopaksha temple. The Blue patches at the left side of the frame are makeshift shops at the Bus station and the stone building near that, is a part of the famous Jewellery Bazaar.

               Our next stop was Kadalekalu Ganapa temple, which is situated at the left side of the main road.

Kadalekalu GanapatiTemple.

The damaged idol of Lord Ganapathi at kadalekalu Ganapathi temple.  Muslim invaders, after Rakkasathangadi  battle ruined most of the Temples here, among which this  is also one.

A trader from Southern parts of India, has built this temple and it is called Sasivekalu Ganapa Temple.

The same temple, shot from the front and exposure changed.

                   Next stop was Lord Krshna Temple. As with other temples, a Bazaar street lies on front of the temple.

Bazaar Street in front of Lord Krshna temple.

                  The temple is a huge structure with intricate stone carvings. We spent a good amount of time here shooting.

The Northern Gate of the temple, framed.

The corridor at the North side of the Temple.

Different views of the court hall of the temple.

                  As seen with Vijayavitthala and Achyutharaya Temples, the left end of Bazaar street has a Pond large enough to hold Boat  festivals of the temple.  The pond is full of Weeds and an eyesore to watch, but somehow we managed to click these shots.

We mainly concentrated on the reflections and shot accordingly.

The main entrance of the pond area.

                      From there, we walked again a few metres, to reach Lord Ugranarasimha Temple.

The Idol of Lord Narasimha was badly damaged, but archeology dept has been trying to restore it to some extent.

              A Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, lies very next to this Narasimha enclosure, called Badavilinga.  It is said that a poor woman, who made a living by selling Flowers, contributed  and constructed this Temple. Because of poor light, I did not take out the Camera.


              Marappa, our Guide, urged us to move faster and  took us to our next destination- underground temple of Lord Shiva.

Approaching pathway of underground temple.

Entrance of the Temple.

Front area of the Temple

The Courthall of Shiva temple.

Temple entrance and the door of Garbhagrha.

               

The entrance shot from inside

   The journey continued and we reached Lord Rama temple, called Hajara Rama temple. Compared to other temples, it is smaller in size and does not posess a bazaar street in front.

Entrance of Hajara Rama Temple, shot from inside.

Inner area of the temple.

The front area of the temple.

The front area shot from inside- framed.

The court hall of the temple.

 Sample of the stone carvings at the temple.

Temple Shrine  with sculptures.

Temple Shrines framed- shot from the corridor,  at the backside of the temple.

               This is the last stop in the Temples area and  from here on we entered the Royal Enclave- the area housing palace,  soldiers dormitory, building for housing Elephants and Mahanavami Dibba. More to come in the next post.