Humpi – Experiencing History

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Travelling on foot through the ruins of Hampi stimulated our play of imagination with past…” here would have been King’s chamber or this is how water would have come through aquaducts or they had to travel so far to take bath” and so on.Some structures, some ruins, some stones here and there…this is how Hampi looks like. But the placement of those stones in a space gave spark to our imagination and we traveled into the past.It was not difficult to imagine the past with many stories around. But it’s difficult to imagine without those stories. Is the past all about stories?The media and our conditioning play a role in shaping our imagination. Queen means beauty and kings mean power, Fort means grandeur and Royal mean rich. The travel through those ruins led to wondering “where all the treasures are hidden”?

The trip was filled with trekking in the rocks, with the rocks, on the rocks. The rocks were calling us to climb, the hill top was asking us to feel the breeze, the legs were finding their own ways, also going back to the6th centurydiscoveringVijayanagara Dynasty.

The river Tungabhadra was in the important creating history of Humpi and Vijayanagara Dynasty. Noon was filled with the river, on the river, in the river.

What is history was the question? Each one looked at the history in different ways – It was about stories, queens, and kings, lifestyle, something happened in the past, reference for today, war, weapons, temples, architecture, digging, excavation, something to learn from, imagination and a reference. We experienced history by being in the place, playing around, listening to stories and experiencing the creations.

The trip to Hampi allowed us to look at travel in different ways. We used is local transport, travelled with sleeper class tickets, ate the simplest food, stayed in simple place (no luxury as some says), took unknown routes, designed own days, decided itineraries (the day started at 6 am and ends at 10 pm), explored places with constraints (walk on foot), be our own guide (read in advance about the place), jumped from one rock to rock for hours, climbed hills, explored caves, waited for hours to see a sloth bear, got wet in the rain, shared food, played in ruins… and this was all possible because of the strengths of WE. In a group, we had all kinds of skills…One was sure to get inspired seeing other climbing, one was supported by many when was tired, one could be assured be encouraged when jumping rocks…thank you all for being such an inspiring fellow travelers.

Humpi through sketches


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