I was at the Hampi Utsava this year. Hampi Utsava is a cultural festival conducted every year by the Government of Karnataka at the heritage town of Hampi.
The first view of festival I had were not the most interesting. It was swarming with VIPs, politicians and the like and the security arrangements were too much for anyone to move around freely. There were inaugurations every day(!) attended by heads of the state which made things worse. Besides, the crowd was too big to find some peace anywhere. This actually prevented me from attending any of the cultural programs even though many of them seemed to be pretty interesting and watch-worthy.
Also see more about Hampi on paintedstork.com:
* A drive to Hampi.
* Hampi image gallery
As I heard from others who attended, the cultural shows were impressive and very much worth being there. Some one I spoke to described passionately of a play he saw the previous night. Looked at me pityingly and said – ‘you could not see that?’ I spent most of my time walking around the ruins. Highlight of our trip was camping at Matanga Parvata to see the magnificent sunrise from the top.
See the Hampi Photo Album from the trip.
Food at Hampi
You might be surprised to see the kind of food offered to you at any of the restaurants. You are more likely to find pancakes, pasta or bread-toast than idli and vada in the main Bazaar area. No restaurant in Hampi serves alcohol and non-vegetarian food. Not to be missed in Hampi is the Mango Tree restaurant located inside plantain orchards and facing the river on the lane behind Viroopaksha temple. The ambience is excellent and the food is a good match to the ambience.
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I have been to Hampi a few times, but never could make it during the Utsava. Anyway, every time I visited, I felt the same thrill. And of course, the food options are definitely noticable (to attract the foreign visitors).
Actually Kousik, I think it is better to be there on quiter days than the Utsava. Its too crowded..
Really neat pics… -:)
It is surprising that such a pretty place exists so close to bangalore and remains so little advertised. Good pics
Hampi, little known? You must be kidding!
Hi there
we are here with requesting you to kindly update the picutre of cultural programmes held on 3 4 and 5 november 2006 at main temple
Thanking you
Regards
Ananda Raj urs
Hi,
I like to visit navabrindavana and hampi on 15th of this month. can anybody guide me on what are places to see in and around hampi and anegundi. i will be thankful if you tell me the places to visit and the cheap method of tranportation and accomodation.