South India 2015

As we began to plan our fourth trip to the subcontinent, we decided it was time to explore South India…

From Mumbai to Chennai via the southern tip of India: we visited Goa, some sites of Karnataka we had not seen before, toured the Western Ghats, got bored in Kerala before getting our fill of temples in Tamil Nadu.

Full map of all South India 2015 pages

Other Things

Thinking of our next destination: Italy and Portugal come to mind, or maybe the time has finally come for a US road trip…

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Hampi

(vero;2016-April-09)

Grand temples with impressive carvings and abundant sculptures, a picturesque landscape and a laid-back rural atmosphere, all this contributes to making Hampi one of the highlights of any South Indian journey. The place is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

If you like Hampi, we have more (and different!) photos of the place somewhere in the middle of our 2013 Karnataka gallery.

The Virupaksha temple seen from the Hemakuta Hill. You can see the gopuram on the right and the sanctuary tower on the left.

Among granite boulders, one of the many small shrines dotting the Hemakuta Hill.

Narsimha Monolith: Vishnu in his half man-half lion incarnation, carved out of a single boulder in 1528.

An Apsara (celestial nymph) inside the Krishna temple complex.

One of the small temples on Hemakuta Hill, each column a real treat for the eyes.

The way to the Vitthala temple skirts the banks of the Tungabhadra river.

Carving of Vishnu on a vertical rock surface over the river bed.

The entrance gopuram of the Virupaksha temple in the sunset light.

View from the Veerabhadra temple: the columned street of Sule Bazaar, once dotted with shops and on the right, the gopuram of Achyutaraya temple .

Corner watch tower of the wall encircling the Zenana enclosure. Look for the small carving on the right side of one of the corner stones.

The small Parshwanata temple, east of the royal enclosure. Although not mentioned specifically in the guide books, it boasts as nice columns as any other temple of the area.

Hazara Rama temple: Krishna playing his flute.

Wandering around the Hazara Rama temple is like browsing a comic book, each wall telling us a story.

Inside the Hazara Rama temple, built in the 15th century.

Sculptures on top of the Hazara Rama temple.

Hazara Rama temple: outer enclosure wall to the north with five rows of carved friezes.

Inside the Queen's bath, guide books tell us that the pool was once filled with scented water.

View of the area, seen from top of the Hanuman temple near Anegundi.

Small temple in the fields around Anegundi.

Linguas carved in a flat rock close to the river bed.

Achyutaraya temple: column adorned with a Yali, a mythical leonine beast.

Garuda, detail of a sculpture crowning the top of a shrine inside the Krishna temple complex.

Go back to Churches of Goa or go on to Southern Karnataka or go up to Photos