It is virtually almost impossible to cover Hampi and surroundings unless one plans for a four day trip considering the logistics of travelling, trekking, ascending, studying the architecture, shooting pictures. If one is running short of time or holidays, it is better to cover the same in phases. So we decided to explore Hampi for the third time this time around focussing on the unseen monuments during the last trip.
Before one reaches Hampi from Hospet the first monument enroute is the Anantsayana Temple which is located among local residence without proper vehicle access inside, but from the main road it is just 100 meters on the right one can park their car and walk it up leisurely. It is just around 7 kms midway from Hampi approximately. Last time around we had a glimpse of this monument in 2008 enroute and had kept a track of it to be covered on Ganesh Chaturthi day.
If one is arriving to Hampi in the evening after a long drive from Bangalore, it is better to cover Chitradurga Fort enroute, and reach Hampi by the evening. Before one reaches Hampi we get to see the T.B Dam if one has booked their accomodation in advance, it is better to cover the TB Dam, to avoid missing the same because of tight schedule. The TB dam and gardens are located on detour from the highway enroute to Hospet, which 5 km away from the base town.
TB Dam was dedicated to the nation by Smt. Indira Gandhi on 9th January 1967. The two river streams which emanates from the Malnad region as Tunga and Bhadra ends as huge reservoir, which is utilised to generate power. Tungabhadra river was also known as Pampa during Vijaynagar times. The 33 sluice or spill gates are opened symbolically on August 15th to celebrate the independence day. Apart from it the water released depends on the storage levels and power generation capacity in the dam. The storage capacity of 135 tfm is ensured by the dam.
We were worried that the memory card in our camera was corrupt and it was not reading the image, i just enquired in the hotel where we had a short break and went to R.K.Studio and bought 4 GB original memory card for Rs 950, which carries a warranty for 5 years. But the other one which was 2 GB original too had the same warranty but refused to be compatible, maybe i have to approach for exchange. We reached TB dam and parked our car at the entrance of the Dam. We had to trekk literally 2 kms on the uphill to reach the dam site. Photography is prohibited on the dam, one can see its majestic contours which is manned by security personnel to prevent public from jaywalking on the pathway of the dam wall.
A small garden is located on the banks of the river cum reservoir with a pathway which is barricaded to protect the public from falling over into the huge reservoir. One gets to imagine the amount of water stored in the TB dam. Its purity even though questionable due to industrial pollution at Bhadravathi, does seemingly looks reasonably potable. I was wondering but for the creation of this dam how would the monuments of Hampi survived in case of flooding.
Apart from the power house, reservoir and garden located on the tarmac of the TB dam, a bharatmata symbol is boldly created on the hillock facing the dam. There is small exhibition centre dedicated. One gets to spend almost 30 to 45 minutes depending on the time available. Every day musical fountain show begins at 7.15 pm at the gardens. It is a lovely presentation with a beautiful sound system, when compared to Brindavan garden surprisingly.
TB dam has an aquarium, deer park, and musical fountain as tourist attraction. There is no separate entrance fee for any of the additional facilities offered to tourist apart from the entry fee collected Rs 5 per head. It is better to visit this spot before sunset otherwise one will miss the landscaping of the garden. During our visit due to rains the gardens were looking lush green, and well maintained. Most of the package tours TB dam visit is the final destination which may be timed for the musical fountain rather than visiting the garden. Well in case they drop the visitors at 5 pm it is ideal for visiting the garden as well as the dam.
Before one reaches Hampi from Hospet the first monument enroute is the Anantsayana Temple which is located among local residence without proper vehicle access inside, but from the main road it is just 100 meters on the right one can park their car and walk it up leisurely. It is just around 7 kms midway from Hampi approximately. Last time around we had a glimpse of this monument in 2008 enroute and had kept a track of it to be covered on Ganesh Chaturthi day.
We were worried that the memory card in our camera was corrupt and it was not reading the image, i just enquired in the hotel where we had a short break and went to R.K.Studio and bought 4 GB original memory card for Rs 950, which carries a warranty for 5 years. But the other one which was 2 GB original too had the same warranty but refused to be compatible, maybe i have to approach for exchange. We reached TB dam and parked our car at the entrance of the Dam. We had to trekk literally 2 kms on the uphill to reach the dam site. Photography is prohibited on the dam, one can see its majestic contours which is manned by security personnel to prevent public from jaywalking on the pathway of the dam wall.
A small garden is located on the banks of the river cum reservoir with a pathway which is barricaded to protect the public from falling over into the huge reservoir. One gets to imagine the amount of water stored in the TB dam. Its purity even though questionable due to industrial pollution at Bhadravathi, does seemingly looks reasonably potable. I was wondering but for the creation of this dam how would the monuments of Hampi survived in case of flooding.
Apart from the power house, reservoir and garden located on the tarmac of the TB dam, a bharatmata symbol is boldly created on the hillock facing the dam. There is small exhibition centre dedicated. One gets to spend almost 30 to 45 minutes depending on the time available. Every day musical fountain show begins at 7.15 pm at the gardens. It is a lovely presentation with a beautiful sound system, when compared to Brindavan garden surprisingly.
TB dam has an aquarium, deer park, and musical fountain as tourist attraction. There is no separate entrance fee for any of the additional facilities offered to tourist apart from the entry fee collected Rs 5 per head. It is better to visit this spot before sunset otherwise one will miss the landscaping of the garden. During our visit due to rains the gardens were looking lush green, and well maintained. Most of the package tours TB dam visit is the final destination which may be timed for the musical fountain rather than visiting the garden. Well in case they drop the visitors at 5 pm it is ideal for visiting the garden as well as the dam.
1 comment:
nice one! we didnt go to the dam.. just saw it from a distance... next time will def go.... think my son will like it!
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