Rebuilding An Empire

Hampi is a national treasure. The ruins really are quite amazing – it’s the sheer scale and extent of them. The Indian government are currently doing lots of archaelogical digs around the area in an attempt to uncover more of the ruins. Slowly they are rebuilding more and more of the temples, bazaars and palaces. Unfortunately, much of the city is now under banana plantations, so some of it will never be uncovered. The rebuild has only been going on since the 1980’s, before then Hampi was deserted, but now it’s a thriving little village again. I can’t imagine how amazing this place will be in another 20 years.

For the locals, the main source of income is the tourists, so there’s lots of begging too, especially in the low season. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “do you want a rickshaw madam?”, “like to buy some stickers?” and “hello, bananas?”. They certainly try hard!