Hampi (town)
Place in Karnataka, India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hampe also known as Hampi is a city in the Vijayanagara district in the Indian state of Karnataka.[2] Located along the Tungabhadra River in the eastern and central parts of the state, Hampi is near the city of Hospet. It is famous for hosting the Hampi Group of Monuments with the Virupaksha Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[3] The city was possibly known as Kishkindha in the Ramayana age.
Hampi is mentioned in Ashokan epigraphy and texts such as the Ramayana and the Puranas of Hinduism as Pampaa Devi Tirtha Kshetra.[4][5][6] Hampi was a part of Vijayanagara, the capital of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th-century.[4][7] It became the centre of economic and administrative activity of the Deccan region kingdom founded in opposition to the Islamic sultanates in South India. After over two centuries of rule, the Empire was defeated and abandoned. Since the 19th century, its ruins have been an important site for archaeologists and historians.[7][8]
Geography
Hampi or Hampe (ಹಂಪೆ) is situated on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, amid rocky hills. It is 348 kilometres (216 mi) from Bangalore, 385 kilometres (239 mi) from Hyderabad and 266 kilometres (165 mi) from Belgaum. The closest railway station is in the city of Hospet (Hosapete), 13 km away, and the closest airport is Jindal Vijaynagar Airport in Toranagallu, 32 kilometres (20 mi) away, which has connections to Bengaluru.[citation needed] Overnight buses and trains also connect Hampi with Goa and Bengaluru.[9]
Economic activity
The principal economic activities in and around the town include agriculture, tourism and industrial activity related to iron ore, manganese and other minerals mining. The average rainfall around Hampi town is about 660 mm but continues to vary due to the impacts of climate change. The major crops grown are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, groundnut, sunflower, sugarcane and cotton. Some of the Hampi farmlands are irrigated and there is a large dam nearby.[2]
Tourism
Hampi hosts, in part, a group of monuments that UNESCO has declared a world heritage site.[3] Every year, over 700,000 tourists visit Hampi.[10][11]
In and after the 1960s, the town became an attraction for motorbikers and a site for offbeat tourism when its infrastructure was in poor condition. Groups of tourists would gather on its hills and amidst its ruins to hold parties and spiritual retreats. These have been called "Hampi Hippies" and Hampi has been referred to as the "lost city" in some publications.[12][13]
The annual Hampi Utsava or "Vijaya Festival" has been celebrated since the reign of Vijayanagara. It is organised by the Government of Karnataka as Nada Habba (Festival).[14]
Climate
| Climate data for Hampi | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.9 (87.6) |
33.5 (92.3) |
36.5 (97.7) |
37.9 (100.2) |
37.5 (99.5) |
33.2 (91.8) |
30.8 (87.4) |
31.0 (87.8) |
31.2 (88.2) |
31.4 (88.5) |
30.5 (86.9) |
29.9 (85.8) |
32.9 (91.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.1 (64.6) |
19.9 (67.8) |
22.5 (72.5) |
23.6 (74.5) |
24.9 (76.8) |
23.9 (75.0) |
23.3 (73.9) |
22.9 (73.2) |
22.5 (72.5) |
21.9 (71.4) |
19.9 (67.8) |
17.8 (64.0) |
21.8 (71.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 0 (0) |
0 (0) |
2 (0.1) |
24 (0.9) |
58 (2.3) |
61 (2.4) |
87 (3.4) |
90 (3.5) |
129 (5.1) |
123 (4.8) |
25 (1.0) |
16 (0.6) |
615 (24.1) |
| Source: Climate data: Hampi | |||||||||||||
