Hampi, the UNESCO, world heritage site, is an ancient temple town in the state of Karnataka, India. Envisioned under the Vijayanagar empire by two brother kings- Hakka and Bukka, the town is built on the banks of river Tungabhadra, and hosts beautiful meadows of rice fields, moutanins and great history. Beyond the temple town, the place is the birthplace of Lord Hanuman.

Lord Hanuman or the monkey god

In Hinduism, Lord Hanuman is the most ferocious, brave and strongest of the god. Known to the outsiders, as the monkey-god, Lord Hanuman is revered for his loyalty and friendship towards Lord Rama and his close aide in winning Sita back from King Ravana. Anjaneya, was his mother and it is after her, that the birth place of Lord Hanuman known as Anjaneyedri.

For staunch adventurist and serious mountain hikers, Hampi offers a lot of opportunities. The big boulders on which the mountains are standing, make these a little more easy climbs. And that is reason, why we (my friends and I ) decided to trail the path to monkey god. Amongst the other options, there’s Matanga hill (the most popular hilltop) in Hampi. It too, like Anjaneya finds it’s mention in the epic Ramayana as an abode of saint Matanga. The other two hills are Malayavanta and Hemakyukta. All these hills of offer spectacular views of the boulders, temple structures and the river.

Anjaneya, a, the hill top we climbed is easy to moderate in its climbing and has a little more than 500 jig jag steps. Even if you walk, at the slowest of the pace, like we did, you wouldn’t take more than an hour. In normal circumstances, one can reach the summit in about 45 minutes. The bottom of the hill is home to coconut water stall, however, it is recommended to take your own kit- water bottles, snacks if any with you as you won’t find anything on your way up.  A caution of word though, since it’s the place of monkey god, you are bound to find a lot of mischievous monkeys who would snatch away everything from you. So walk on with caution 😉 .

The white washed Hanuman temple dedicated to the god

 The views and the trails on the hill look awesome and are picturesque. These hills are best enjoyed around the time of a sunrise or sunset. I suggest you avoid these hills during the day time, thanks to the scorching heat and the burning sun.

The view from the summit, is not just stunning, but the peace and tranquility that you experience here is indescribable. So the next time you are in Hampi, don’t miss this climb.