The Hindu : Karnataka News : ‘Hampi by night' impresses tourists

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Sunday, Jan 30, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka

‘Hampi by night' impresses tourists

Staff Correspondent

I felt as though I was in a different world, says a visitor

It's a 5-hour 4-km guided tour of Hampi that starts at dusk
Illumination work has been completed, installation of acoustic system is under way

HAMPI: “It was like being in a different world,” said Namrata from Bangalore immediately after completing the tour of the illuminated monuments of the Vijayanagar period.

Ms. Namrata, along with other tourists who went round the city by the Golden Chariot being operated at the Hampi Utsav, was taking a look at the Hampi world heritage site on Friday. The tour has been organised by the Department of Tourism and the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority as part of their dream project, ‘Hampi by night', on a trial basis. “I have visited Hampi earlier and seen the monuments during the day. But seeing them under lights made me feel as though I had entered a different world. I hope the ‘Hampi by night' programme becomes very popular,” said Ms. Namrata.

‘Hampi by night' is a five-hour four-km guided tour launched by the Department of Tourism to promote heritage tourism. The work of illuminating several monuments and the landscape has already been completed. The installation of an acoustic system is under way. ‘Hampi by night' starts from the Sasivekalu Ganapati on the southern side of the Hemakuta hill. The next destination is the two-storeyed mantap atop the hill and while going down the hill on the northern side, tourists will come across a cluster of temples before reaching the Virupaksha temple. From there, the battery-operated buggies will take them through the Hampi bazaar and the Yeduru Basava mantap. After that comes the Kodandarama temple complex, an illuminated Ranganatha temple and other mantaps. The tourists will next touch the courtesans' street from where they will be taken to Achyutaraya temple. Later, they will be taken to Vijaya Vittala temple.

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