My Trip To Hubli, Bijapur

On the 13th of October 2012 my family and I left on a holiday to Hubli, Bijapur and Hampi. We stopped in many places of interest along the way.

Day 1 (Hubli)

We left Bangalore at 4:00 am, and reached our grandparents' house in Hubli at 10:30 am. We had a few snacks and started talking. As my parents were talking, I went to the garden outside and took a few photographs. After a few hours we had lunch. At around 5:30 pm, we left to a place called Police Grounds. Over there I took a few photos and my sister and I played on a Banyan Tree. After that we came home and had dinner.

Day 2 (Hubli)

I woke up at 5:30 am. I went with my grandfather and bought milk. I then helped my father wash our car. After that I had bath and then watched TV after which I played cricket with my father and my sister on the roadside. After that we went to the terrace and played something called box cricket. This is how you play the game:

You have to first draw a small box measuring about 10x6 feet.

1 person has to bowl and the other should bat. Any number of fielders are allowed to field.

If you hit the ball outside the box directly it is out.

If it pitches and goes outside you get 2 runs or 4 runs, depending where you hit it. All other cricket rules are the same.

After that we had lunch. I then slept for a while. At around 4:30 pm I had milk and then left for a place called Dharwad. Dharwad is a small town close to Hubli. First we went to visit some relatives. I climbed trees and ate some snacks. After that we left to a park. Over there we went boating and then went on a few rides. At 7:00 p.m. we watched the musical fountain show. I slept at 9:30.

The Musical Fountain

Musical Fountain

Day 3 (Badami, Pattadakallu, Kudala Sangama & Bijapur)

Badami

I woke up at 5:00 a.m and left to Bijapur. We stopped for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. After that we went to a place called “Badami Caves”. The Badami Caves are ruins. We hired a guide to explain. There are 4 caves dedicated to the following gods-

1 cave to Shiva

2 caves to Vishnu

1 cave to Mahaveer

The view was spectacular, it is a rocky place. We also saw some coins wedged between 2 rocks. After that we went to Pattadakal or Pattadakallu.

A drawing in Badami Caves

An inscription on the wall in Badami Caves

Pattadakal

Pattadakal is about 20 km. from Badami. We hired a guide here too. We went to temples which were ruins. There are 9 temples, but in only 2 temples poojas are still performed. All temples are dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temples were built between the 7^th to 8^th century. Pattadakal is a World Heritage Site. This place was flooded in 2009. There are Mahabharata as well as Ramayana stories inside these temples. All these temples are made of sandstone. The 9 temples are dedicated to:

Kaadasiddeshwara

Jambulinga

Galaganath

Sangameshwara

Chandrashekar

Virupaksha

Malikarjun

Kudalasangama
Kudalasangama is about 40 km from Pattadakal. Krishna and Malaprabha rivers meet in this place. There is a temple near the meeting point dedicated to Basavanna a Kannada poet. You can also go boating in the river. As the 2 rivers meet here the river has strong currents and the river bank receives small waves like on a beach. We then left for Bijapur.

Me and my father at the confluence of Malaprabha - Krishna rivers.

Day 4 (Bijapur, Hubli)

Bijapur

Gol Gumbaz

We went to see the Gol Gumbaz very early in the morning. We hired a guide. When we immediately entered we saw a king’s tomb. Then we went to a gallery called the whispering gallery. We had to climb 108 steps to reach the gallery. The guide told us as the steps were high, the 108 steps were equal to 480 steps!! In the whispering gallery even if you whisper you can hear it clearly at the other end of the dome. We tried whispering and sure enough it worked. I could not believe that we could hear it so clearly. After that we had breakfast and then hired a tonga. The tonga took us to all the main monuments of Bijapur. We saw only 5 out the 7 monuments listed below.