BLACKBOOK THE BLACKBOOK THE REDISCOVERY The Lotus Mahal, left, is among the most celebrated sites in Hampi; the stone corridors of the Evolve Back Kamalapura Palace, below OPULENCE RECLAIMED One of southern India’s most iconic historic sites finally has a hotel to reflect its grandeur. AMAR GROVER paid it a visit Poor Hampi can’t catch a break. Set within the ruins of Vijayanagar – the city that headed the vast empire of the same name and which ruled nearly all of southern India for the two centuries until 1565 – it was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site more than 30 years ago. And yet it remains in almost pitch-black obscurity, forgotten even by many who visit Bengaluru, the tech-crazed capital of Karnataka some 350 kilometres away, and Goa, the seaside haven that’s a few kilometres closer to the west. But change is afoot, thanks in part to the opening last year of Evolve Back Kamalapura Palace, PHOTOS FROM TOP: TOM HANSLIEN/LOOP IMAGES/LAIF, APU SISTA 38 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM CONTACT CENTURION SERVICE FOR BOOKINGS
The climb to Hanuman Temple affords spectacular views over Hampi‘s landscape HOT PROPERTIES An extra helping of subcontinental style PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: APU SISTA, © TEARDROP HOTELS, © RAAS DEVIGARH, ERIC MARTIN/LE FIGARO MAGAZINE/LAIF the first hotel with world-class comforts close to the history-rich hamlet. Its accommodations are princely: the 46 suites and villas are decked out in old-meetsnew regalia, and the on-site offerings are enough to derail excursions. Two restaurants serve up exceptional cuisine, some based on long-standing local recipes, some excellent renditions of western classics, and the grand public spaces, pools and spa make indulgence easy. This isn’t the first time such opulence has been here: Vijayanagar was once one of the world’s wealthiest cities, spread across an area that measured nearly 16 by 19 kilometres, channelling trade through 60 seaports that radiated out in all directions. At its height, the city’s population is thought to have exceeded 100,000 (Hampi now has around 2,800 people), and its sheer vitality and prosperity inspired the construction of extravagant palaces, buildings and temples. Today, Hampi’s surreal landscape of boulder-strewn hills rising abruptly among small valleys and cultivated plains remains much as it was then. Watered by irrigation channels and the pretty Tungabhadra river, villagers’ verdant fields and dense banana plantations soften the strange angular terrain. The World Heritage Site covers the central, compact part of the capital – little has survived beyond it – but this still takes a full day to do justice, and rather more if you’re keen to linger. The appeal lies in an enduring earthiness. Only one great temple remains active, with throngs of pilgrims lending colour and zest to a monument constructed in the seventh century. Faced by long, now-empty bazaar streets with skeletal masonry arcades, its other landmark temples stand unused in large paved courtyards. You’ll often have them to yourself, yet their exuberant sculpture and carving convey a rich tapestry of life and customs. Shrines line the riverside, and among giant boulders ruined guardhouses dot the hillsides. Hampi is a place to walk and to ponder, a sublime reminder of what’s possible. It’s fitting that a property has finally arrived that befits this grandeur. And, if the whisperings we’ve heard on the ground prove to be true, there will be more opportunities to overnight in distinguished surroundings in and around this once-forgotten hamlet very soon. evolveback.com/hampi The gazebo of the hotel‘s Jal Mahal suite SRI LANKAN PARADISE Heralding boutique hotel group Teardrop’s first foray into Sri Lanka’s hilly tea country, Camellia Hills is a newly built five-bedroom getaway overlooking Castlereagh Reservoir. Standing amid verdant rolling hills, Camellia offers a contemporary take on the tea-planter’s bungalow. Butlers, an open-plan lounge with fireplace, secluded gardens with an open-sided terrace and a 10m infinity pool are joined by a range of off-site activities that includes leopard-spotting and tea-sampling. teardrop-hotels.com HILLTOP HIDEAWAY First restored in 1999 and now recently upgraded by its new curators, Raas, Devigarh, an 18th-century fort-cumpalace has long been the gold standard for a Rajasthan heritage hotel. A notably romantic exterior belies its modern if not minimalist white-marble interiors, with suites that never stray from the palace’s aristocratic heritage. The recent addition of holistic spa brand Ila, with its traditional therapies and exclusive “Devi Blessings”, infuses the Devigarh experience with a new serenity. raasdevigarh.com CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 39
