Top 5 things weird about Hampi

 

1. All businesses are illegal there. 

Yup, you heard that correctly. None of them are liable to pay for the losses that occur to customers or the other shopkeepers there. There was a fire recently.

Fire in Hampi, 5 shops turned to ashes

One of them is a very well known hotel named Mango Tree, who has multiple outlets all over Karnataka. The problem is that it was built with the help of bamboo and sticks, a gas leak happened over there recently and there was huge blast as the cylinders exploded. A lot of neighbouring shops lost their homes and businesses, both at the same time, were completely devastated. They cannot sue the owner of the restaurant neither do they have any insurances to help them secure from such a tragedy. 

2. Black Money is rampant

After visitting the Durga Temple over there, while coming back we had lunch in a restaurant and went to one shop over there who were selling clothes, perfumes, sandalwood facepacks, as well as paintings, showcase items that represented the Architecture and Gods there. While buying a Bangalore silk saree, we asked for a discount on a saree and they responded that GST won't be included in the bill if we purchased it. 

I think that's enough to know that this money never goes in the accounting books. 

3. It operates on bribery

We went on a boat there otherwise also called as a "Heppo". It is like sitting in a bowl that floated on the water and could spin round & round with the help of the oar. It was quite a relaxing and fun experience, they even provided us with life-jackets over there. 

It was expensive around Rs. 350/- per person but I was left wondering why they charged so much than normal until we found out the harsh truth... it was not authorized, the Government has not approved of this and they had to bribe the government officials who came to check upon them so that they wouldn't lose their livelihood. 

4. Outside businesses face too many difficulties.

The localities support each other for their businesses to flourish. They give you great customer service like providing hot water, placing bottles in your room, A/C facility etc and give you the means of transportation (cab and auto rickshaw drivers), give you tips on what to see in which place, like "Do we hire a guide for this place? Is it worth the money?" to dropping you off to the restaurant for a lunch/dinner halt which in turn helps the restaurant owners. 

We chose a particular restaurant by ourselves without their recommendation while walking down on the streets of Hampi for having dinner and informed them about it while having a conversation with them. This was followed by looks of apprehension. They said that this place doesn't give good service and we should avoid it at all costs.

On further introspection we realised that these local businesses had their own monopoly over there and tried to discourage customers from going there just because they aren't a "part" of their "community".

Later when we went to have lunch there, we talked to them indirectly about this and they admitted to us later, that they struggled to survive due to these reasons and often, the stores beside them had a lot of customers but they didn't, due to this reason. 

5. False stories for fun. 

We went to Lotus palace which had watch towers, also Elephant Stables, old Temples of Shiva and Durga. Over there, the auto rickshaw driver told us how they kept the palace cold in summers. there were tiny holes in the building at the top and they poured water from there. As the cold water trickled down, they seeped inside the holes and slowly touched the floor. This kept the palace chilly and the people who lived there didn't feel so hot anymore. 

When we asked about it to the people who were repairing some broken structure over there, you guessed it, there was NO such system implemented over there!

 Where were the holes, was it possible for our naked eyes to see? Who would actually go on the roof with a pail of water and empty it? A lot of questions remain unanswered.