[Seeker108]

DAY 1

We drove the Audi A4 on 20th Aug 24. We reached Hampi via Tumkur, Sira, Hiriyur, Hospet without any issues or major traffic.


Bangalore-Hampi-Pandarpur Route Map

We passed by a veg restaurant named Naivedyam. About 30 kms to Hampi, you will find Ramdev Dhaba. We stopped by at Ramdev Dhaba where we could slightly order some customized hot food. The place lacks ambience but makes up for it with its hot food. Roads overall are great from Bangalore to Hampi. Distance from Bangalore to Hampi is about 330 kms which we could cover in sub 6 hours.

We rested at the resort. Staff were very friendly at the resort, and we felt welcomed. The ambience was awesome and after finding the covered car slot for our Audi, we relaxed in the room. As per our intended plan, Hampi was more of a stopover. Since we had been to Hampi several times, we drove through till the Vittala temple, visited the Narasimha statue area, drove towards Kamalapur, saw the almost overflowing lake, clicked pics, etc. We did not do the usual circuit at Hampi this time.


Badavilinga


Narasimha




Kamalapur Lake

DAY 2

The next day morning, we left Hampi at 6 am and drove towards Pandarpur. Distance to Pandarpur from Hampi is 330 kms. We stopped for breakfast at Vijayapura. Roads till Zalki are also great.

At Zalki, the turn to the Left was to be taken and roads here are not that great. It is also a 2-way road. For about 200 metres, the roads are in bad condition. It is a state highway. We passed by beautiful sunflower fields and stopped to click pictures. Traffic was quite light. CM was to visit Almatti Dam and till the dam area, the cops ensured all traffic was smooth!


Sunflower Fields

As soon as you near the temple premises and head towards the car parking lot, you will be stopped and asked to pay the local gram panchayat fee. The same fee also doubles as the car parking fee, nearby. We parked at Gajanan Maharaj Parking Lot where a few hundred cars can be accommodated. You can either leave your footwear and mobiles in the car or take them with you and deposit them near the temple entrance. Like last time, we hired an auto person who took us to the temple, and we agreed to meet up post darshan for the drop off to the car parking slot. We paid 250/- this time for this service.

We had prebooked our Pandarpur darshan tickets at http://117.247.89.131/QMS1/BookingMaster.aspx.



Pls use your computer for this booking. Also, I found that this is not a secure website. We proceeded, nonetheless. The UI is not very friendly and intuitive. You can get the hang of it after a few attempts.

FREE Booking can be done only two or three days prior to the date of darshan at the temple. Keep a passport size photo handy, to be uploaded. A separate booking has to be done for each person travelling. You can choose the slot and we chose 2 pm slot keeping in mind the time taken for driving, parking, refreshing, etc. You have to PRINT the ticket and carry it with you. Closer to your slot time, you have to proceed to Sant Tukaram Bhavan, very near to the main temple, where the office staff will affix their seal validating your booking print out. The auto driver helped us with the mandatory validating of our prebooked darshan print outs. Fluency in Marathi helps ease the process. There is also a prasadam distribution hall in this bhavan which we skipped.

We found the pre-booking for darshan to be of immense value and would highly recommend this process.

There is a free footwear stand near the entrance. Mobile phones are not permitted inside the temple. You can leave it at the car or deposit the same at the Govt authorised mobile store locker area for a small fee. Each mobile is charged Rs.5/-. Both the footwear stand, and the locker area are about 20 metres from each other, and anyone can guide you towards these. The overall facilities are nice and well streamlined. You can then proceed to purchase garlands for the Lord and upon showing the stamped Pre booking ticket, next to the govt authorized mobile locker counter, you will be let into the separate pre-booked queue. Here you have to surrender your booking form to the person letting you in. You will proceed to climb a few stairs, walk past some narrow, barricaded areas and after say ten minutes, you will then come parallel to the regular queue. After a few minutes, both these queues merge. We were told that the general queue was long, and devotees stood in line for over 3 hours to reach the point where we merged with them. From here on, the queue merged queue takes less time and you have about 50 metres to the Lords darshan. You are allowed to touch the feet of the Lord for very few seconds and then you are shepherded out.

Next darshan is that of Rukmini Devi very nearby and here too, you are allowed to touch the feet of the Devi for a few seconds.

Cops all around ensure peace and quiet.

We completed the blessed darshan and headed outside the temple. You are greeted by vendors selling everything from miniature figurines of Lord Vittala and Rukmini Devi to food to beverages. There is also the temple prasadam outlet where you can purchase the temple prasadam laddu.

We proceeded towards the Car parking lot after reaching the auto driver who arrived in about 15 minutes time. The drive back to Hampi was smooth with a few breaks. We rested the night at the resort at Hampi.

DAY 3

The next day afternoon, after a delicious lunch at the resort, we drove back to Bangalore, recalling fondly the blessed Darshan of Lord Vittala and other highlights of the road trip.



A4 on the Highway