For the past eight years, Shivashankar Banagar has been visiting Hampi twice everyday — once in the morning and evening — to photograph the ruins in different light, through the seasons. Banagar stays in the nearby Hospet town and as someone with an interest in photography, Hampi was a natural choice. His remarkable collection of the images of the ruins, which have become a minor sensation on Facebook, not only capture the grandeur of the region’s architecture, but also the subject from every conceivable angle, during different seasons and moods.
“Hampi gives me a different perspective each time I go there,” says Banagar. “The summer provides blue skies with a rich, plain backdrop, while in winter, the mist, suffused with a soft light, gives the structures a magical effect. The dramatic monsoon clouds, with the reflections on the collected rainwater, make for stunning pictures,” he adds.
Over the years, several photographers and artists have steadily made their way to Hampi, inspired by the works of photographers like Banagar and hoping to reproduce some of the art themselves.
While the undulating, rocky terrain dotted with ancient structures and ruins make for an excellent subject, the biodiversity in this region is also a huge attraction for photography enthusiasts.
“The terrain here is an ideal habitat for leopards and sloth bears. Birds like the yellow-throated bulbul and painted spurfowl are endemic to this vegetation. This draws wildlife photographers to Hampi and surrounding areas,” observes Pompayya Malemath, a naturalist and wildlife photographer based out of Kamalapur near Hampi.
Banagar and Malemath are not alone in their love for Hampi. “I cannot explain the attraction and creative grandeur of Hampi in words. It is a wonder,” says B Srinivasa, a Bengaluru-based photographer who finds that the place offers immense scope to indulge his creative impulses.
Photo-artist K S Srinivasa echoes this feeling, and over the past couple of years, has developed a passion for shooting Hampi in the ‘golden light’, when the rising and setting sun drape the monuments and boulders in a brilliant orange-yellow hue.
Another Kamalapur-based photographer, Rachayya S Sthavarimath has also shot Hampi extensively and his pictures have won him several awards.
Sthavarimath says the shifting position of the sun throws different angles of light on the monuments here during different seasons, which draws people but some realms remain out of reach. Many photographers dream of shooting the monuments, particularly the stone chariots, against the star trail. However, for various reasons, night-time photography is not allowed here.
The photographers also need to use tripods to take pictures in low light and make multiple-exposure pictures but the government does not allow the use of tripods anywhere near the heritage area without prior permission; getting this permission is a cumbersome process.
A source of livelihood
A lot of photographers visiting Hampi on tight schedules rely on local photographers like Banagar, who have a deep intimacy with the place, to guide them to spots where they can capture the best images.
For instance, Banagar worked in an advertisement agency but with the Covid-19 pandemic, he lost his livelihood. It was his passion for photographing Hampi, and the income from guided tours — he charges an individual Rs 2,000 per day — that is providing him with an alternative source of livelihood. K S Srinivasa also conducts photography workshops in Hampi three to four times a year.
The quiet flow of the Tungabhadra river, lush banana and paddy fields with villagers going about their business; abstract images of the dramatic interplay of light and shadow, made possible by the seamless flow of sunlight — it is easy to understand why Hampi is so dear to artists.
However, a decade of shooting the same subject every day would tire the most intrepid photographer, but not Banagar. “There are many hillocks around Hampi that I am yet to explore,” he says.