At Hampi, monumental disservice by fake guides

Ssome of the ‘exaggerated’ facts that you may hear at the world heritage site

Pearls, gold, diamond, silver, and other precious metals were being sold in kilos on the streets, especially at Krishna Bazaar, in Hampi during emperor Krishnadevaraya’s regime.

Foreign traders from as far as France, England and others used to sell their goods at this bazaar. The capital city of the erstwhile Vijayanagara kingdown was an epitome of luxury.

The idols of Lord Rama and Lakshmana at Kodandarama temple on the banks of River Tungabhadra near Chakratirtha are made of sacred ‘saligrama’ stones and the Lord Virupaksha temple was constructed by emperor Krishnadevaraya, the greatest king of Vijayanagara.

These are some of the ‘exaggerated’ facts that you may hear at the world heritage site.

This is because you might have hired an ‘unauthorised’ guide, who has little knowledge about the rich history of the mythologically and historically important place Hampi.

Historical records say that Krishna Bazaar was a vegetable and spices market. The shops on the wide road in front of Virupakasha temple was the only place where traders used to sell precious metals and stones.

Idols at Kodandarama temple are just a shiny black stone and Virupaksha temple was constructed well before Krishnadevaraya’s rule.

Unauthorised guides at Hampi are not only violating the rules laid down by the government, but also affecting the livelihood of tourism department-recognised guides, putting visitors at security risk and leaving them with inaccurate history of monuments.

Officially there are 156 guides who have been trained and given licence after conducting background checks by the officials concerned at Hampi, which receives the second highest number of tourists in the state after Mysuru.

Unauthorised guides are those who have not undergone a three-month course conducted by the tourism department.

They do not have minimum educational qualification to apply for a licence and their background checks have not been conducted by the police department.

The Karnataka Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) Act, 2015, makes it a punishable offence for operating tourist activities without registration.

According to an authorised tourist guides’ association, there are at least 30 unauthorised guides operating in the ‘city of ruins’.

Officials of the tourism and police departments acknowledge the presence of unauthorised guides. Yet, they say they are unable to act against them as they do not have proof.

Authorised guides Gopal and Eeranna said visitors were the biggest losers as they are returning with knowledge of a wrong history of Hampi.

“In the three-month course, we learn about every monument and the history of Hampi,” they said.

“We have made several representations to tourism department and also given them the names and phone numbers of unauthorised guides. Our demands to rein them in have fallen on deaf ears,” said Gopal. Gangavathi-based historian Sharanabasappa Kolkar said unauthorised guides at Hampi is a worrying factor.

“Vloggers and visitors from outside often hire these unauthorised guides as they charge less. To make things exciting, these guides mix myth with history and give visitors misleading information. Hundreds of vlogs on the internet are proof of it,” he said. There is a need to regulate this, he added.

Hampi deputy director of tourism Dr S Thippeswamy told DH: “We can act against unauthorised guides if we get proof. We have warned a few who were indulging in such activities. The district administration has decided to train and give licences to eligible persons.”