At historic Hampi, tourists bring the skies alive

Ballari: The 15-minute helicopter ride over  Hampi  stole  the show as Hampi Utsav-2015 took off on Friday.

Introduced for the second successive year, the tour,  ‘Hampi By Sky’ gave people a a bird’s eye view of its many monuments like the Vijaya Vittala Temple, Veerupasha Temple, Anjanaradi Hill and  Kamalapura before it deposited them at the helipad  at Mayoura Buvaneshwari Hotel.

Despite the charges of  Rs 3,000 for adults and Rs 2000 for children over 10 there were many takers for the ride provided by two choppers.

While one began the sortie  early,  another arrived late owing to technical problems, causing some unrest at the venue where people were queuing up for their turn to go up in the sky and enjoy an aerial view of the ancient monuments of the  world heritage site that draws tourists all year round.

The arrival of the second chopper soon  defused the situation, as the hundreds  waiting in a tent to board it were assured of the promised trip. Officials , who heaved a sigh of relief as the situation returned to normalcy, called the response from the public “overwhelming.”

Mr Amit Kumar of Kamalapura, confessed that he was thrilled to see Hampi by the sky. His sister, Arpita , was equally enthusiastic as were other passengers , who too were clearly awestruck by the experience.   Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inaugurated the three-day mega festival.