KARNATAKA, INDIA , May 27, 2016 (Euro News):The site of Hampi, in India’s southwestern state of Karnataka, was the capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. The empire prospered between the 14th and 16th centuries until destroyed by Muslim armies. It received UNESCO World Heritage status in 1986. To this day, it remains a very popular destination – over half a million people visit Hampi every year. Some of the temples are still active places of worship. But the growing number of pilgrims and tourists brings new challenges. Deputy Superintending Archaeologist N.C Prakash’s main task is to restore the ruined sites but also to ensure the safety of monuments. The biggest problem today is trash.
A group of locals is taking the issue seriously and has decided to get its hands dirty. Kiran Kumar runs a family guesthouse near the Virupaksha Temple. He and his friends join in to help keep the place clean.”We have a responsibility to keep Hampi clean,” he tells us. “So with my friends here, we clean the place. We’ve been doing this work for many years. We have an organisation called the Citizens’ Rights Protection Forum, which we started in 2003. So we clean places like the riverbed, or the waterfalls area or the area around some other monument.” It is not hard to imagine just how magnificent Hampi was in its glory days. It is a mythical site that bears witness to a rich history, whose beauty and integrity must be preserved for future generations.