Tourist footfall in Hampi down by nearly a lakh

Karnataka Hampi 30/04/2019 View of Navabrindavan Island near Hampi,it is importance to the followers of the saint Sri Raghavendra. The Brindavan (sacred tomb) of the saint is located in a small island formed by Tungabadra , a bit east of the Anegondi village. This place is highly sought after by the pilgrims and is treated with reverence.
The island is also home to the tombs of 8 other saint associated with the sect, hence the name Nava Brindavan (Nava means nine).
There are two ways to reach Nava Brindavan.
From Hospet reach Talarighata gate ferry at the fringes of Hampi ruins. Anegondi village is located across the ferry. Nava Brindavan is about 2 kilometers from this ferry point.
Alternatively those who are approaching from Gangavathi can reach Anegondi by bus. And then take a local ferry to the island. On Ferry they Charge Rs 50 per head .
.Photo: Sampath Kumar G P /The Hindu

Contrary to the expectations that footfall in Hampi would increase, especially after a group of monuments at the world heritage site was listed number two on the “must see” tourist spots by TheNew York Times , tourist flow has dipped by nearly a lakh between April 2018 and March 2019.

As many as 6,34,145 lakh tourists (6,05,765 lakh domestic and 28,380 lakh foreigners) visited Hampi in this period. The footfall for the same period last year was 7,30,456 lakh (6,95,903 lakh domestic and 34,553 lakh foreigners).

However, tourism officials are hopeful that the numbers will go up during the course of the year.

The figures provided by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Mini Circle Hampi pertain to tourists visiting ticketed monuments — Vijaya Vittala temple, which houses the stone chariots and musical pillars and is considered as “architectural marvel of human genius”, the Lotus Mahal and the museum.

For children aged below 15 visits to these monuments is free. If schoolchildren coming to Hampi on excursion is taken into consideration, the footfall would be almost double, say officials.

Though the tourist season is mostly from September to March, the inflow of foreign tourist is above 500 in the hot months of April, May, June, and July. It gradually increases from August. The number is usually the highest from October to February.

The ASI has also collected a total revenue of ₹3.89 crore — ₹2.22 crore from domestic and ₹1.66 crore from foreign tourists — during 2018-19. However, the revenue was higher compared to the ₹3.51 crore collected last year, although the number of tourists was on the decline. This is owing to increase in the entrance fee by ₹10 for Indians and ₹100 for foreigners from ₹30 and ₹500 respectively.