VIJAYNAGARA EMPIRE

ARCHITECTURE
 VIJAYNAGAR EMPIRE

Hampi has various notable Hindu temples with some vedanta mythology inside the
temples, some of which are still active places of worship. Among the most notable are:
• Achyutaraya Temple
• Badavi Linga
• Chandramauleshwara Temple
•Malyavanta Raghunathaswamy temple was constructed in the ancient style of
architecture, the temple of Malyavanta Raghunathaswamy stands 3 km down the road.
Its inner walls flaunt peculiar and interesting motifs of fish and marine creatures.
•Hazara Rama Temple Complex: This ruined temple complex is well known for elaborate
frescoes from the Hindu religion and a sprawling courtyard well-laid with gardens. It is
well known for more than many thousand carvings & inscriptions on & in the temple
depicting the mighty story of Ramayana. It has about 1000 carvings & inscriptions
depicting the story of Ramayana.

The sacred pushkarani or tank located on the eastern side of Krishna temple in Hampi,
India
• Hemakuta group of temples
•Krishna Temple Complex: This temple complex has been recently excavated through the
last decade, and restoration work is still in progress. The temple has the Sacred Tank or
the Pushkarani located on its eastern side.
.
 INTRODUCTION
The temple is built in the
form of a sprawling campus
with compound wall and
gateway towers. There are
many halls, pavilions and
temples located inside this
campus.

The temple was originally built in the 15th century

AD. Many successive kings have enhanced the
temple campus during their regimes to the present
form. Yon can even see the remains of a township
called Vittalapura that existed around this temple
complex. The highlight of Vittala temple is its
impressive pillared halls and the stone chariot. The
halls are carved with an overwhelming array of
sculptures on the giant granite pillars. The stone
chariot located inside the campus is almost an
iconic structure of Hampi.
 HISTORY
• Situated northeast of Hampi,
opposite the village of Anegondi,
this is one of the principal
monuments of the city. It is
dedicated to Vittala, an aspect of
Vishnu worshipped in the Maratha
country. It is believed to date from
the 16th century
• The temple was originally built in
the 15th century AD. Many
successive kings have enhanced the
temple campus during their regimes
to the present form. we can even
see the remains of a township called
Vittalapura that existed around this
temple complex.
• Much of Vijayanagar
is now in ruins, as
when the rulers were
defeated at the hands
of the invaders at
the battle of
Talikota in the 16th
century, most of the
marvelous structures
and edifices were
systematically
destroyed.
PLAN
The Maha-Mantapa contains four open halls within. The
south, north and the east ones are still intact. The central
western hall is collapsed, probably due to the arson that
followed the fall of the capital.

 The main highlight of the Maha-Mantapa is

its richly carved giant monolithic pillars.
The outermost of the pillars are popularly
called the musical pillars. These slender
and short pilasters carved out of the giant
pillars emit musical tones when tapped.
Probably these do not belong to any of the
standard musical notes, but the musical
tone of the vibes earned it’s the name.
Unmindful curiosity of the visitors has
 damaged many of these pilasters and tapping
on it is
 banned for the sake of preservation.
The ceilings of the halls too are of interest
with the lotus like carving at the centre.

Further west is a closed hall with two

porches on either side. Further ahead is the
sanctum.

The inner sanctum is devoid of any idol. A

narrow and unlit passageway encircles the
inner sanctum. A few steps on either sides
of the sanctum’s main door give access to
this passage. The outer wall of the sanctum
that one can only sees from this passageway
is richly decorated with the Kumbha-
Pankajas (the motifs where lotus flower
flows out of a pot) .
The eastern hall which is called the
musicians hall is notable for sculptures of
musicians on the pillars. Each of the pillars
surrounding this hall is sculptured with
musicians, drummers and dancers.

The southern hall is dominated with the rampant mythical creatures called
Yalis. The capitals of each of the pillars branches into heavily ornate corbels
with terminating with lotus buds.
The northern hall is surrounded with a
series of pillars with the Narasimha (the
man-lion incarnation of Vishnu) themes.
The most notable ones are that of
Narasimha slaying Hiranyakashipu on his
lap. Prahlada is seen sitting at the base in a
praying posture.
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
One typically accesses the campus
through the eastern entrance tower, next
to which the ticket counter is located. On
entering through this massive tower, the
first thing draws your attention would be
a series of compact platforms along the
central axis of the campus. At the end of
these platforms stands the Stone Chariot.
This is in fact a shrine built in the form of
a temple chariot. An image of Garuda
(the eagle god) was originally enshrined
within its sanctum. Garuda, according to
the Hindu mythology, is the vehicle of
lord Vishnu. Thus the Garuda shrine
facing the temple’s sanctum is symbolic.
 Though the chariot is not resting on it, the four
giant wheels attached mimic the real life ones
complete with the axis shafts & the brakes. A
series of concentric floral motifs decorate the
wheels. It appears from the marks on the platform,
where the wheels rest, the wheels were free to
move around the axis

It may appear (and sometimes even

referred to) as a monolithic structure. In
reality this stone shrine was built with
many giant granite blocks. The joints are
smartly hidden in the carvings and other
decorative features that adorn the Stone
Chariot. The chariot is built on a
rectangular platform of a feet or so high.
All around this base platform is carved
with mythical battle scenes.
You can still see the remains of the painting
on the carvings of the chariot. Probably
because it was relatively protected from the
natural wearing elements, the
undercarriage of the chariot spots one of
the best preserved specimens of this kind
of paintings. It is believed the whole of the
Vittala Temple’s sculptures were once
beautifully painted in similar fashion using
the minerals as medium.

In front of the chariot two elephants are positioned as if they are pulling the
chariot. In fact these elephants where brought from elsewhere and positioned
here at a later stage. Originally two horses were carved in that position. The
tails and the rear legs of the horses can be still seen just behind these elephant
sculptures. A broken stone ladder once gave access to the sanctum is kept
between the elephants. You can still spot the marks on the floor and the
doorsill where once the ladder stood.
On leaving the Stone Chariot you
reach the main hall in front of the
Vittala temple. This hall though
partially damaged is still awe
inspiring. Facing the Stone Chariot,
a series of steps flanged by
elephant balustrades gives access to
this elevated open hall called the
Maha-Mantapa (the great hall). The
balustrades on the east and west
porch of this hall is more dramatic
with giant lion Yalis fighting the
relatively dwarf elephants. The
Maha-Mantapa stands on a highly
ornate platform. This fluted
platform is carved with a series of
floral motifs. The lowermost of it is
a chain of horses, its trainers and
the traders.
 HISTORY
• The Vijayanagara empire was founded by Harihara and Bukka,

also called the Sangama brothers. The empire consolidated

under Harihara and began to expand and prosper under Bukka

Raya. Some time after its original establishment the

capital was established at the more defensible and secure

location of Vijayanagara on the south side of the river.

HAZARA RAMA TEMPLE – ARCHITECTURAL
FEATURES
Though there are a thousand (or more) depictions
of Lord Rama on the walls of this small, but
beautiful temple, the name might have something
to do more with its location than the Lord it was
built for. ‘Hazaramu’ is the Telugu word for
audience hall or the entrance hall of a palace,
which is where this temple is located. This might
have been the private temple of the Vijayanagara
kings, which is probably why it is not as huge as
the other temples in the city.
This is one of the few temples where every inch of
the outer wal is filled with carvings depicting
scenes from the Ramayana. By the time we visited
this temple, it was already dark, and my camera
could not really succeed in bringing out the beauty
of the individual panels….
Most of the scenes on the outer wall
depict elephants and horses - at least
thats what we could see in the dark!
They looked like armies....

• The outside walls of the temple have the Ramayana sculptures already referred
to set between pilasters. These reliefs narrate the entire story of Ramayana.
This depicts the episodes of raja dasharat when he performs yajnas and the
birth of shri rama, rama as a child, as a king along with goddess sita. The walls
are raised on a basement with finely set worked mouldings and overhung by
curving eaves. A brick plaster tower rises over the sanctuary, its original details
obscured by modern restoration.
• Situated in the middle of the Royal Centre, this religious monument was used as a
private chapel by the Vijayanagara rulers and their private family members.
• This link with royalty is expressed in the reliefs covering the outer face of the
compound walls inside which the temple itself stands. They portray the processions
of elephants, horses with attendants, military contingents, and dancing women,
exactly as in the Mahanavami festival.
• Pavilion-like gateways on the east and north give access to the temple compound.
• Inscriptions inside the Hazara Rama temple indicate that Devaraya I erected it in the
early 15th century as a shrine to the god Rama under the name Ramachandra.
• This dedication explains the panels illustrating the Ramayana epic carved on the inner
face of the compound walls and around the outside of the two shrines that stand
freely within the walls. Indeed, these reliefs are the most extensive of any series to be
found anywhere in Indian art.
The main temple is approached through an open mandapa, actually an addition of early
16th century, within which is the original entrance porch with finely carved columns. Side
porches are seen on the north and south. The interior of the temple is unadorned, except
for four ornately sculpted columns in the middle. An empty pedestal stands within the
sanctuary; its three holes mayhave secured images of Rama, Lakshmanaand Sitabut these
are lost
To the east, beyond the
enclosure walls of the
Hazara Rama temple, is a
small shrine, perhaps for an
image
of Hanuman or Garuda,
A secondary, smaller shrine stands built
with a badly reconstructed
in a similar style, also with epic wall lamp-column standing in
carvings, stands nearby. It has two front. It finally exits the
sanctuaries, one perhaps for Narasimha, fortified zone at Talarighat
since the story of this incarnation of gate before leading to the
Vishnu also appears on the outer walls.
river crossing to Anegondi
Overall the bold curvatures, the sculptures
on the wall, the exemplary pillars and the
structure of the temple are one of the
biggest contributions of vijayanagara
rulers which hdefine the traditions of
ancient india.

. Immediately south of the main

entrance to the Hazara Rama temple is
a sequence of two gateways giving
access to the largest and presumably
most important enclosure of the Royal
Centre, with the audience hall and
Great Platform.

Originally the temple included a sanctum, ardhamandapa and a pillared hall

which is an open porch with tall and elegant pillars- unique black stone pillars
raised on a stone platform at the centre of the hall . To the south of the temple
there are doorways which lead to the durbar area.