Hampi Continues to Live – Part 1
In this several-part series, we relive a few moments from our recent trip to Hampi and surrounding areas. The pictures and the accompanying words weave a story of this magnificent city which continues to hold a prominent place in the Indian collective memory since ancient times. The place associated with Shiva and Parvati, Rama and Hanuman, Hanuman and Sugriva, Sri Vidyaranya and brothers Hukka-Bukka, and many many more.
Our time at Hampi brought so many moments of awe, wonder, reflection, silence and more silence. As one walks through the Vijayanagara of history, the Kishkindha of Itihasa, one experiences the grandeur of the Indian architecture, the richness of the sculpture details, the vibrant energy of the temple premises, and the silence as one keeps going inside. And not to forget, the moments of anguish that come upon one’s heart as one recalls the bloody history of how the mighty city of Vijayanagara was destroyed and the carnage that happened there at the hands of brutal Islamic invaders. But as the line goes —
कुछ बात है कि हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी
सदियों रहा है दुश्मन दौर-ए-ज़माँ हमारा
Kuch baat hai ki hasti mitati nahi hamaari
Sadiyon raha hai dushman daur-e-zamana hamaara
Hampi, the Capital of the Vijayanagara Empire
“[India’s] political genius….was strong to survive and await every opportunity of revival, made a bid for empire under Rana Sanga, created the great kingdom of Vijayanagara, held its own for centuries against Islam in the hills of Rajputana, and in its worst days still built and maintained against the whole power of the ablest of the Moguls the kingdom of Shivaji, formed the Mahratta confederacy and the Sikh Khalsa, undermined the great Mogul structure and again made a last attempt at empire.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 20: 442)
Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage site
located in east-central Karnataka, about 350 km from Bengaluru. It was
the capital of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th century.
The story goes that brothers Hakka and Bukka Raya were commanders in the army of the King of Warangal. After their king was defeated by Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the brothers were taken prisoners and sent to Delhi and were forced to convert to Islam. Later they escaped and became Hindus and returned to Anegundi (the Kishkindha of ancient times).
While wandering in the area, the brothers witnessed an unusual sight. A hare which was being pursued by the wild dogs, suddenly turned around and started giving the dogs a chase instead. Perplexed by this, they consulted their guru Sri Vidyaranya. The guru told them that this was an indication that the place seemed to emanate some special spirit which brought out the courage in people. This was perhaps because of the ancient association of this place with the spirit of tapasya and heroism.
It was felt that this was the right place to establish a mighty Hindu empire which would prove to a strong deterrent against the invading Islamic conquerors in southern India. Geographically also, the high and mighty rocky boulders that made the terrain of Anegundi formed a natural line of defense against invaders.
Nicholas Gier in his book, The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective (2014) writes:
“There are many magnificent archaeological sites in India, but the ruins of Vijayanagar at Hampi are some of the most extensive and impressive. In its peak of glory ca. 1500, with a population of about 500,000 and sixty square miles in area, Vijayanagar was the second largest city in the world behind Beijing. It was the capital of a great Hindu empire, 140,000 square miles at its apex that ruled a large part of southern India from 1336–1646. European travelers stood in awe of this great city and described in great detail its lush gardens and extensive water works. Even after its destruction by Muslim armies in 1556, a twenty-foot stone statue of Narasimha, the man-lion incarnation of Viṣṇu, a full scale stone chariot with moving wheels, and many other marvels are still standing.”
The Ancient History
Hampi predates Vijayanagara Empire, and was traditionally known as Pampa-kshetra, Kishkindha-kshetra or Bhaskara-kshetra. It is believed that Pampa (which is another name for goddess Parvati) did intense sadhana and tapasya on Hemakuta Hill in the area with an aim to become the consort of Lord Shiva who was leading an ascetic life. Shiva thus became Pampapati, the Lord of Pampa.
In time the Sanskrit word Pampa morphed into the Kannada word Hampa. And the specific place where Pampa or Parvati did her tapasya to win over Shiva came to be known as Hampe or Hampi. The river near the Hemakuta Hill came to be known as Pampa river.
“…the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, typified in its original idea the union of Purusha and Prakriti, the supreme Soul and dynamic Nature by which the world is created; but this type of divine legend was used esoterically to typify also the Nature-Soul’s search for and attainment of God and something of this conception pierces through the description of Parvati’s seeking after Shiva… (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 1: 166).
The Ramayana Connection
Hampi also finds reference in the Ramayana as Kishkindha, the birthplace of Hanuman. An entire section in Ramayana, known as Kishkindha Kāṇḍa is devoted to the events around this place such as Rama’s meeting with Hanuman and Sugriva, killing of Bali, coronation of Sugriva and planning for the impending battle with Ravana.
“…when one speaks of Hanuman, this represents the evolutionary man, and Rama is the involutionary being, the one who comes from above…The evolutionary being is the one that’s the continuation of the animals, and the other is a being from higher worlds who, when the earth was formed, materialised itself upon earth—it does not come from below, it has come from above. But in the evolutionary being there is that central light which is the origin of the psychic being, which will develop into the psychic being, and when the psychic being is fully formed, there is a moment when it can unite with a being from above which can incarnate in it. So this being from above which descends into a psychic being is an involutionary being…” (The Mother, CWM 5: 323-324).
“Hanuman stands for Bhakti….Hanuman is a symbol of Shakti and devotion.” ( Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 30: 157)
A Walk on Hemakuta Hilltop
We began exploration of Hampi at the Sasivekalu Ganesha Temple, located on the Hemakuta Hill.
As the story goes, one day, Lord Ganesha, being very fond of food, ate so much that he got concerned that his tummy might burst. So he caught a snake and tied it around his tummy as a belt to prevent its bursting.
The murti of Sasivekalu Ganesha is a monolithic work, 8 feet high carved in the typical style of Vijayanagara times. The name of Sasivekalu (meaning mustard seed) is supposed to have been given due to the shape of the stomach of the Ganesha as depicted in this murti. Intricate carvings and details make this Ganesha very special.
Nearby, on the same hill, we meet Kadalekalu Ganesha.
The 4.6 metres (15 feet) high monolithic sculpture of Kadalekalu Ganesha is one of the largest sculptures found in Hampi. The belly of Ganesha has been chiseled in such a manner that it resembles a Bengal gram (known as Kadalekalu in Kannada). Hence, the name Kadalekalu Ganesha.
“The Indian ideal figure of the masculine body insists on two features among many, a characteristic width at the shoulders and slenderness in the middle. Well, an objection to broadness of girth and largeness of belly—allowed only where they are appropriate as in sculptures of Ganesha or the Yakshas—is not peculiar to the Indian aesthetic sense; an emphasis, even a pronounced emphasis on their opposites is surely intelligible enough as an aesthetic tradition, however some may prefer a more realistic and prosperous presentation of the human figure. (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA Vol 20, p. 256)
A walk on the Hemakuta hilltop – which is almost a flat rocky expanse after an initial climb – brings you in the presence of a large number of temples, archways and pavilions. One can see the ruins of the tall stonewalls which were used to fortify the hill.
It is believed that it was on the Hemakuta hill that Lord Shiva did his tapasya before marrying Pampa. When Shiva consented to marry Pampa, golden rain covered the hill. (Hema in Sanskrit means gold, thus connecting the name of this hill with this story).
This is also believed to be the place where Lord Shiva opened his third eye to burn Kama, the god of lust and desire. In his attempt to help Pampa get the attention of Shiva who was deep in his meditation, Kama tried to distract Shiva. This led to the wrath of Siva who opened his third eye and eventually killed Kama. Rati, the goddess of passion and Kama’s wife, pleaded to Shiva to give Kama back his life. Moved by her entreating, Shiva brought Kama back to life, but with a condition that from that day onwards only Rati would be able to perceive Kama’s physical form, and for the entire creation he would live only as a disembodied spirit. This is why it is said that Kama does his work on humans and gods alike, completely unobserved.
A number of temples, including several pre-Vijayanagara temples, on the Hemakuta Hill are dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Virupaksha Temple is the major temple on Hemkuta Hill, which can be accessed either through the tower located close to the temple’s main entrance at the very end of the Hampi Bazaar which terminates in front of the Virupaksha temple, or through the twin storied archway located near the Sasivekalu Ganesha and Kadalekalu Ganesha.
Standing near this archway one gets a good aerial view of the Krishna Temple complex, as well as the Lakshmi Narasimha and Badavilinga shrines located beyond the Krishna temple.
Badavilinga
The name Badavilinga is a combination of two words – Badva and Linga, Badva means poor and Linga represents Shiva. It is believed that the Shivalinga placed inside the temple was commissioned by a poverty-stricken peasant woman.
The 3-meter-high Linga carved out of black stone sits on a large circular yoni pitha inside a small stone chamber which has a single opening in front. The chamber has no ceiling, so during the daytime the Shiva Linga is flooded with sunlight. Another interesting aspect is the water-bed on the floor of this temple.
Despite the destruction of some outer parts of this temple at the hands of Islamic invaders, the Shiva Linga stands intact even today. And so do the inner walls of the chamber, without any severe damage.
When we visited, some renovation work was happening to create an easier access path to the Badavilinga temple.
Virupaksha Temple
On the banks of Tungabhadra River is the Virupaksha temple, dedicated to God Shiva, known in this area as Virupaksha, the consort of the local goddess Pampadevi.
This is the oldest and the principal temple in Hampi. It is believed to be functioning uninterruptedly ever since the 7th century CE and is perhaps one of the oldest functioning temples in India. (Source).
After laying the foundation for Vijayanagara and with the guidance and blessings of Sri Vidyaranya, the brothers Harihara and Bukka Raya established their own independent kingdom with its capital on the left bank of Tungabhadra River. Following the sage’s counsel, they shifted their capital to the right bank, naming it Vidyanagara as a mark of respect and gratitude to the sage, whom they regarded as their Guru, God and saviour.
Later, the city which came to be popularly known as Vijayanagara or City of Victory was planned in details. As per directions of Sri Vidyaranya, it is in the form of a Sri Chakra, with the Virupaksha temple in the middle and nine gates all around (Reference: Ratnakar Sadasyula, City of Victory: The Rise and Fall of Vijayanagara, ebook, para 7.18)
“The straight way here is not to detach the temple from its surroundings, but to see it in unity with the sky and low-lying landscape or with the sky and hills around and feel the thing common to both, the construction and its environment, the reality in Nature, the reality expressed in the work of art. The oneness to which this Nature aspires in her inconscient self-creation and in which she lives, the oneness to which the soul of man uplifts itself in his conscious spiritual upbuilding, his labour of aspiration here expressed in stone, and in which so upbuilt he and his work live, are the same and the soul-motive is one. Thus seen this work of man seems to be something which has started out and detached itself against the power of the natural world, something of the one common aspiration in both to the same infinite spirit of itself,—the inconscient uplook and against it the strong single relief of the self-conscient effort and success of finding…” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 20, pp. 277-278)
“There is in both a constant, subtle yet pronounced lessening from the base towards the top, but at each stage a repetition of the same form, the same multiplicity of insistence, the same crowded fullness and indented relief, but one maintains its multiple endeavour and indication to the last, the other ends in a single sign. To find the significance we have first to feel the oneness of the infinity in which this nature and this art live, then see this thronged expression as the sign of the infinite multiplicity which fills this oneness, see in the regular lessening ascent of the edifice the subtler and subtler return from the base on earth to the original unity and seize on the symbolic indication of its close at the top. Not absence of unity, but a tremendous unity is revealed.” (ibid)
“Reinterpret intimately what this representation means in the terms of our own spiritual self-existence and cosmic being, and we have what these great builders saw in themselves and reared in stone. All objections, once we have got at this identity in spiritual experience, fall away and show themselves to be what they really are, the utterance and cavil of an impotent misunderstanding, an insufficient apprehension or a complete failure to see. To appreciate the detail of Indian architecture is easy when the whole is thus seen and known; otherwise, it is impossible.” (ibid)
Under the Vijayanagara rulers, in the middle of the 14th century, there began a flowering of native art and culture. When the rulers were defeated by Muslim invaders in the 16th century, most of the wonderful decorative structures and creations were systematically destroyed.
The religious sect of Virupaksha-Pampa did not end with the destruction of the city in 1565. Worship at the majestic Virupaksha temple has persisted throughout the years. At the beginning of the 19th century major renovations and additions were done, which included ceiling paintings and the towers of the north and east gopuram. (source)
The spirit of Vijayanagara, the city of Hampi indeed continues to live…in the collective consciousness of India, in the pujas that continue at Virupaksha temple, in the offerings made to the Lord of Pampa.
Vijay Vittala Temple
“Spirituality is indeed the master-key of the Indian mind; the sense of the infinite is native to it.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 20: 6)
In our last part we wrote about Virupaksha Temple, situated on the banks of Tungabhadra River. Vijaya Vittala temple is north east of the Virupaksha temple and also on the banks of the river Tungabhadra. The main deity at Virupaksha is Shiva, while at Vittala temple it is Lord Vittala, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
The Entrance
Talarigatta Gate (toll collection gate) served as one of the main entrance points into the urban centre of the capital from the riverside where Virupaksha temple is located. This gate was built with fortification walls that enclosed the capital city. The Vittala temple is also located in this central area.
“India saw from the beginning,—and, even in her ages of reason and her age of increasing ignorance, she never lost hold of the insight,—that life cannot be rightly seen in the sole light, cannot be perfectly lived in the sole power of its externalities.” (ibid.)
The Vittala temple is believed to be the grandest of all the temples and monuments at Hampi.
The temple showcases the immense creativity and the architectural expertise, which was possessed by the sculptors and artisans of the Vijayanagara empire. The temple is built in the Dravidian style of architecture, which speaks volumes about the grandeur of the south Indian temple architecture, with elaborate carvings that are unmatched in the other structures in the town.
“When we look at the past of India, what strikes us next is her stupendous vitality, her inexhaustible power of life and joy of life, her almost unimaginably prolific creativeness.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 20: 6)
The Musical Pillars of the Ranga Mantapa
The large Ranga Mantapa at the temple is well known for its 56 musical pillars. These pillars are also known as SaReGaMa pillars, which are attributed to the musical notes emerging out of them. The musical notes can be heard when the pillars are gently tapped.
One can find a set of main pillars and also several smaller ones at the mantapa. Each pillar provides support to the ceiling of the mantapa, and the main pillars are designed in the manner of musical instruments. Every main pillar is wrapped by 7 minor pillars and these minor pillars emit different musical notes. Every note coming out of these pillars vary in their sound quality and also change as per the percussion, string or wind instrument being played.
Temple Gopuram
“The wealth of ornament, detail, circumstance in Indian temples represents the infinite variety and repetition of the worlds,—not our world only, but all the planes, —suggests the infinite multiplicity in the infinite oneness. It is a matter of our own experience and fullness of vision how much we leave out or bring in, whether we express so much or so little or attempt as in the Dravidian style to give the impression of a teeming inexhaustible plenitude. The largeness of this unity is base and continent enough for any superstructure or content of multitude.”
(Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 20: 278-279)
The main shrine originally had an enclosed mantapa or hall; an open mantapa was added to the structure in the year 1554 AD.
Lavish Courtyards
“She creates and creates and is not satisfied and is not tired; she will not have an end of it, seems hardly to need a space for rest, a time for inertia and lying fallow…Everywhere, as on her soil, so in her works there is the teeming of a superabundant energy of life. European critics complain that in her ancient architecture, sculpture and art there is no reticence, no holding back of riches, no blank spaces, that she labours to fill every rift with ore, occupy every inch with plenty. Well, but defect or no, that is the necessity of her superabundance of life, of the teeming of the infinite within her. She lavishes her riches because she must, as the Infinite fills every inch of space with the stirring of life and energy because it is the Infinite.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 20: 8)
The Stone Chariot
The Stone Chariot, which stands tall in the courtyard of the temple, is one of the most stunning architectural wonders. It is also one of the four famous stone chariots in the country. The other three chariots are located in Konark, Mahabalipuram and Darasuram.
The 50-rupee Indian currency now proudly features this stone chariot of the Vittala temple of Hampi.
Kalyana Mantapam
Art on the Temple Pillars
“The line and run and turn demanded by the Indian aesthetic sense are not the same as those demanded by the European. It would take too long to examine the detail of the difference which we find not only in sculpture, but in the other plastic arts and in music and even to a certain extent in literature, but on the whole we may say that the Indian mind moves on the spur of a spiritual sensitiveness and psychic curiosity, while the aesthetic curiosity of the European temperament is intellectual, vital, emotional and imaginative in that sense, and almost the whole strangeness of the Indian use of line and mass, ornament and proportion and rhythm arises from this difference.” (Sri Aurobino, CWSA, 20: 293)
Coming up in next part…Sri Krishna Temple and Marketplace
Sri Krishna Temple
After a tour of the remarkable Vittala temple in previous part, we now move on to another masterpiece, the Krishna temple of Hampi.
The Krishna temple at Hampi — which is now in ruins, though some renovations were underway when we visited — was built by King Krishnadevaraya in 1513 BCE to commemorate the success of his Orissa campaign. Balakrishna, Lord Krishna as an infant, was the main vigraha installed here.
“Image after image in the great temples or saved from the wreck of time shows the same grand traditional art and the genius which worked in that tradition and its many styles, the profound and firmly grasped spiritual idea, the consistent expression of it in every curve, line and mass, in hand and limb, in suggestive pose, in expressive rhythm,—it is an art which, understood in its own spirit, need fear no comparison with any other, ancient or modern, Hellenic or Egyptian, of the near or the far East or of the West in any of its creative ages.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 20, p. 287)
At the entrance is a sculpture depicting the warriors being led by Shri Krishnadevaraya to the victory. The temple Gopuram also has very intricate carvings. In fact, the entire temple complex is very beautiful though much of it is in ruins. The good news is that it is being renovated, as the pictures below suggest.
Let us take a closer look at some of the great sculptural beauty of this temple. The dancing woman sculpture seen below is one of the several found at the entrance of the temple.
The mukhamandapa is a graceful structure with 32 pillars with entrances at north, south, and east. These tall and lean pillars have fine sculptures of Vaishnava deities. All the pillars have beautiful carvings of gods, goddesses and also dancing women.
The temple also includes a Garuda Mandapa of Dravidian architectural style with a deepastambha (lamp pillar) in its front.
At the four corners of this temple once stood four small shrines for different deities, but these are in complete ruins now. The pillars with carvings of horses and yalis add great exquisiteness to the temple.
The square garbhagriha is bare now, as the original murti of Krishna has been removed. This murti is now displayed in the state museum at Chennai. It is made out of greenish black granite showing Krishna as a child seated on a pedestal.
This temple was and remains famous for the huge gateways at north, south, and east. The eastern gateway or the mahadvara is enormous and graceful and perhaps one of the best specimens of that type in Hampi. Most of these structures are in ruins.
The main road to Hampi passes through the temple complex. Right across this road is a small pavilion with a rectangular stone container situated in front of the temple.
This was used to store grains for the rituals and ceremonies to be performed during the temple festivals. The position and design of the vessel suggests that devotees used to donate food grain as offerings at the temple. On the right (in the above photo) we can also see the ruins of what was once a great market place.
“India has not only had the long roll of her great saints, sages, thinkers, religious founders, poets, creators, scientists, scholars, legists; she has had her great rulers, administrators, soldiers, conquerors, heroes, men with the strong active will, the mind that plans and the seeing force that builds. She has warred and ruled, traded and colonised and spread her civilisation, built polities and organised communities and societies, done all that makes the outward activity of great peoples.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 20, p. 246)
Opposite the temple is a huge clearing, lined with covered pathways. This is said to be one of the ancient bazaars, where traders from across the country sold their wares. One is amazed to see how well planned this marketplace was, and how much of it survives after centuries! Walking further ahead, one sees open spaces with remnants of stone walls, which might have been the residences of the traders.
In the middle of the bazaar, there is a water tank which was used to supply water to the bazaar, residents and visitors. There is even a water channel bringing water from the aqueduct that brought water from the river to the city.
The Krishna temple and its adjacent bazaar are lasting reminders that wars might bring victory and defeat, but it is good architectural and civic planning which reflect thoughtful administration and governance that survive the test of time and bring glory! The Vijayanagar rulers certainly knew this, gave the importance to building well-planned cities with imposing structures.
“The administration of these urban governments included all works contributing to the material or other welfare of the citizens, police, judicial cases, public works and the charge of sacred and public places, registration, the collection of municipal taxes and all matters relating to trade, industry and commerce.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 20, pp. 419-420)
Boulders upon smaller or larger boulders and a pillared structure on top of some of these boulders is a common sight at Hampi, and leaves one wondering how did they manage these pillared structures on top of these boulders!
Raghunatha Temple and Malyavanta Hill
One of the lesser-known but most beautiful places to visit in Hampi is the Raghunatha temple on top of the Malyavanta Hill.
During our trip to Hampi in 2018, we spent some time on top of this hill. The 360-degree view from there is superb. Because not too many people go to this hill, it is a peaceful location to enjoy the panoramic views and witness marvelous sunset!
But there is more to this hill than the majestic view and sunset. Just as there is a whole lot more to the inner significance of Hampi for Indian consciousness than it merely being a reminder of a glorious Indian past.
Present-day Hampi is Kishkindha of old, the same Kishkindha we come across in Ramayana.
As the story goes, after Sugreev was crowned as the king of Kishkindha by Sri Rama, it was time for the new king to organise a search to look for Devi Sita. But since not much could be done in terms of the actual rescue mission during the rainy season, Sri Rama and his brother Lakshmana decided to settle in a cave on top of the Malyavanta hill and wait for the monsoon to end. It is believed that in a cave there Sri Rama also worshipped Lord Shiva in the form of a swayambhu lingam.
The location of the cave was strategic because from there the brothers could also monitor the movement of anyone approaching. This was important given the impending war-like situation which would have been necessary to rescue Devi Sita.
Perhaps water might have been scarce at the mountain top. It is believed that to ensure water supply either Rama or Lakshmana created a cleft in the rock using their bow and arrow, thereby creating a well. In this cleft we find a small stream water till today. On either side of the hill surface are carved beautiful Shivalingas and Nandis.
In a typical Indian way, one more story is associated with this cleft on the hill top.
While waiting at the hill for the end of the monsoon, Lakshmana noticed that amidst all the frolicking and excessive celebrations of his coronation Sugreev had practically forgotten his promise to help with the search and rescue of Devi Sita. This made Lakshman angry and he went to meet King Sugreev to jolt him out of his unconcern.
At the entrance gate of the king’s palace, Lakshmana pulled the string of his bow thereby creating a thunderous sound. Upon hearing this sound Sugreev came out and saw that the furious Lakshmana in his rage had already placed an arrow on his bow. Reminding the new king of his promise to Sri Rama, Lakshmana also threatened that the road to yamaloka (the realm of the departed) on which Bali was sent by Sri Rama was still open.
Realising his mistake Sugreev ran to Sri Rama, sought his forgiveness and appealed to him to calm Lakshmana down. But since Lakshmana’s arrow was once drawn, it could not be put back. So, he changed the direction of the drawn arrow and released it in the direction of the Malyavanta Hilltop creating a cleft on the surface. A stream of water appeared in this cleft.
Sugreev soon led the organisation of a search operation with the help of his courtiers and advisers, as a part of which Hanuman was later sent to Sri Lanka with a ring from Sri Rama.
Around 16th century King Krishnadeva Raya constructed a temple on this hill in typical Vijayanagara style with Sri Ram as its main deity. A huge boulder with a narrow passage leads to the entrance of this temple.
The garbhgriha or sanctum santorum at the temple has Shri Ram, Mata Sita, Lakshmana & Hanuman carved out of a single massive boulder. Shri Rama and Devi Sita are in sitting posture, brother Lakshmana is standing next to them, and Bhakt Hanuman is there in a kneeling posture. It is believed that this garbhgriha dates back to 13th century, predating the Vijayanagar empire.
The tower above the sanctum santorum is built on a large boulder. It makes one wonder how the genius architects and engineers of that time would have constructed it!
This temple never closes and the visitors are welcome any time of day or night. Akhand path (a continuous recitation with no break in between) from Sant Tulsidas’ Ramacharitmanas goes on at the temple round the clock, 365 days of the year.
Devotees who visit the temple are also welcome to join the manas recitation.
“The Ramayana embodied for the Indian imagination its highest and tenderest human ideals of character, made strength and courage and gentleness and purity and fidelity and self-sacrifice familiar to it in the suavest and most harmonious forms coloured so as to attract the emotion and the aesthetic sense, stripped morals of all repellent austerity on one side or on the other of mere commonness and lent a certain high divineness to the ordinary things of life, conjugal and filial and maternal and fraternal feeling, the duty of the prince and leader and the loyalty of follower and subject, the greatness of the great and the truth and worth of the simple, toning things ethical to the beauty of a more psychical meaning by the glow of its ideal hues. The work of Valmiki has been an agent of almost incalculable power in the moulding of the cultural mind of India: it has presented to it to be loved and imitated in figures like Rama and Sita, made so divinely and with such a revelation of reality as to become objects of enduring cult and worship, or like Hanuman, Lakshmana, Bharata the living human image of its ethical ideals; it has fashioned much of what is best and sweetest in the national character, and it has evoked and fixed in it those finer and exquisite yet firm soul tones and that more delicate humanity of temperament which are a more valuable thing than the formal outsides of virtue and conduct.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 20, pp. 350-351)
Chakratirtha, Tungabhadra River and Kodandarama temple
(Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo Mehra)
Not far from Vittala temple, a short walk along some semi-paved/stepped rocks and you will soon find yourselves entering into a cave-like rock formation. A few minutes later as you come out out of this cool shady path, you will be rewarded by this breathtaking beauty.
The Tungabhadra riverbank in Hampi is a sight to behold. Or many sights, rather.
“It is one of the greatest weapons of the Asura at work when you are taught to shun beauty. It has been the ruin of India.” (The Mother)
The Tungabhadra River which starts and flows through the state of Karnataka during most of its course is formed by the confluence of two rivers – Tunga and Bhadra. The story goes that Bhagwan Vishnu in his Varaha Avatar, after killing the mighty asuras, was once taking rest on a hilltop which is today known as Gangamoola or Varaha Parvata peak in the Chikkamagaluru district. The sweat flowing from left side of his scalp became the river Tunga and the sweat from his right side became the river Bhadra. Starting at same source, the two rivers flow separately for some distance and unite with each other at Koodali village, from where they are known by the name of Tungabhadra.
At Hampi, which is somewhere in the middle of Tungabhadra’s path, the river takes a number of twists and turns owing to the rocky terrain. No wonder this river carried such immense significance in shaping the political and religious history of Hampi. The river along with the boulder-strewn hills formed a mighty northern barrier for the capital of great Vijayanagara empire.
At the flat rocky bank of Tungabhadra in Hampi, known as Chakratirtha (‘the sacred water body that swirls’), you hire a coracle which takes you on a mesmerising ride through the river. Chakratirtha is the valley point of two hills — the Matunga Hill in south and the Rishyamukha Hill in the north. Here the majestic river gets narrower and changes its direction, thus making the current swifter.
The coracle slowly takes you to places where all you can do is marvel at the beauty of Mother Nature which is kept in delicate harmony by human ingenuity when there is no need or greed to conquer or destroy Nature.
“The preoccupation with universal beauty even in its aesthetic forms has an intense power for refining and subtilising the nature, and at its highest it is a great force for purification.” (Sri Aurobindo)
You don’t mind the somewhat strenuous climb up a few boulders at certain places along the riverbank when you get to see something like this:
Or this:
Or this:
“The gods of Indian sculpture are cosmic beings, embodiments of some great spiritual power, spiritual idea and action, inmost psychic significance, the human form a vehicle of this soul meaning, its outward means of self-expression; everything in the figure, every opportunity it gives, the face, the hands, the posture of the limbs, the poise and turn of the body, every accessory, has to be made instinct with the inner meaning, help it to emerge, carry out the rhythm of the total suggestion, and on the other hand everything is suppressed which would defeat this end, especially all that would mean an insistence on the merely vital or physical, outward or obvious suggestions of the human figure.” (Sri Aurobindo)
Hampi was once one of the most prosperous cities in the world, known for its riches in all spheres of human activity including trade, arts, learning, and warfare. The remains of magnificent temples and sculptures that we see today at Hampi are just the tip of the iceberg, which might have reached its pinnacle in the magnificent Vittala Temple.
Riding along the mighty river with boulders on each side, you can’t help but wonder that once upon a time in Hampi, carving these abundantly available granite boulders and bringing life to these boulders must have been considered a very high and noble work.
But this was not merely a work. This was a way to find God.
“To find highest beauty is to find God; to reveal, to embody, to create, as we say, highest beauty is to bring out of our souls the living image and power of God.” (Sri Aurobindo)
The entire landscape feels like a prayer to the Divine, marked by these beautiful offerings made by the unnamed sculptors for whom art was their sadhana, their means to seek God in stone.
“What Nature is, what God is, what man is can be triumphantly revealed in stone or on canvas.” (Sri Aurobindo)
The young apprentice artists of Vijayanagara might have found the hills with boulders as their playground to sharpen their skills. Perhaps that is why you see so many finished and semi finished sculptures of gods and goddesses at most unusual places around the banks of this river. Making this place feel like a prayer of a whole civilisation!
“In a town of gods, housed in a little shrine,
From sculptured limbs the Godhead looked at me,—
A living Presence deathless and divine,
A Form that harboured all infinity.” (Sri Aurobindo, The Stone Goddess)
The serenity and the sacred beauty of the landscape slowly does its work upon your heart, mind and soul. And soon you are lost in the grand simplicity and majestic quietude that surrounds you.
“Love of Nature is usually the sign of a pure and healthy being uncorrupted by modern civilisation. It is in the silence of a peaceful mind that one can best commune with Nature.” (The Mother)
As the boat slowly turns around to bring you back to the Chakratirtha ghat, you are once again mesmerised by that long pavilion that has been there for centuries housing the pilgrims who came to bathe at the holy river and pray at the nearby Kodandarama temple.
Located close to the Kodandarama Temple, Chakratirtha is considered the holiest bathing spot in Tungabhadra. It is believed that on some special occasions the swirl in the river forms into the images of Rama, Sita and Laxmana.
The place where Kodandarama temple stands today on the Tungabhadra riverbank is believed to the place where Sri Rama crowned Sugreeva as the king of Kishkindha after Vali-vadha.
In the temple garbhagriha are three very tall murtis of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, somewhat like deep bas-relief carved on a huge boulder. It is also believed that the murtis were perhaps carved by Sugreeva himself. The sanctum and the pillared pavilion are added around the murtis at a later time. During peak monsoon season as the river Tungabhadra swells up, sometimes the water level rises high enough to reach up to the temple courtyard. Nature touching the feet of her Lord!
After some prayerful moments of silence and solitude at the temple, you turn around and the river calls you back. To take one more look, to soak in, for a few more moments, all that majestic beauty. The beauty that continues to inspire the poets, the artists, the seekers. The beauty that reminds you of the poetry of life, of the great poets who sang of such beauty.
Those songs may not have been of this riverside, of this clear morning, of the gods found on the boulders on riverbank, but that in no way takes away the beauty of the moments spent here by Tungabhadra. Something reminds you that Sri Aurobindo once spoke of Meghadūta of Kalidasa as the poem of India. Why, you wonder?
“In India the Cloud has gone even nearer home to the national imagination. For this there is good reason. It is, essentially and above all, the poem of India, the poem of the country, its soil and its scenes, its thoughts & its atmosphere. No one who has not lived the life of India, till it has become part of his breathing and woven in with every thread of his imagination, can fully appreciate the poem. If one does not know the charm of its hills, the scent of its flowers, the beauty of its skies, the flowing sacredness of its rivers with all the phases & emotions of an Indian river’s life, if one cannot distinguish & thrill to the touch of its various winds, if one cannot clothe its local places with ancient historic & mythical association or people them with the strange host of beautiful & weird figures & faces which the imagination of its people has created, if one does not recreate for himself the ancient splendours of its cities, the sense of peace & infinity in its temples & hermitages and the simple sweetness of its rural life, for him the Meghaduta offers only its shell. But all these, everything that is redolent of India, the visible, material, sensuous India has been fused and poured into one perfect mould by the genius of this supreme artist.” (Sri Aurobindo, The Poetry of Kalidasa)
One look at the river Tungabhadra and you feel you kind of know why. This river also sings the poem of India.
It makes you feel the historical and the mythical associations, it helps you recreate for yourself the ancient splendours of the cities by its banks, the sense of peace and infinity in the temples and hermitages nearby and the simple sweetness of the life of people around it.
Coming up in next part…Hazara Rama temple
Hazara Rama temple
(Photos by Suhas Mehra, text and quotes selection by Beloo Mehra)
यावत्स्थास्यन्ति गिरयः सरितश्च महीतले |
तावद्रामायणकथा लोकेषु प्रचरिष्यति ||
“As long as the mountains and even rivers flourish on the surface of the earth, so long the legend of Ramayana will flourish in this world… [Valmiki Ramayana, 1.2.36]
Hazara Rama temple, which literally means a temple with thousand relics of Bhagavan Sri Rama, is a delight for the eyes – outer and inner. This was a private temple for the royalty of Vijayanagar. And the location was such that all the paths from the Royal Centre converged to this temple. Today it is not a living temple and merely a UNESCO world heritage site.
Why the name Hazara Rama? One quickly surmises that it is because of the temple being dedicated to Sri Rama! And then there are perhaps thousand or more depictions of Rama on the walls of temple. But according to local guides, the name is a deformation of the Telugu word Hazaramu, which means an audience hall or an entrance hall of a palace. So the connection with the royalty is very clear.
“…the life of Rama and Krishna belongs to the prehistoric past which has come down only in poetry and legend and may even be regarded as myths; but it is quite immaterial whether we regard them as myths or historical facts, because their permanent truth and value lie in their persistence as a spiritual form, presence, influence in the inner consciousness of the race and the life of the human soul.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 19: 171)
The Ramayana connection of the temple is evident in several interesting ways. The temple’s location is such that from its north porch one gets a view of the Matanga Hill, the place where Sugriva after being driven out by his tyrant brother Bali (Vali), had taken refuge along with Hanuman. From the eastern doorway of the temple, one can see Malyavanta Hill, where Sri Rama and Lakshmana had stayed after the killing of Vali while waiting for Hanuman to bring news of Sita. In fact, it is also believed by some that the Hazara Rama temple stands on the location where Sri Rama killed Bali.
“Tangled is the way of works in the world. When Rama the Avatar murdered Vali, or Krishna, who was God himself, assassinated, to liberate his nation, his tyrant uncle Kansa, who shall say whether they did good or did evil? But this we can feel, that they acted divinely.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 12: 467-468)
When one is at any Rama temple, can Hanuman be far behind?
“When one speaks of Hanuman, this represents the evolutionary man, and Rama is the involutionary being, the one who comes from above….
“The evolutionary being is the one that’s the continuation of the animals, and the other is a being from higher worlds who, when the earth was formed, materialised itself upon earth—it does not come from below, it has come from above. But in the evolutionary being there is that central light which is the origin of the psychic being, which will develop into the psychic being, and when the psychic being is fully formed, there is a moment when it can unite with a being from above which can incarnate in it. So this being from above which descends into a psychic being is an involutionary being—a being of the Overmind plane or from elsewhere.” (The Mother, CWM, Vol. 5, 21 Oct 1953)
Compared to other temples at Hampi, Hazara Rama is not a very large temple. Nevertheless, it is very unique and one of the few temples at Hampi dedicated to Sri Rama. On the entire periphery of the compound walls, facing toward the temple, we find beautifully carved panels depicting the life and times of Sri Rama. Walking through one feels as if one is reading the Ramayana, etched in stone.
Some of the panels on the temple compound walls also portray the grand Ramanavami
festival processions which the mighty kings of Vijayanagara organised.
These processions included elephants, horses, attendants, military
contingents, dancing women and also the tableaus depicting the life of
the Lord, as can be seen in the carved panels of the temple walls. Some
foreign visitors during those times have also given similar account of
such festivity on Ramanavami at the Vijayanagar capital.
Meenakshi Jain includes an important reference in this regard, in her book ‘Rama and Ayodhya’
“During the Vijayanagar period, Rama themes enjoyed great popularity in temple art. The physical setting of Vijayanagar was itself linked to Rama, particularly the Kishkindha Kanda of the Ramayana. There was a conscious attempt to link spatially the world of the Vijayanagar king with that of Rama. The landscape was charged with the presence of Rama and the king himself was occasionally compared with him, as was the capital linked to Ayodhya. The king was ritually identified with Rama in the Maha Navami festival, an extravagant nine day ceremony that commemorated the worship of goddess Durga by Rama on the eve of the decisive battle against Ravana. (Dallapiccola, 1998:141, as cited by Meenakshi Jain, 2013: 62)
Similar carved depictions of Sri Rama’s life are seen on the exterior walls of the two other smaller free-standing shrines within the complex.
It is believed that in the early 15th century Devaraya I built this temple devoted to Sri Rama and initially called it as Ramachandra temple. The original structure was a simple one within a rectangular complex consisting of only a garbhgriha, and an ardha-mandapa. Later the temple structure was renovated and an open porch and a beautiful pillared mandapa were added.
“He [the Avatar] may…descend as an incarnation of divine life, the divine personality and power in its characteristic action, for a mission ostensibly social, ethical and political, as is represented in the story of Rama and Krishna; but always then his descent becomes in the soul of the race a permanent power for the inner and spiritual rebirth.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 19: 170)
Walking through and noticing the details on these panels, Indians who were introduced to Indian stories and legends through Amar Chitra Katha might feel as if they are flipping the pages of their favourite childhood comics!
“The idealism of characters like Rama and Sita is no pale and vapid unreality; they are vivid with the truth of the ideal life, of the greatness that man may be and does become when he gives his soul a chance” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 20: 353).
The arthamandapa has four unique black stone pillars which are raised on a stone platform at the centre of the hall. These pillars are made of a stone called Dolerite, which might have been brought from western Karnataka. These pillars depict the various avatars of Sri Vishnu.
“Avatarhood is a fact of divine life and consciousness which may realise itself in an outward action, but must persist, when that action is over and has done its work, in a spiritual influence; or may realise itself in a spiritual influence and teaching, but must then have its permanent effect, even when the new religion or discipline is exhausted, in the thought, temperament and outward life of mankind.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 19: 171)
More ornately carved columns lead one to the garbhgriha. An empty pedestal with three spots in the garbhgriha signifies the spot where once the murtis of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita might have been standing, worshipped by the kings and other members of the royal families of the mighty Vijayanagar empire. The empty garbhgriha reminds us of the furious iconoclasm unleashed by Deccan Sultans at Hampi and elsewhere in the southern India.
The temple is also renowned for the narrative sculptures of the Bhagavata Purana, glorifying the life and work of another avatar, Sri Krishna. At Hazara Rama, one is mesmerised by the sculptures of Bala Krishna, as well as the sculpted polished pillars of the maha-mantapa (main hall).
“The Avatar is not bound to do extraordinary actions, but he is bound to give his acts or his work or what he is—any of these or all—a significance and an effective power that are part of something essential to be done in the history of the earth and its races.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 28: 490)
Near the main shrine is a similar but smaller shrine also having carvings from Ramayana and Bhagavatam on its walls. This was perhaps a shrine for Devi Sita, and features on one of its walls a beautiful sculpture of Lord Narasimha, another avatar of Sri Vishnu.
“The Divinity acts according to… the consciousness of the Truth above and the Lila below and it acts according to the need of the Lila, not according to men’s ideas of what it should or should not do. This is the first thing one must grasp, otherwise one can understand nothing about the manifestation of the Divine.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 28: 475)
What does the avatarhood of Rama mean for the earth-consciousness? For the future of the humanity? If we don’t contemplate on this question, we fail to fully grasp why Sri Rama’s story will be told over and over in this land of ours.
Victory to Sri Rama!
“[Rama’s] business was to destroy Ravana and to establish the Rama-rajya – in other words, to fix for the future the possibility of an order proper to the sattwic civilised human being who governs his life by the reason, the finer emotions, morality, or at least moral ideals, such as truth, obedience, co-operation and harmony, the sense of domestic and public order, – to establish this in a world still occupied by anarchic forces, the Animal mind and the powers of the vital Ego making its own satisfaction the rule of life, in other words, the Vanara and Rakshasa. This is the meaning of Rama and his life-work and it is according as he fulfilled it or not that he must be judged as Avatar or no Avatar. It was not his business to play the comedy of the chivalrous Kshatriya with the formidable brute beast that was Bali, it was his business to kill him and get the Animal Mind under his control. It was not his business to be necessarily a perfect, but a largely representative sattwic man, a faithful husband and a lover, a loving and obedient son, a tender and perfect brother, father, friend – he is friend of all kinds of people, friend of the outcaste Guhaka, friend of the Animal leaders, Sugriva, Hanuman, friend of the vulture Jatayu, friend even of the Rakshasa Vibhishan. All that he was in a brilliant, striking but above all spontaneous and inevitable way, not with a forcing of this note or that…., but with a certain harmonious completeness. But most of all, it was his business to typify and establish the things on which the social idea and its stability depend, truth and honour, the sense of Dharma, public spirit and the sense of order. To the first, to truth and honour, much more even than to his filial love and obedience to his father—though to that also—he sacrificed his personal rights as the elect of the King and the Assembly and fourteen of the best years of his life and went into exile in the forests. To his public spirit and his sense of public order (the great and supreme civic virtue in the eyes of the ancient Indians, Greeks, Romans, for at that time the maintenance of the ordered community, not the separate development and satisfaction of the individual was the pressing need of human evolution) he sacrificed his own happiness and domestic life and the happiness of Sita. In that he was at one with the moral sense of all the antique races, though at variance with the later romantic individualistic sentimental morality of the modern man who can afford to have that less stern morality just because the ancients sacrificed the individual in order to make the world safe for the spirit of social order. Finally, it was Rama’s business to make the world safe for the ideal of the sattwic human being by destroying the sovereignty of Ravana, the Rakshasa menace.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 28: 491-492)
Coming up in next part…Lotus Mahal and Queen’s Bath
Lotus Mahal, Queen’s Bath, & Stables
(Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Suhas and Beloo Mehra)
A little walk from behind the Hazara Rama temple brings you to the great Royal Quarters of the mighty Vijayanagara Emperors who ruled from Hampi. A visit to Hampi would not be complete without spending some time appreciating the few surviving splendid architectural marvels in this royal enclosure.
First, let us walk toward the famous Kamal Mahal or Chitrangani Mahal, or more commonly known as Lotus Mahal.
Lotus Mahal
The magnificent Chitrangani Mahal owes its present day popular name “Lotus Mahal” to the Britishers. This place is also referred to as the pleasure pavilion or zenana quarters (ladies’ quarters) where the Queens and other royal ladies spent their leisure time in pleasant pursuits. Interestingly, one part of this mahal was also used by the Emperor for meeting with his closest aides. This is why the first map of the site prepared in 1799 showed this structure as the “council chamber.”
Lotus Mahal is one of the few courtly structures which survived the mayhem caused by the Deccan Sultans. It is situated inside a high walled compound which has watchtowers with balconies built into the compound wall. A road from the mahal leads directly to the royal elephant stables, so it is likely that this palatial building generally thought of as ladies’ quarter was at least equally used by the gentlemen of the royalty.
The two-storied building has a symmetric layout, with equal projections on four sides. The beautiful plaster designs on the curved archways throughout the building are showstoppers. These archways and the balcony on the first floor with the domed construction give the building a resemblance of a half opened lotus bud.
Eight pyramidal towers rise over the central and corner bays of the building; a ninth tower above the central bay is similar but higher. The staircase tower in one corner is a later addition. Continuously running sloping eaves or overhangs surround both the stories of the building, protecting it from the sun and rain.
While the building itself is made of
brick and stucco, the high and ornamental platform on which it is raised
is made of stone. The ground floor has an open pavilion or a spectator
section; it is believed that this space was used by the royals for
congregation and leisurely activities. The first floor is a closed
pavilion with many rectangular windows topped by curved arches. This
portion is believed to have been primarily used by the royal ladies.
The mahal was built in such a way that it naturally remained cool during the summers. It had an internal duct work through which flowed a stream of water keeping the building cool. But the source of water and its connectivity to the building remains somewhat of a mystery.
“…the Indian mind is not only spiritual and ethical, but intellectual and artistic, and both the rule of the intellect and the rhythm of beauty are hostile to the spirit of
chaos.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 20: 12)
Kamal Mahal or Lotus Mahal is one of the prime examples of the Indo-Islamic architecture which began to grow around 11th century CE. We see here a fusion of Indian temple architectural elements with some aspects of the Islamic royal structures. The beautiful roof of the mahal contains nine superstructures, which resemble the shikhara of a temple. The lobed or cusped arches and plaster designs reflect the influence of the Islamic architectural elements.
Much of the original decorative work – which again includes Hindu motifs and Islamic style decorative work – on the arches has been destroyed. And more disappointingly, some of the recent restoration has altered the original colour and finish of the outer surface.
“It seems to me that here [in Indo-Islamic architecture] the Indian mind has taken in much from the Arab and Persian imagination…; but it remains clear enough that it is still on the whole a typically Indian creation with the peculiar Indian gift. The richness of decorative skill and imagination has been turned to the uses of another style, but it is the same skill which we find in the northern Hindu temples, and in the ground we see, however toned down, something sometimes of the old epic mass and power, but more often that lyric grace which we see developing before the Mahomedan advent in the indigenous sculpture,—as in the schools of the North-East and of Java,—and sometimes a blending of the two motives.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 12: 282-283)
Elephant Stables
A short walk from the Kamal Mahal is the building known as Elephant Stables, an elaborate, imposing structure in an immense open space and one of the few structures, which had remained, unharmed. True to its name, every single portion of the structure is colossal, like the jumbo elephant itself.
The Vijayanagara army had several hundred elephants but this building is meant to accommodate only eleven elephants. Perhaps these were imperial elephants. King Deva Raya II was a great lover of elephants. It is possible that these stables were built during his period.
Each of the eleven chambers of this stable complex has lofty arched doorways opening onto a large open space. The domes on the top are of different shapes and sizes, though there is a central symmetry. The central (sixth) chamber has a flat roof and an open gallery, a space which was probably used by musicians and drummers. This is all the more likely because in front of this complex is an open area which was in all likelihood used as a parade ground for the imperial troops and animals.
All the domes have ornate designs on the
inside. The domes on the first and the last chamber are similar, very
much resembling an Islamic tomb. The central chamber’s roof structure is
more temple-like; interestingly while all the roofs are intact this
center one has long been collapsed or was destroyed. All the chambers
are connected with small doors.
Toward the north of the elephant stables stands another building, the purpose of which remains a mystery. The raised open arcade seems to suggest that it may have served partly as a grandstand, where the mighty Vijayanagara emperors and their commanders reviewed their armed troops – men and their trusty companions from the animal world. It is believed that the open hall in the interior of this space, surrounded by a raised loggia, might have been the site of martial entertainments, such as boxing and wrestling matches.
Queen’s Bath
After this quick tour of the imposing elephant stables, let us now spend some leisurely moments and cool ourselves in a more delicately designed space, known as Queen’s Bath.
Square in design with plain and simple exterior and yet surprisingly ornate interiors, this structure is believed to have been constructed during the time of King Achyuta Raya. It is called Queen’s Bath because in all likelihood this was mostly used by the Queens and other royal ladies for leisurely baths and other water sports.
The interior of this building must have been quite beautiful once upon a time, with ornate balconies, each having a set of three windows. Each of the arched bays surrounding the bath is decorated with intricately carved stucco ornamentation on the ceilings and the vaults placed above the arched bays. The pool in the middle of the building is open to sky; the depth of the pool is about 6 feet and it has stone steps leading to the bottom of the tank.
At several places the original plaster has survived the destruction by the Deccan Sultans, but it’s a pity to witness the modern graffiti on some of the walls, courtesy of some thoughtless and unconcerned tourists.
After spending some time at the Queen’s Bath and then looking at the dry and arid surroundings of the royal quarters a visitor may wonder from where and how water was brought for the pool. One might also wonder how the pool would have been occasionally emptied for cleaning and renovation works. These are some questions an engineer might be more interested in, but for a lover of art such practical concerns take backstage especially when faced with such raw and natural beauty as this.
Coming up in next part…A Bit More of Royal Enclosure
Royal Enclosure
(Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Suhas and Beloo Mehra)
If you were a visitor to Hampi during the times of the mighty Vijayanagara emperors, wanting to see where the kings and queens, princes and princesses lived and from where they ruled the great empire, you would go to the part of the town which is today known as The Royal Enclosure.
At the pinnacle of the Vijayanagara empire this royal enclosure must have been both majestic and grand. According to some estimates, it spread over 59,000 square metres and had approximately 45 buildings.
The area was heavily fortified by two granite stone walls with passage between the walls. Presently these walls are mostly in ruins, only in a few places some restoration work has been done.
There were three entrances to the enclosure, two on the northern side and one on the western side. The entrance gates were made out of monolithic granite slabs with exquisitely carvings. We were informed by our guide that these doors were too heavy to be manned by soldiers, therefore elephants were used to open and close these doors.
The brutal attacks by the Deccan Sultans which resulted in mass killings, including that of the kings and royal families, were followed by large-scale looting and arson of the magnificent city of Hampi. It is believed that Hampi burned for almost six months. What remains now are the ruins reminding us of the once glorious and magnificent royal enclosure.
Based on archaeological findings as well as contemporary accounts of the archivists, historians, and travellers, experts today surmise that the ruins found in the enclosure include foundations of the palaces, water tanks, temple, ornate platform, aqueducts and canals, exquisitely carved doorways and many other structures.
Right at the entrance of the royal enclosure, one can’t miss the colossal ruin of Mahanavami Dibba. This was a three-storied massive structure, which now appears to be like a truncated pyramid-like structure. It had three sets of stairs, on the eastern, western and southern sides.
The massive stone platform used to have intricately carved wooden pillars and a roof, probably made of sandal wood. Some of the carvings seen on the steps of the Dibba and on the platform are also seen at the royal temple, the famous Hazara Rama temple.
Built by Krishnadeva Raya, the platform was used by the King to watch march-pasts, war games and exercises. Most importantly, and justifying its name, Mahanavami Dibba was used during the Mahanavami celebrations.
Mahanavami was one of the grandest and most spectacular festivals celebrated by the kings of Vijayanagara. The day marked the occasion when Sri Rama propitiated Ma Durga on the eve of the climactic battle with Ravana. Like Rama, the Vijayanagara kings also worshipped Ma Durga and asked the Mother to bless them with force to govern their empire and overcome their enemies. Only after the Mahanavami celebrations were completed the kings would go on military expeditions. The festival also gained political significance because all the subordinate chiefs were invited on this occasion so that they could declare their allegiance to the Vijayanagara emperor by paying tribute and pledging troops and animals.
A massive parade, entertainment, feasts and fireworks marked the grand celebrations. The exquisitely caparisoned elephants and horses, troops, battle animals, royal attendants, musicians, drummers, acrobats, and others walked through in a procession. The gala parade also included young women attendants and courtesans proudly exhibiting the elegant and expensive necklaces and other jewellery taken from the royal treasury. All this display of power and wealth of the emperor was intended to overwhelm the visitors with the imperial magnificence of the Vijayanagara.
Durbar Hall, located in the northwest side of the enclosure, was the King’s audience hall. What remains of this now is the platform having 100 sockets for pillars which supported the structure; hence this hall was also known as the 100-pillared hall. It was here that the emperor listened to the concerns of his subjects.
Remnants of a stone staircase suggest that this might have been a two-storied structure. It is believed to have been made of wood and destroyed in a fire in 1565 CE.
Archaeological Survey of India and the Karnataka State Department of Archaeology and Museums have been conducting excavations at Hampi. They have discovered several interesting structures and antiquities. One such discovery is the beautiful and well-preserved stepped tank (pushkarini) presumed to be built around 15th century. The symmetry of the pyramidal shaped steps at each tier of the tank makes the structure unique and extremely elegant. The water in this tank was primarily used for various religious rituals, celebrations and events.
This tank, fashioned out of chloritic schist blocks, was built in the shape of a square and had five sets of steps. The base of the tank had stone slabs; a layer of sand beneath these slabs purified the water. One is awed at discovering that the tank had a system of innovative channels which brought a regular supply of fresh water to the tank.
There are 36 steps in each of the five set of stairs. Every stone used for the construction has numerals, symbols and Kannada letters inscribed on it. For example, letters u, da, tu and pa represent north (uttara), south (dakshina), east (turpu), and west (paschima) directions. Symbols were also used to represent the measurement mark for the water level.
Thus, the stepped tank in addition to being beautiful and elegant also gives us a good idea of several technical aspects adopted by the architects and engineers of that period.
The royal enclosure also had an extensive rose garden, with a large variety of roses in various colours and shades. The water from swimming pools was recycled for the rose garden. It is said that the town of Hampi had more roses than the number of people living there; and the visitors who came to see the glory of Hampi were awed by the variety of ways people used roses to adorn themselves.
Another interesting and amazing structure is the underground secret chamber. This is between the durbar hall and the stepped well. Ceiling at some portions of the chamber has collapsed but general public can walk in through the narrow corridor. This chamber might have been used by the emperor for secret meetings or by the treasury.
One can spend a lot of time at the royal enclosure walking lazily through the ruins and imagining what this place must have been like in all its glory and splendour. One can visualise the grand Mahanavami procession, or the queens and princesses strolling through the rose garden with their attendants in tow.
The splendid City of Victory, Vijayanagara, founded by the mighty and fearless brothers Hukka and Bukka now stands in ruins.
But these ruins continue to speak many stories in their silence – stories that we must listen to, if we want to experience the eternal life-force that still vibrates there. This is the force of courage, nobility and truth, which reminds all who care to pay attention that victory shall once again be ours, because we are the sons and daughters of immortality!
We conclude this 10-part photo feature series on Hampi by adding a few more pictures of the views from the Royal Enclosure.
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