HAMPI

HAMPI
HISTORY
Hampi is situated on the banks of River Tungabhadra in Bellary district of Karnataka State about 350 kms north of Bengaluru. Here are the magnificent ruins of the great Vijayanagar Dynasty.

HAMPI, the seat of the famed VIJAYANAGARA empire was the capital of the largest empire in post-mogul India. The empire reigned supreme under Krishnadevaraya, the Emperor. The empire later became famous for its support towards renovation/reconstruction of temples through out India. It also became renowned for re-establishment of Indian culture, its support for music, art and literature with the prime purpose of caring for the people and their welfare. The destruction of Vijayanagar by marauding Moghul invaders was sudden, shocking and absolute. They reduced the city to ruins amid scenes of savage massacre and horrors beggaring description.

Although in ruins today, this capital city once boasted riches known far beyond the shores of India. The ruins of Hampi of the 16th Century lies scattered in about 26 sq. km area, amidst giant boulders and vegetation. Protected by river Tungabhadra in the north and rocky granite ridges on the other three sides, the ruins silently narrate the story of grandeur splendor and fabulous wealth. The splendid remains of palaces and gateways of the broken city tell a tale of men infinite talent and power of creativity together with his capacity for senseless destruction.

In March, 2002 the government of India declared Hampi as a World Heritage Center.
The history of Hampi begins with the Ramayana in Threta Yuga. Pampa is the ancient name of the river Tungabhadra. The word Hampi is generally held to be a later Kannada form of the term Pampa. The ancient Kishkindha, Matanga Parvata, Malyavanta ,Rishyamuka and Hemakuta mentioned in Ramayana are believed to have been situated around present day Hampi.
Kishkindha was ruled by the monkey kings, Vali and Sugriva. After a quarrel, Sugriva, who had been driven out, took refuge on the Matanga Parvata, along with Hanuman. After Sita was carried away to Lanka by Ravana, Rama and Lakshmana came south in search of Sita and met Sugriva and Hanuman. Rama killed Vali, restored to Sugriva his kingdom and then stayed on the Manyavanta Hill. To day there are two hillocks called Kishkindha and Manyavanta near Hampi.
Hemakuta where Vali was prohibited from entering due to a curse and where Sugriva and Hanuman took shelter also exists in the neighbourhood. A huge mound of ash in the adjacent village of Nimbapuram is believed to be the cremated remains of Vali.
Hampi, the capital city of Vijayanagar Empire, was founded by two brothers Harihara and Bukkaraya (more popularly known as Hakka and Bukka), under the guidance of their Guru Vidyaranya. Vijayanagar was also sometimes known as Vidyanagar in honour of the Guru.
Hampi built in stages from the year 1336 AD till 1529 AD flourished and had a population of over half a million during Krishna Devaraya’s time. Hampi was ruled by four dynasties, Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu till 1672 AD. At the peak, the kingdom extended from Gulbarga in the North and Sri Lanka in the South, to Orissa in the East and Malabar in the West.
Vijayanagar being the trade hub for the whole of South India with the ports of Goa, Cochin, Bhatkal and others under its control was visited by a lot of foreign traders and delegates. The Empire throughout its reign had many visiting Chroniclers and Ambassadors from all parts of the world, including as far as Europe,( specially from Italy, Portugal), Persia, Mangolia and Russia. Vijayanagar had a large force of cavalry and traders from Mangolia and Egypt brought thoroughbreds for sale and took back in exchange gold, precious stones from Hampi
Historians generally regard the reign of the Tuluvas (AD 1491-1570) as the Golden Age of the empire. Two great kings ruled during this time: Deva Raya (AD 1424-1446) and the greatest of all, Krishan Deva Raya (AD 1509-1530), who was responsible for erecting a vast number of temples and structures which can still be found at Hampi. The battle of Talikota in 1565 and the invasion by Muslims from the south of India brought about the downfall of the Tuluva dynasty and left many of the temples and palaces at Hampi in ruins. The kingdom lingered on for another seventy-six years with the Aravidus (AD 1571-1646) being credited as the last dynasty.


HAMPI ATTRACTIONS1. Shree Virupaksha temple:
The Virupaksha temple located at the foot of the Hemakuta Hill is the core of the village of Hampi. The temple, often called Pampapathi temple, is the most sacred of the temples of this place. At present, the main temple consists of a Sanctum, three ante chambers, a pillared hall and a Mukha Mantapa also called Ranga Mantapa or an open pillared hall. The main gopura at the entrance of the temple is 9 storied, 53 meters high and adds elegance to the 732 meters long and 28 meters wide Virupaksha Bazaar in front of the gopura. The mantapa is full of pillars with carvings. The ceiling is covered with paintings. Quite a lot of additions were made to this temple by Krishna Deva Raya.
2. Shree Vijaya Vittala temple
This wonderful temple dedicated to Vishnu or Vittala is the most amazing monument in Hampi and is portrayed as the icon for Hampi. The construction of this temple started during the reign of King Krishna Deva Raya in the year 1513 AD. The project was so colossal that the additions continued for almost five decades until the Empire fell down in the year 1565 AD.
The temple is built mainly on the original Dravidian Temple architecture. The carvings on this temple give an insight into the architectural splendour achieved by the artisans of Vijayanagar Empire. The temple consists of 56 columns with musical pillars. When tapped gently, these pillars produce musical sounds. These pillars are popularly known as Musical Pillars or SaReGaMa pillars after the Saptha Swaras of the Indian Classical Music.
3. Stone Chariot
Situated inside the Vijaya Vittala Temple complex, the Stone Chariot deserves special attention. The chariot is a miniature temple. It resembles the temple chariots or rathas in which the idols of the temple are taken out on a traditional procession.
4. Hazara Rama temple
This temple is situated in the royal enclosure of the city and was probably the king's private shrine. As the name indicates, this temple is famous for its many Ramayana panels. This is the only temple in Hampi where the exterior walls have boldly chiselled bas-reliefs. These bas-reliefs are narrative in nature.
the inner panels show scenes from the Hindu epic, the Ramayana.The Ramayana epic is carved in full detail in three layers. Devotees who perform the Pradakshina three times will be able to see the entire Ramayana in sculpture. Incidents in the story like Shravana Kumara’s death, Dasaratha performing a sacrifice to beget sons, the birth of Rama, his exile into the forest, the abduction of Sita and the ultimate fight between Rama and Ravana are all carved in a vivid manner.
The friezes on outer wall depict horses, elephants, dancing girls and infantry in procession. The boldly carved panels are in five horizontal rows, one above the other, representing a procession of elephants with riders and attendants, prancing horses with riders and rider less horses led by grooms, wrestlers and soldiers in procession witnessed by a few seated royal figures. These panels represent symbolically the power of the rulers and the might of their fighting forces paraded annually at the time of the Dusshera festival.
One can see clearly sculptures of men from Egypt, China and European origin pulling along horses brought for sale in Vijayanagar.
5. Ugra Narasimha
This image of Lakshmi-Narasimha, popularly called Ugranarasimha is hewn out of a rock in-situ. According to an inscription found here, it was executed in 1528 A.D. during the rule of Krishnadevaraya. Originally, the icon bore a smaller image of Lakshmi sitting on his lap. This gigantic image, 6.7 meters in height, was mutilated and the figure of Lakshmi was entirely damaged and vandalized in 1565 A.D. Narasimha with an articulately chiseled and well delineated mane and large bulging eyes and broad chest still retains His awesome charm. He is seated on the coils of the snake Adisesha, who rises behind him with seven hoods, which serve as a canopy. The entire image is set within a Makara torana, or arch, with a lion-mask above the hoods of Adisesha.
6. Elephant stables.
Located just outside the Zenana Enclosure, on the East, is an oblong structure of considerable size, called the Elephant stables. Among the many civil structures of the place, this building is a fine example of Indo-Islamic style of architecture.
It has a greater Islamic character about it. The building consists of eleven large rooms with very high ceilings. Large domes crown ten of these. These domes are of brick and mortar, and are of different shapes drum-shaped, ribbed and octagonal. The superstructure of the central upper pavilion is lost. It probably had a Hindu Shikhara in consonance with the Indo-Islamic architecture.
The rooms were used as Elephant stables. The elephants were tied to the chains hanging from the centre of the ceiling as can be made out from the iron hooks embedded in some of the ceilings. These were not the military elephants but were the ceremonial ones which were used by royal household.
The war elephants were kept in Anegudi on the other bank of Thungabhadra.
7. King’s Balance
To the southwest of Vijayavitthala Temple, one can find the monument popularly known as the King's Balance. It consists of two lofty carved granite pillars about 15 feet high supporting a stone beam about 12 feet wide, provided with three hooks on the underside. One of the pillars has a bas-relief depicting a king and two queens, possibly Krishna Deva Raya and his consorts.
Also known as Tula Bhara or Tula Purushadana, the balance was used to weigh the kings of Vijayanagar on certain occasions like solar or lunar eclipse, New years day and coronation day against precious diamonds, gems, gold, silver, etc. and distribute them to the Brahmins.
8. Sule Bazaar
Sule Bazaar gives you some idea what Hampi Bazaar would have looked like during Vijayanagar empire's reign. It is believed that this was the centre for trade of gold and diamonds and merchants from all over the world used to come here. One has to walk between the stone columns to appreciate the sculptures on each pillar.

8. Queen'sBath

It is a large, square structure with a plain exterior and an ornate interior. It has a bath, 15 metre square and 1.8 metres deep, surrounded by decorated corridors and projecting balconies. Some remnants of elaborate stucco work and variegated designs are visible on the ceilings of each day. The Queens bath is fed by aqueducts.








9. Zanana Enclosure

What remains here are the basement of a fairly large palace building, a water pavilion and three watch towers, the Lotus Mahal and the Women guard's quarters. On the basis of recently unearthed inscriptions , this complex has been identified as that of king Rama Raya.

10. Lotus Mahal
It is a two storeyed structure that is a blend of Indian and Islamic architectural styles. It is built on a moulded stone adhisthana, The interior of the building is severely plain. The Lotus Mahal is also known as "Chitrangani Mahal" where Rama Raya may have spent time with scholars well versed in literature, music and art. This building had an elaborate temperature controlling system of overhead tanks and running pipes.


15. Royal Enclosure

The Royal enclosure is the largest extant enclosure. Occupying an area of 59,000 square metres and protected by lofty double walls, it housed as many as 45 buildings including the Mahanavami Dibba , King's audience hall and the public bath. The Royal enclosure was definitely not built by a single ruler or dynasty and evidence suggests three phases of structural activity. Since many additions and alterations were made in existing structures, it is impossible to exactly date the three phases.

(1).Mahanavami Dibba
Built by King Krishnadeva Raya in memory of his Orissa conquest , Mahanavami Dibba is a huge platform 80 sq ft in area and 22 ft in height. It was the hub of religious ceremonies that were publicly celebrated by the Vijayanagar kings. It is popularly known as the throne platform or the house of victory. It was built in three phases.
(2).King's Audience Hall
Generally this is referred to as the loftiest building in the Royal Citadel as the King's audience hall. Remains of pillar-sockets and bases show that it was originally a hall with hundred pillars. In front of the audience hall is a large enclosure, which was probably a general assembly area. According to scholars it was in this courtyard that public discussions and proceedings of the Vijayanagar court took place.

(3) Stepped Tank
One of the most beautiful remains in the Durbar area is the Stepped Tank built in chlorite schist, used by the royals and for religious purposes. The small but neat tank is about 22 meters square and about 7 meters deep. It has five distinct tiers, each fitted with steps set in a pleasing pattern. The mason marks on the individual blocks indicating the direction, the row and the location of the steps reveal that the layout of this stepped tank was well thought out in advance and all the different block stones were prepared in accordance with the plan elsewhere and assembled on the site later. This tank was discovered during recent excavations.
A bigger tank measuring roughly 73 meters by 27 meters is at the entrance into the Durbar area, and located to the Northwest of the Queen's bath. The common people probably used this tank.
(4) Water Channels/Aqueducts
The Palace area is dotted with innumerable water tanks of various sizes. In fact, the whole of Hampi ruins has very many water tanks. All these tanks were supplied with water by a well-planned water supply system of aqueducts and channels.
Water over flowing from Tungabhadra during floods falls into from Kamalapura tank which then feeds the main stone aqueduct running east to West in the royal enclosure. First it feeds the large public tank and then the stepped tank. Later the main stone aqueduct branches off to North and West, which in turn feed nineteen other small and big tanks all over the royal enclosure. At the point of branching off of the main stone aqueduct, a well was dug to enable water supply in case the water supply from Kamalapura tank ceased.
The drain and waste water from the royal enclosure was taken out through underground stone slab-lime concrete drainage channels either directly or through a huge drain found on the southern side adjoining the walled garden.


OUR TRIP TO HAMPI

We reached Hospet from Bengaluru by Hampi Expres on 28th March morning. Our hotel Vijayashree Resort was about 4 Kms from Hospet station. After settling down we hired an auto riksha from the hotel and went to Hampi which is about 9 Kms from the hotel.
There were a lot structures to be seen in two days time. They were spread over a large area. In order not to miss any important location, we decided to hire a guide. We spent more than a day and half going round the places.
Most of the structures were damaged by Muslim invaders in 1565 AD. Only in the Virupaksha Temple regular pooja is held. I was revisting the place after 54 years. It was a great experience looking at all those structures and engineering marvels. In addition to the structures, the water supply and sewage schemes were really wonderful..
The heat because of hills all round and the iron ore excavations near Bellary is unbearable. I think the ideal time to visit Hampi is winter.