HISTORY – I

HISTORY OF THE TEMPLES

AT HAMPI

SUBMITTED BY:
ADITI KARNWAL
I.D. - 2527

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 CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………............. 3
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY …………………………………………………… 4
 MASTERPIECE OF VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE ……………………………………… 5
 JAINISM AND HINDUISM IN THE HISTORY OF HAMPI ………………………… 6
 INDO-SARACENIC BUILDINGS AT HAMPI ………………………………………. 7
 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………. 9
 BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………….. 10

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 INTRODUCTION
Hampi possesses a significant position, both in the Indian history and in the contemporary world.
In the beginning of the 16th century, Hampi was the second largest city in the world. Today, the
main Hindu capitals from the 6th to 7th centuries onwards are depicted mostly by vast-scale
temple projects, and occasionally, an independent fortified gateway or indistinct fortification
wall. Hampi does not only consist of alluring beautiful huge temples and monolithic statues but
also architecturally well-planned secular structures.

Despite its devastation the city has become renowned with one of the most glorious era of Indian
history which makes it essential to study the history of Hampi.

This research paper attempts to analyse the history of the temples at Hampi. First, the researcher
discusses about the importance of temples at Hampi in the sense why they are the masterpieces
of Vijayanagar Empire. Second, she studies the behaviour of dominant religions prevailing in the
temples of Hampi. Lastly, she attempts to study the importance of Indo-Saracenic buildings at
Hampi.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 Aims and Objectives

The researcher aims to study the history of the temples at Hampi. The objective is to
study the importance of Hampi temples and the dominant religions.

 Scope and limitations

The scope of this paper extends to trace the history of the temples at Hampi from the Pre-
Vijayanagara Empire till the mid-sixteenth century. Due to the vast multitude of temples,
each and every aspect of each temple is not covered.

 Sources

The researcher has solely relied on secondary sources such as articles and books. The
researcher, for the purpose of interpretation of the history of temples at Hampi has
referred to the work of historians.

 Methodology

The researcher has critically analysed the importance and history of the temples at
Hampi.

 Research Questions

1. Why are the temples at Hampi known as the masterpieces of the Vijayanagara empire?

2. How Jainism and Hinduism are connected with the Hampi Temples?

3. What are the Indo-Saracenic buildings at Hampi? How they possess an important
aspect of the Hampi temple’s history?

 Mode of Citation

A uniform mode of citation, as provided in the ‘MLA citation guide’ 8th edition has been
used throughout this paper.

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 MASTERPIECE OF VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE
Hampi is located on the southern bank of the Tungabhadra river in Bellary district of Karnataka.
It served the capital of Vijayanagara kingdom from the mid-fourteenth century to mid-sixteenth
century. It was fortified by the rulers of Vijayanagara empire as a showpiece of royal beauty and
the eminent of all medieval capitals of Hindu. Hampi witnessed extreme religious things for
around over a thousand years. The founders of Vijayanagara kingdom chose the Hampi as the
seat of power due to the military considerations and its strategic position. The Tungabhadra
offered natural protection in the west and the north, while the spectacular hills and rocky
outcrops formed a massive natural fortification (Verghese, deities, cults and kings of
Vijayanagara 416-421).

The near omission of any metal pieces is an essential feature of Hampi sculpture. The
monograph therefore deals only with the work of stone carving and stucco. Artists from
Vijayanagara have made full use of the natural settings of rocks, which were excellent sites for
religious carvings. Hampi’s richness is seen in a broad range of themes, both secular and sacred.
(Jaiswal, Sculpture of Vijayanagara: Iconography and style 106). Vijayanagara divided in three
centres including Sacred centre, Urban centre and Royal centre. Hampi comes under the Sacred
centre of the kingdom which is located along the riverside. The hilly site’s highlight is the
Virupaksha temple, around which Hampi village’s modern day houses are clustered. Small
temples on the south, some of which date back to the 10th and 11th centuries, are located on the
slanting shelf of Hemkunta hill as well as on the other areas along the side of the river. Due to
intensive religious activity at the sacred centre, many temples were built next to the river, rocks
and minimal segments of the ground level. The temples are characterized by their immense
rectangular enclosures, joined across towered gates and contacted by lengthy pavements
surrounded by stone walls (Michell, Interpreting the plan of a medieval Hindu capital,
Vijayanagara 110). Sacred centre consist the city’s largest temple complexes including many
smaller temples and sculptures, shrines and inscriptions. Total temple complexes devoted to
Balakrishna, Virupaksha, Vithala, Pattibhirama, Tiruvngalanatha and Ragunatha can be found
here. These several shrines are the first examples of what art historians term the styles of the
Vijayanagara temple. Amongst the oldest shrines, Virupaksha is the largest and oldest temple on
the river. It demonstrates several components of temple architecture observed north of the

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Tungabhadra river and is therefore referred to as the style of ‘Deccan’ (Stein, The new
Cambridge history of India 32). Sacred images, carved on rocks and in rocky clefts, are
associated with these various temples. These portrayals include the incarnations of Shiva linga,
Nandi, Vishnu, Hanumana, etc (Michell, Interpreting the plan of a medieval Hindu capital,
Vijayanagara 112).

JAINISM AND HINDUISM IN THE HISTORY OF HAMPI

In the fourteenth century, the small stone temples located on Hemakuntam, which is a hill right
straight away to the south of the Pampapati temple at Hampi, the Jains were involved in the
construction of this site before Hindus founded the Vijayanagara. In 1368, the king Bukka Raya
brought about a harmonizing between the Jains and the Vaishnavas, as the Vaishnavas had been
oppressed the Jains (Longhurst, Hampi Ruins 25). The Jains constituted one of the most
important and influential community in this period as the king confers holy orders on the
religious practices of their own choices. The Jaina faith must have been formerly prevailed
widely and this can be seen at Hampi from the ruins of their temples and the scattered pieces
throughout the Bellary district (Longhurst, Hampi Ruins 25).

At Hampi, the oldest and sacred Hindu temple is the Pampapati temple which was named by the
goddess ‘Pampa’ who was worshipped here. Pampa came to be ‘sanskritized’ by marriage to
Virupaksha who is a form of Shiva. Marriage with Shiva was the universal method of entrancing
Pampa into the brahmanical sanctuary. Therefore, Pampa came to be recognized as an
incarnation of Parvati (Verghese, Hampi 419-420). Bhairava was the another Shaivite deity
worshipped at this site at pre-Vijayanagara empire located on the southern slope of the hill of
Hemkunta (Wagoner, Vijayanagara 74-76). The Hampi has also been firmly related with the
Ramayana. The events of the Ramayana are related to Hampi and its environs around the
meeting of Rama with Sugriva and Hanumana and the formation of their union (Verghese,
Hampi 421). Along with the development of waterworks and agriculture, monuments, new
techniques in warfare, the rulers of Vijayanagara empire promoted the institutions related with
Hinduism through the encouragement of Vedic and other studies, generous grants to mathas and
Temples, support of Brahmans, celebration of public traditions and pilgrimage to religious

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places. The Shaivism and Vaishnavism gained a large importance in this region. Jainism suffered
a great decline by the fourteenth century before that it had been a dominant religion (Verghese
1995, Hampi 4-6).

Most recent scholars have criticized the notion of ‘Hindu state’ in the empire which is
established to withstand the additional growth of Islam by citing the various styles of art, dress,
architecture and military tactics borrowed from the northern sultanates on the name of
Vijayanagara rulers (Stoker, Polemics and Patronage in the City of Victory 52). In this period,
the features of Brahmin reliogiosity may have been found while communicating a shared Hindu
orthodoxy or unifying against Islam (Stoker, Polemics and Patronage in the City of Victory 55-
56). Krishnadeva Raya, Achutya Raya and Rama Raya unduly uplifted their success and gave no
importance to the Islam religion, destroyed the mosques, insulted the honour of the Mussalman
women and did not respect the sacred Kuran. The haughty behaviour of the rulers of Vijayanagar
empire towards the Mohammad Sultanates of Deccan induced them to forget the differences
their own in order to unite and crush the Vijayanagara Empire (Verghese, Hampi Ruins 20-22).

INDO-SARACENIC BUILDINGS AT HAMPI

The ‘Royal centre’ includes elephant stables, administrative and residential water tanks, various
platforms and audience halls, temples including the Hazara Rama temple are some examples of
the secular architecture called the ‘courtly style’ of Vijayanagara (Sewell, A Forgotten Empire
91). This style known as the Indo-Saracenic, was widely shared throughout the Deccan and
combines elements of design from temple architecture which styles from Islamic structures.
These structure index a common culture that fully embraced religious divisions in the courts and
cosmopolitan (Morrison, The ‘Fall’ of Vijayanagara reconsidered 441). The large enclosures of
Royal Center are distinctly defined by high walls. Watchtowers designed in a hybrid Hindu-
Islamic style with different designs and a pavilion with two stories known as ‘Lotus Mahal’. Two
monumental buildings, utilizing Islamic architectural styles, are outside of the enclosure to that
of the east. One is known as the elephant stables, while the other is often represented as the
quarters of the guards. Both buildings face a large rectangular space reserved for the displays of
the military (Michell, Interpreting the plan of a Medieval Hindu Capital, Vijayanagara 119).

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The Zanana Enclosure at Hampi mainly consists of Indo-Saracenic buildings. The construction
of the walls of enclosure is peculiar and weak because the wall was built as a screen to enable the
privacy inside and not for the resistance against attack. It is basically constructed on the usual
corbel and lintel principle which is a method preferred by Hindus to employing the arch in spite
the fact that the latter was recognized by them as the brick arches in the temples at Bhitar-gaon
and Bodh-Gaya long before they entered into contract with the Mohammadans (Longhurst,
Hampi Ruins 75-77).

Lotus Mahal is one of the finest structures in the Zanana enclosure and it is the best example of
Indo-Saracenic architecture. One of the important features of the Mahal is that even within the
Mahal also there are numerous arches. The arches and pillars are Islamic in character. Roof
cornice, stucco ornaments and the base are in Hindu design. Therefore, it is known as the Indo-
Saracenic in character (Devakunjari, Hampi 36-37). The Elephant Stables is located just outside
of the Zenana enclosure and opposite to the Divan-Kaneh. It was built primarily for the royal
elephants that were sometimes used in the festivals and royal ceremonies. This is another perfect
example of the Islamic Architecture. Understanding the impact of Islamic architecture on the
secular institutions in the city is truly pleasant surprises. This structure is still in good condition
today (Sewell, A Forgotten Empire 92). Apart from Lotus Mahal and Elephant Stables, the
structures which were built in Indo-Saracenic architectural style are the Queen’s Palace, Watch
Towers, Guard-room, Hazara Rama Bazaar, Muhammad Watch Tower, Pattanada ellamma
temple, Ranga temple and the Water Pavilion. These are the magnificent Indo-Saracenic
architectural style at the Hampi (Devakunjari, Hampi 35-42).

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 CONCLUSION
After the critical analysis of the history of the temples at Hampi, the researcher concludes that
due to the geographical location, the weather conditions, the history of Vijayanagara Empire and
the architectural format makes the Hampi temples more spectacular in the history. It is witnessed
for the immense religious activities. Hampi was considered as both the sacred and the secular.

Jainism was the dominant religion before the pre-Vijayanagara period concluded from the
various incarnations of Jain structures. After that, Hinduism became the dominant religion at the
Hampi as the connection of goddess Pampa with its name and also the historical events in
relation with other Hindu gods such as Rama, Hanumana, Shiva, Vishnu makes it significant of
the prevalence and dominance of Hinduism. Most of the Vijayanagara rulers always gave
importance to their religion i.e. Hinduism and insulted the Islam and Muhammads to maintain
the Hindu dominance which is also one of the important reasons of the Hinduism at Hampi.

The Indo-Saracenic buildings make the Hampi more significant and great in the history. The
inclusion of Islamic architectural style with the Hindu architectural format gave the magnificence
to Hampi. Inspite of most of the temples at Hampi built in Hindu style but the inclusion of
Islamic structures also have equal importance to make the Hampi glorious.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS
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Victory. Archaeological Insititute of America, 1991.
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15. Wagoner, Phillip B. and Michell, George. Vijayanagara Architectural Inventory of the
Sacred Centre. Manohar Publishers and Distributors, 2001.

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ARTICLES
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