Manasi Bandyopadhyay ( neé Chakrabarti)
When I was fourteen years old, I read Tungabhadrar
teerè, (on the bank of Tungabhadra ) a historical novel based on Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1530) - the greatest king of the Vijaynagar empire - and his reign written by Sharadindu
Bandyopadhyay. It touched my heart . ‘When the whole India is asleep, Vijaynagar with his torch of blazing fire over the Hemakoot hill, passes his night like a sleepless guard ''– ''atandra prahari'' – as the Bengali words say.
Then Robert Sewell.
In history honours, I read his
book, A Forgotten Empire (Vijaynagar) . Along with the episode of rabbit which I
shall mention here, there was another incident that our teacher told us in the
class . It went like this : one day, Harihara was running after a deer
who took him to a place and suddenly vanished. Harihara told this to this
brother, Bukka. Both of them were anxious to know it's implication and Madhavacharyya explained that Pampapati wants their capital should be built in that place and thus Hampi came into existance as the capital of Vijaynagar.
With these myths or ‘incidents’ profoundly interred in my
mind, I became intently desirous to know Hampi.
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| Lotus Mahal |
Legendary history and local tradition links Hampi back
to Kishkindhya – to the age of the Ramayana. Piyodosino
Asoka's Rock Edicts in Nittur and Udegolan in Bellary
suggest that this region was part of the Maurya Empire during the 3rd
century BC. A Brahmi inscription and a terracotta seal dating to the 2nd century BC were also recovered from the
excavation site.
The Vijayanagar kings had Virupaksha or Pampapati (Shiva)
as their family god and their crest was the Varaha or Bora like the Chalukyas . Their capital was probably at
first situated at Anegundi on the northern bank of the Tungabhadra nearly
opposite the present village of Hampi. As the empire grew it retained itself as
a fortified suburb or outpost.
The chronicle of Ferino Nuniz, a Portuguese traveler
who visited Vijayanagar during the reign of '' Krishna Deva Raya'', gives a definite account of how the sovereigns
of Vijayanagar first began to acquire the power which afterwards became so
extensive. According to him, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq of Delhi, a little previous
to the year 1336 , seized the town and fortress of Anegundi. Its chief was
slain, with all the members of his family. After a futile attempt to govern this
territory by means of a deputy, Muhammad raised to the dignity of chief of the
state its late minister, a man whom Nuniz calls "Deorao," for
"Deva Raya." or Harihara Deva I. The new chief founded the city of
Vijayanagar on the south bank of the river opposite Anegundi and made his
residence there, with the aid of the great religious teacher Madhava, wisely
holding that to place the river between him and the ever-marauding Moslems was
to establish himself and his people in a condition of greater security than
before. He was succeeded by "one called Bucarao" (Bukka), who reigned
thirty-seven years, and the next king was the latter's son, "Pureoyre
Deo" (Harihara Deva II.).
Robert Sewell writes, We know from other sources that at least part of this story is correct. Harihara I. and Bukka were the first two kings and were brothers, while the third king, Harihara II., was certainly the son of Bukka. Ibn Batuta, who was in India from 1333 to 1342, states that even in his day a Muhammadan chief on the western coast was subject to Harihara I., whom he calls "Haraib" or "Harib," from "Hariyappa" another form of the king's name; while a hundred years later Abdur Razzak, envoy from Persia, tells us that the king of Vijayanagar was then lord of all Southern India, from sea to sea and from the Dakhan to Cape Comorin -- "from the frontier of Serendib (Ceylon) to the extremities of the country of Kalbergah ... His troops amount in number to eleven lak," Even so early as 1378 A.D., according to Firishtah, the Raya of Vijayanagar was "in power, wealth, and extent of country" greatly the superior of the Bahmani king of the Dakhan. The city of Vijayanagar is, as already stated, generally supposed to have been founded in the year 1336.
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Robert Sewell writes, We know from other sources that at least part of this story is correct. Harihara I. and Bukka were the first two kings and were brothers, while the third king, Harihara II., was certainly the son of Bukka. Ibn Batuta, who was in India from 1333 to 1342, states that even in his day a Muhammadan chief on the western coast was subject to Harihara I., whom he calls "Haraib" or "Harib," from "Hariyappa" another form of the king's name; while a hundred years later Abdur Razzak, envoy from Persia, tells us that the king of Vijayanagar was then lord of all Southern India, from sea to sea and from the Dakhan to Cape Comorin -- "from the frontier of Serendib (Ceylon) to the extremities of the country of Kalbergah ... His troops amount in number to eleven lak," Even so early as 1378 A.D., according to Firishtah, the Raya of Vijayanagar was "in power, wealth, and extent of country" greatly the superior of the Bahmani king of the Dakhan. The city of Vijayanagar is, as already stated, generally supposed to have been founded in the year 1336.
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| Musical Pillar |
During his first year of reign Harihara Deva was one
day hunting amongst the mountains south of the river when a hare, instead of
fleeing from his dogs, flew at them and bit them. The king, astonished at this
marvel, was returning homewards lost in meditation, when he met on the
river-bank the sage Madhavacharya, surnamed Vidyaranya or "Forest of
Learning," -- advised Harihara Dev to found a city on the spot. "And
so the king did, and on that very day began work on his houses, and he enclosed
the city round about; and that done, he left Nagumdym (Anegundi), and soon
filled the new city with people. And he gave it the name Vydiajuna, for so the
hermit called himself who had bidden him
construct it."
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| Elephant Stable |
Thus, in or about the year A.D. 1336 , sprung into
existence the great city which afterwards became so magnificent and of such
wide-spread fame. The chronicle
continues by saying that the king constructed in the city of Vijayanagar a
magnificent temple in honour of the sage. This temple Robert Sewell takes to be the great temple near the river,
still in use and known as the temple of Hampi or Hampe, having a small village clustering
about it. On the rocks above it, close to a group of more modern Jain temples,
is to be seen a small shrine built entirely, roof as well as walls, of stone.
Everything about this little relic proves it to be of greater antiquity than
any other structure in the whole circuit of the hills, but its exact age is
doubtful. It looks like a building of the seventh century A.D. Mr. Rea,
superintendent of the Madras Archaeological Survey, in an article published in
the Madras Christian College Magazine for December 1886, points out that the
fact of mortar having been used in its construction throws a doubt upon its
being as old as its type of architecture would otherwise make it appear. It is
quite possible, however, that the shrine may have been used by a succession of
recluses, the last of whom was the great teacher Madhava.
The chronicle of Ferino Nuniz, records that the king Krishna Deva Raya requested the Governor of Goa to depute
some Portuguese stone masons to come to Vijayanagar to superintendent the
building of a large water reservoir that he desired to construct near Hospet,
and that the Governor sent him Joao della Ponte "a great worker in
stone."
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| Reservoir |
Since Vijayanagar had been an imperial capital for
over two centuries, it is no wonder that some of the finest specimens of the
period are found, through in a ruinous state, in the heart of this city. While
a considerable proportion of the buildings were due to the liberal patronage of
Krishnadeva Raya, the structures in the city range from the time of the early
rules like Harihara II to that of Sadasiva. The mountains consist mainly of
religious, civil and military buildings.
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| The famous Stone Chariot |
Vijayanagar architecture was of three types: Religious
- dealing with their temples, Civil - concerning their non-religious structure,
secular relating to Hindu-Islamic structure and Military - pertaining of their
forts and fortified towns and cities. This style roughly covered the period
from A.D. 1350 to 1600, the material used was hard granite from local area and blue and black stone imported from far away places.
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| Hazara Rama Temple |
Religious Architecture : In or near the village of Hampi some religious architectures
are of pre-Vijayanagar times , most of them are of Vijayanagar
period and style, and some are of later
Vijayanagar style.
The so-called Jain temples on the Hemakootam or the Hemkoot hill, the
two Devi shrine and numerous other structures in the Virupaksha are a few instances
of the mountains assignable to the pre-Vijayanagar period. The earliest among
these are probably some of the small temples to the north of Virupaksha temple;
which may date back to about the ninth-tenth century A.D. at the earliest. Most
of these monuments are of the Chalukyan style. It is interesting to note that
all the structure of this type in and around the village of Hampi are Saiva
shrines, while one further east of the southern bank of the Tungabhadra is a
Vaishnava shrine, and those in the south eastern part of the city are all Jain
shrines . No Buddhist shrine is there since Buddhism had disappeared as a religious
creed by the commencement of the 14th century in Southern India.
The Vijayanagar period had made an outstanding contribution by the
development of a style of temple-architecture. The plan of the typical
Vijayanagar temple exhibits most of the characteristic features of the temples
of the Tamil country. Invariably there is a separate shrine for the goddess
slightly to the rear of the main sanctum of the God, as is found in temples in
the Tamil area. Often the Shrine of the goddess in the Vaishnava temples at
Vijayanagar contains another sub shrine. Most of the Vijayanagar temples at
Hampi have a covered and pillared Pradakshina-pralara round the Garbhagriha and
Antarala. The Garbhagriha and Antarala have a continuous Adhishthana, which starts at a level lower
than the covered Prakara. The exterior wall surfaces of the covered Prakara are
decorated with Adhishathna mouldings,
wall pilasters. It is most profusely embellished part of a Vijayanagar temple,
being rivaled only by the kalyana-mandapa which is one of the highlights of the Vijayanagar
style.
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| Hazara Rama Temple |
The florid and exquisite Vijayanagar pillar contribute
much to the peculiar charm or the style. The pillars are of the various types
both ordinary and composite , the Vitthala temple at Hampi contains the most massive
and the most striking specimens of ‘’fantasies
in stone’’.
Though not at first, later the craftsmen adopted the Hoysala model for architecture. In
16th century this model developed
further into more ornate structures. The most famous of such shrines is
probably the Vitthala Swami temple begun in A.D. 1513 by Krishna Dev Ray and
considered "incomplete". The most striking feature of this structure
is the immense hall with fifty six pillars, each twelve feet in height, each a
complete sculpture group. The entire structure is housed in a rectangular
compound or courtyards, 500 feet long and 310 feet wide, comprising two
mandapas and a garbhagrha, 230 feet in length and 25 feet in height.
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| Narasimha |
Civil Architecture
: Most of the civil buildings at Hampi are constructed in the citadel
area. Unfortunately there is hardly anything left except a few basements, since
the brick and timber superstructure have all disappeared now. Compared to the
original state of the city, the extent-ruined specimens are only a handful and
represent in all likelihood the minor edifices such as the elephant stables. To
this class of monuments may also be added some of the long and broad ancient
bazaars of the city.
For civil architecture, stone was used for the base
and stone. wood, metal and brick. were
employed in the superstructure. The pillars were of timber or stone. Some lime pillars with a
stone core were covered with brick and mortar and finished with plaster.
Military
Architecture : Nature has endowed the terrain of Vijayanagar with great
strengths and strategic importance. Vijayanagar used the natural advantages present and linking up the
perennial and unaffordable Tungabhadra, the gigantic boulders and steep and un
climbable hills, by means of massive lines of fortification. The southernmost
line of the fortification runs about three kilometers to the southwest of
Hospet.
Of the extent fortification the most prominent and
interesting features are the massive walls and the strong gateways. As usual
the walls are built blocks of dressed stone without any cementing material. The
method of construction is increasing. The gate-way range from simple types, which serve as mere entrance,
to strong and elaborate with guardrooms such as the massive Bhima's gate the
southwest gate with the Hanuman Temple.
All the entrance and gateway were high enough to enable
elephants to pass through and many of them had ornate embellishments. The
gateways were planked by Shrines to the respective guardian deities and
sometimes a figure of Bhima or Hanuman or a chieftain or a linga in relief
carved their walls.
There are a group of temples in Hampi --- Achyutaraya Temple; Chandramauleshwara Temple.; Malyavanta Raghunathaswamy temple; Badavi Linga ; the largest Linga image in Hampi
located next to the Lakshmi Narasimha statue ; Hazara Rama Temple Complex; Krishna Temple Complex ; Vitthal Swami Temple ; Virupaksha
Temple; Prasanna Virupaksha
Temple ; Yantrodharaka
Anjaneya temple ( Anjaneya is Hanuman- son of Anjana) .
''
If we stand on that rock ( The Hemakoot) and imagine all the great ruins of the
city visible from thence, the palaces and temples, the statues and towers and
walls, to be swept out of existence, we have around us nothing but Nature in
one of her wildest moods , lofty hills
near and far, formed almost entirely of huge tumbled boulders of granite, but
with trees and grass on all the low ground. It was a lonely spot, separated by
the river from the mere inhabited country on the farther side, where dwelt the
chiefs of Anegundi, and was just such as would have been chosen for their abode
by the ascetics of former days, who loved to dwell in solitude and isolation
amid scenes of grandeur and beauty.’’ A Forgotten Empire (Vijaynagar).
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Hampi is in Karnataka, India. Karnataka Government
hosts the Annual Vijayanagara Festival or the Hampi Utsava in the month of January. Dance, drama, music,
processions and many other events take visitors to the forgotten days.
In the Vitthala temple, every January, Purandar
festival is held to celebrate the birth anniversary of the poet Purandar.
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Source : A Forgotten Empire ( Vijaynagar) by Robert Sewell
Hampi , The endangered archaeological Heritage, A case Study by Mohammed Khalid and Shaheed Khan
Further sources of Vijayanagara history by K.A.Nilkanta Sastri
Hampi , The endangered archaeological Heritage, A case Study by Mohammed Khalid and Shaheed Khan
Further sources of Vijayanagara history by K.A.Nilkanta Sastri
Department of Tourism - Karnataka Government