Life...The Eternal...: Hampi - ruins of the Vijayanagar dynasty (03)

As we walked toward the Vijaya Vitthala temple, we noticed another temple, which we were told was dedicated to Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge and learning. There is no Deity here, & hence no worship happens. Behind the Garbha Griha (sanctum sanctorum) are built resting places for devotees who visited this temple.

As we watched around us, there were ruins galore all around.

This is the king's balance. Here, the equivalent of the king's weight in precious metals & stones was weighed & was offered to the Vijaya Vitthala temple. The balance no longer is seen, but the pedestal on which was hung the king's balance is still in pretty good shape. The path behind the king's balance is called Raaja Maarga (king's path or royals' path which was the path taken by the king & his family).

This is one of the entrances to the famous Vijaya Vitthala temple. The main sanctum sanctorum is in total shambles now, but, the beauty of Vijayanagar architecture is not to be missed. The artisans used granite to build the main structure & masonry (including bricks) to build the Gopuram. Hence, in many places, we can still see the main structure but time has taken its toll on the Gopurams.

This is the main sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Almost half of it has been destroyed as can be seen, but the remaining half gives a fair idea of the beautiful architecture. The artisans selected specific granite for this temple & built what is now famous as the musical pillars. It is said that musicians used to play on these pillars.

On all the corners of the sanctum sanctorum's roof we can see rings like the ones below. King Krishnadeva Raya had fallen in love with one of his court danseuse, Jaganmohini & married her. She was not given any royal title but she enjoyed a lot of the king's attention. After marrying the king, she did not perform in the court, but whenever the king wanted to enjoy the dance, screens were tied all across the sanctum sanctorum to prevent anyone else from seeing the dance. One end of the screens was tied to the roof corner like this one.

The other end of the screens were tied to the holes in the bangle like designs. This can be seen below. Most guides explain the architectural intricacies of the Vijaya Vitthala temple quite well.

Some of the carvings beautifully capture the way of life at Vijayanagar. Here is one such which captures the image of horses & men leading the horses. These are the best of the horses from around the world which were brought to the stables of Vijayanagar. The figure at the end depicts a man showing 2 fingers (for the number 2). This man is from the King's stable and he is negotiating the price for the horse brought to him. Similarly there are other carvings which capture various other aspects of life during the Vijayanagar period. Some of these capture the different peoples who used to visit & take part in the various festivities or competitions conducted during major festivals. The grandeur of art & architecture is a joy to the eyes.

Traders from different parts of the world used to come to Hampi to sell their goods and commodities. The peoples who visited Hampi are well captured in the architectural wonder left behind...Here is one such in the Vijaya Vitthala temple where traders from China (on the left) and an Arab (on the right) have been captured. The Arab is bringing his horses for trade. It can also be construed that the Arabian horses were chiefly employed by the king...

This is a Portuguese trader...

The horses were trained extensively before being employed in the king's stable...This is captured in the art below.

The renowned musical pillars of the Vijaya Vitthala temple...It is unfathomable that artists used to play on them in those days. We are not allowed to enter the temple complex.

Yoga Narasimha on one of the pillars...He is holding Shankha (conch) in His right hand & Chakra (disc) in His left and sitting in Yoga mudra.

Venu Gopala (in Sanskrit, Venu = Flute, Go = cow, Pala = protector; Gopala also means cowherd), one of the forms of Krishna. Here, Krishna can be seen with 4 hands. While He is playing the flute with 2 of His hands, in the other two, He is holding Shankha (conch) with His left and chakra (disc) with His right hand. He can be seen in cross legged posture, which is the posture of Krishna when playing the flute.

Just like we create blueprints of our homes while building, similarly sculptors & artisans used to create blueprints of their creations. There are six such blueprints around the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. One of them is below. The temple is built exactly as per this blueprint.

The Gopuram of the temple entrance is very much under the influence of time as can be seen. Since it is made of masonry, it cannot weather the impact of time the way granite does. Hence, in many places we notice Gopurams in dilapidated condition.

This is one of the mantapas in the temple complex. Our guide, Bharat gave a demo of how music was created in the stone pillars in those days.

The below image on pillars is typical of Vijayanagar art. It embodies 5 elements namely - elephant trunk, crocodile jaws & mouth, rabbit ears, lion paws, & horse body. Each of these elements signify different aspects of nature. For example, rabbit ears signify the ability to be a alert listener, horse body signifies agility, similarly lion paws indicate strength, elephant trunk signifies steadiness, & crocodile jaws & mouth indicate firm grip (on the kingdom). The human astride such a animal is the king. This signifies the way a king is supposed to rule his kingdom.

This is the world renowned stone chariot of Hampi. This is seen in the Vijaya Vitthala temple complex. It is not true that this chariot was once being driven around the temple complex as is usually found in many temples across India, especially during major festivals and events. However, what is true is that until a few years ago, the wheels of the chariot could be rotated. Our guide Bharat informed us that while rotating the wheels, some part was damaged & since then the Archaeology department fixed the wheel once and for all. In the chariot is the image of Garuda (eagle), Vishnu's escort. Devotees would usually pay obeisance to Garuda after having darshan of Vitthala. Thereafter, they would rotate the wheels and feel as if they were pulling the chariot. This custom of pulling the chariot by devotees is still carried out in most of the important and big temples across India & is regarded as being highly auspicious and pious act.

As we came out of the temple complex, few more ruins were awaiting us. This was once a Vishnu temple, which no longer is home to its master now.

This is resting place (tangu daana) for devotees who visited the Vitthala temple.

Here are few pictures of the ruins atop the Hemakoota hill. The structure which is partly painted white in the below picture is the temple of Moola Virupaksha. Albeit we did not find any influence of Islamic architecture in this temple, we were surprised to see the temple in good condition. In fact, the Deity, Virupaksha (Shiva) is still being worshiped here. Upon questioning our guide, we were told that most of the temples destroyed are that of Vishnu...That is because, the Shiva linga is hemispherical at the top, which again is like Islamic art. Hence, Shiva temples were spared the wrath of the havoc. In fact, even in the main Virupaksha temple, only certain images have been destroyed. But, neither the main Deity Virupaksha nor the Goddesses Bhuvaneshwari & Pampa Devi (Parvati, Shiva's consort) have been affected.