INTRODUCING HAMPI

Commonly known as HAMPI, the site of the imperial city of vijayanagara is located on the Tungabhadra
river in central Karnataka, near the border with Andra Pradesh. Vijayanagara’s fame derives from its role
as the capital of south India’s largest, wealthiest and most powerful kingdom, hence its name ‘city of
victory’. Yet hampi is not only of the interest of its historcial prestige andmagnificent ruins; its remarkable
landscape, religious associations and ongoing archeological investigations make it an outstanding
destination of international significance.
Mythical landscape

For most visitors to Hampi, whether pilgrims or tourists, the first thing to be noticed is the remarkable
scenery in this part of central Karnataka. Granite boulders of varying tones of grey, ochre and pink
dominate the landscape, distributed either as hills and long ridges or as piles of rock that seem to have
been thrown down by some primeval cataclysm. The terrain is, however, one of the most ancient and
stable surfaces to be found anywhere on earth, its unique rocky appearance caused not by earthquake
and upheaval, but bye some three thousand million years of erosion, at first underground and then, when
uplifted, by exposure to sun, wind and rain. During this vast time-span, the rock has weathered into
spherical shapes, creating rounded and detached boulders, some of which are perched precariously, as if
about to roll over. For centuries, this uniformly grained stone has provided an inexhaustible supply of
building materials. Workmen fashioned blocks by cutting rows of closely spaced cubical holes into which
they pounded wooden wedges; when wetted, the wood expanded, propagating deep cracks in the
granite, the scars of which can still be seen.

The Tungabhadra river traverses the granite landscape in a northeasterly direction. Upstream, the
river passes through a picturesque valley where large boulders frame cascades and rapids. By the time it
reaches Hampi, it is forced into a narrow gorge hemmed in by granite peaks, the highest of which are
Matanga hill on the south bank. Rising 115 meters above the river.

Flooding has worn away, polished and stained the rocks that border the river, and created islands,
lagoons and small pools. A valley to the south of the river, running parallel to it in a southwest-northeast
direction, marks another course of the river, probably an overflow in a wetter era. Yet further south,
granite outcrops gradually disappear and the landscape opens out into a broad plain. This plain continues
to more than 10 kilometers before ending at the foot of the steep slopes of the sandur hills beyond the
modern town of hospet.
 The fascination of hampi’s setting is by no means confined to its geology, for this is a mythical
landscape imbued with the presence of gods, goddesses and heroes. The Tungabhadra and its surrounding
pools and hills are linked with ancient legends described in the sthalapurana, a compendium of local myths
associated with the virupaksha temple at hampi.

This identifies the goddess pampa with the village of Hampi, known in ancient times as pampakshetra.
Described as the ‘mind-born’ daughter of brahma, the creator god, pampa diligently performed penances
Hemakuta hill above the Tungabhadra river, thereby attracting the attention of Shiva. The god was seated
in meditation nearby, having just destroyed kama, the god of love, who had been sent to distract him.
Shiva eventually betrothed himself to pampa and married her, whereby she became identified with his
consort parvati, while he came to be known as ‘pampa’s lord, or pampapati. He was also worshipped
under the name of virupaksha, literally ‘he with oblique eyes’. Separate sanctuaries within the temple
complex at hampi accommodate images of both god and goddess, and numerous linga shrines affirm
shiva’s association with hemakuta hill. Pampa also gives her name to a pool known as pampasarovar on
the opposite bank of the Tungabhadra.
LAYOUT OF THE CAPITAL

Two hundred years of Immense Wealth and power are reflected in the Vijayanagara, which is surely
largest of the contemporary City with the central part alone measuring no less than 25 square kilometer.
However. Only those features built of solid masonry survive only notably fortifications walls and gateways,
temples and shrines, colonnades and to and ceremonial, recreational and residential structures associated
with the king, court, and military. These vestiges range from relatively complete buildings to piles of rubble
lying on the ground, not to mention similar remains still buried beneath the earth. As for the houses and
shops associated with the general population of the city, these have now vanished from view since were
built of impermanent materials such as mud, rubble, timber, thatch And terracotta tiles. In spite of this
incomplete record, the overall plan of the capital and its different zones can still be determined.

A ring of massive fortification walls surrounds the central part of vijayanagara, defining the urban core
of the capital. Here is found the highest density religious and secular buildings, as well as innumerable
fragments of earthenware pottery. These data testify to a population that included hindus, jains and even
muslims of diverse social and economic background.

Archeological evidence suggests these varied populations lived in separate quarters with their own
places of worship. These quarters were linked together by roads and paths. Information about these
residential zones, however, is still far from complete, and archaeological exploration is still required.
 The walls of the urban core an approximately oval shaped zone, greater than 4 kilometers along its
eastern end. The perimeter walls run across granite that are largely responsible for the irregular layout.

Surviving gateways and alignments of shrines and other unidentified structures indicated a network of
roads leading in radial fashion towards a smaller walled zone positioned at the western end of the urban
core. This is the royal centre of the city, where the vijayanagara emperor and much of his court resided.
Like the urban core within which it is contained, the royal centre too was provided with a ring of defences
delimiting an area almost 1.5 kilometers across, though this no longer complete. The internal space of the
royal centre is divided into irregular walled compounds that seem to have been functionally
differentiated, some being set aside for public ceremonies, others for more private and residential
purposes.

At the heart of the royal center stands the Hazara Rama temple, attributed to Devaraya I, which served
as a state chapel for vijayanagara emperor. Ceremonial halls and platforms, stores and stables, as well as
the palaces of the king’s household surround it. Many of the roads running through the urban core
converge on the open space in front of the Hazara Rama, further emphasizing the significance of this
temple within the overall planning of the city.
IDENTIFICATION OF SITE