Art and Architecture of Vijayanagara Empire

ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE

- PRAKASH ARULAPPA

The Vijayanagara Empire had become famous for art, architecture,sculpture & fine arts like
dancing and music. Percy Brown has called “Vijayanagara art as the supremely passionate
flowering of the Dravidian style”.

The temples of Vijayanagara have borrowed many features from the earlier monuments of
the Kadambas, the Cholas, the Chalukyas, the Pandyas and the Hoysalas.
Outstanding features of Vijayanagara temples :

1. The typical Vijayanagaratemples have a high stone enclosures around the temple, a
high gateway with a very high gopura. The gateway is made of granite or hardstone & the
gopura, the superstructure is made of brick, wood & stucco.
2. Every earlier temple had a large kalyanamandapa or Vasanthamantapa and a number of

other mantapas
.
3. The main temple has an additional garbagriha for the female deity.
4. Much of the intricacy & beauty of Vijayanagara temple style is reflected in the shape
of pillars. In the words of Prof. K.A.Neelakanta Shastri “ Infact the varied & complicated
treatment of pillars was perhaps the most striking feature of the Vijayanagara style”.
Even out of the huge rocks of stone with a 50 to 60 feet cross section in their original
shape,these columns are the wonder for onlooker. On one side of the pillar is engraved a
charging horse which stands on its backlegs, with its front legs lifted up in a jumping
posture. In the mantapam of the Srirangam in Trichi , the horses rear furiously to a
height of about 9 feet & they are so beautifully carved on a vigourous style & they look
like works of hardened steel. The other side of the pillar have a variety of carvings,
especially of gods.
TEMPLES
The Vijayanagara kings built many temples in Hampi or Vijayanagara, Sringeri,

Tirupati, Tdipatri, Lepakshi, Bhatkal, Kanchi, Kolar, Srirangam, Chidambaram,
Moodabidri & other places & the thousand pillared sculptured halls, pavilions & aisles
were added to the old temples.
The Vijayanagara temples at Sringeri constructed in about 1380 A.D. in memory

of Vidyashankara, guru of Vidyaranya is the oldest temple. The plan of the temple is
unique in India, having an apsidal back on a Hoysala pedestal & with a Hoysala tower.
Vidyaranya constructed this temple on the srichakra plan & also with reference to some
astronomical conceptions. The mantapa has 12 pillars with marks of 12 Houses of
Zodiacs. So that the Sun‟s rays at he dawn of the first solar month falls exactly on the
indicated pillar.
The Vijayanagara rulers were great builders. They built large number of temples
scattered all over the empire but the finest flowering of temple building activity could be
noticed in the magnificient temples at Vijayanagara now known as Hampi such as the
temples of Vittalaswamy, Hazara Ramaswamy, Krishnaswamy, Bhuvaneshwari,
Achyutharaya, Virupaksha etc.
The Virupaksha temple at Hampi was rebuilt by the early Sangama rulers. In 1509-1510
A.D. Krishnadevaraya built the Rangamantapa of this temple in order to commemorate
his coronation.
The Vittalaswamy temple is the most ornate shrine at Hampi. This temple is
dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Its construction was started during the times of Devaraya II .
The work was continued during reigns of Krishnadevaraya, Achyutharaya &
Sadashivaraya & was constructed upto 1565 A.D. It was never completed. Its courtyard is
500 ft by 310ft. A triple row of pillars surrounds the courtyard. The 3 entrances leading to
the courtyard, east, south and north are surrounded by gopuras.
The temple has 3 distinct compartments namely the Mahamantapa ( an open

pillared hallin the front), the Navaranga ( a closed hall in the middle) and the Garbagriha.
The Mahamantapa is noted for its rich appearance. There are 56 pillars inside, each 12ft
high. The roof has lotus flower. Another notable feature of this temple is
Kalyanamantapa, an open pavilion. There are as many as 48 pillars, each one is beautiful
for its workmanship. The carved pillars & the images of Vittalaswamy temple are a
tribute to the skill of Vijayanagara craftsmen who seem to have handled granite as
though it was clay.
Facing the entrance to the Mahamantapa, near the Kalyanamantapa is the

stone ratha or chariot. It houses mythical eagle „Garuda‟. Its base and principal storey are
carved out of a single block of granite with movable wheels.
The Hazara Ramaswamy temple is a small shrine but a highly ornamental

shrine built by Krishnadevaraya in 1513.A.D. This temple is dedicated to Lord Rama. It
was a royal chapel built for worship mainly by the royal family and members of royal
court. It has a Garbagriha & a Kalyanamantapa. It is surrounded by a high wall of 24 ft
height. The walls of the temple are decorated in relief with the scenes from Ramayana
and Mahabharata particularly Krishna ?& scenes relating to the killing of Ravana and
Patrkamesti yaga, are noteworthy.
Two other monuments of structural importance are the Krishnaswamy temple

and the Achyutharaya temple, built by Krishnadevaraya & Achyutharaya in 1513.A.D &
1539.A.D.respectively.
They are constructed on a rectangular bases. They have Kalyanamantapas similar to
those of Vittalaswamy temple. However, they have compound monolithic pillars
ornamented with yati designs, floral carvings, & mythological subjects- all carved with
almost the same as Vittalaswamy temple.
THRONE PLATFORM OR MAHANAVAMI DIBBA :-
THRONE PLATFORM or MAHANAVAMI DIBBA described by Paes as the House of

victory. This monument was built by Krishnadevaraya in 1518.A.D. on his return from his
victorious campaign against the ruler of Orissa. It is square in plan & in the diminishing
stages the lower tier having a side of 132ft and the uppermost tier a side of 78ft. The highest
stage of the platform is decorated with extremely beautiful moulding carved in a style similar
to that of horses, elephants,camels, dancing girls, hunting scenes and conventional animals.
This throne platform was used for private audiences.
SECULAR BUILDINGS
Krishnadevaraya restored many shrines throughout south India especially lavished wealth
upon the temples at Tirupati, Srisailam, Kanchi, and Tanjore. He added huge gopurams over
the main gateways of these temples & hence they are called as Rajagopurams.
Another secular building within the citadel of Vijayanagara is the King‟s audience Hall.
The audience hall has hundreds of pillars arranged in 10 rows of 10 pillars each. The
fragments of the pillars indicate that they had square bases, cylindrical shafts and bricked
capitals.
Secular buildings of the Indi-Muslim style have also been unearthed at Hampi. They are
Kamal Mahal, Queen‟s Bath, Watch Tower, Elephant & Horse stables, Market place,
Royal Mint (tankashala), and Royal Balance. (Rajatulabaram)
The Veereshwara or Papanaseswara temple built by Virupanna, a treasurer of

Krishnadevaraya at Lepakshi in 1535.A.D. and Chintalaraya temple ( 1535.A.D) at
Tadipatri are famous for their beautiful sculpture & painting. Both are situated in Andhra
Pradesh. The temple at Lepakshi is described as Ajanta of Shaivas because of its
exquisitely carved sculptures depicting incarnations of Shiva, Sapta Rishis,
Ashtadikpalakas etc.
Little further fro mthe Veereshwara temple is the huge monolithic Nagalinga.
It is 25ft high, 7 hooded & with outstretched tongues. At its feet lies the beautiful
shivalinga,just not found anywhere in South India.
Besides Nagalinga, there are many images which exibit the remarkable sculptural arts.
They are Ugranarasimha- height is 21ft, Kadalekalu Ganapathy-height is 25ft, Sasuve
kalu Ganapathy- height is 22 ft. The enormous statue of Ugranarasimha is carved out of a
single boulder of granite was executed in 1528.A.D.
PAINTINGS
The Vijayanagara rulers paid more attention towards paintings & fine arts like dance &
music.
The ceilings of Kalyanamantapa of Virupaksha at Hampi have paintings which

beautifully depict Dasavatara, Girijakalyana and other religious motifs. The Veerabhadra
temple of Lepakshi has several hundreds of motifs on its ceilings which represent stories
from Shivapurana. The story of Arjuna‟s penance forms an excellent theme for a row of
pictures & the painter has shown the various scenes. There is graphic representation of
Parvathi‟s marriage where many sages and gods like Vishnu, Vayu & Agni are shown as
guests. The scene of Parvati before marriage & the scene of Shiva palying chess with his
wife is quite interesting. But the finest is the panel showing Shiva as Gowriprasadaka or
appeasing Gowri. In this there is a happy blend of action, repose, and calm. This shows
that Vijayanagara paintings were of order.
Dance & Music are patronized by the Vijayanagara Kings. Krnataka music
blossome during this period. Vidyaranya was a great scholar, and wrote a work on music
called “Sanggetasaara”. Purandaradasa made Karnataka music popular by composing
simple songs in Kannada & singing them.
A dance hall was attached to the palaces, where royal ladies were trained to the art of
dance and music.
CONCLUSION :-
From the above account it is clear that Vijayanagara empire represted a magnificient
epoch in the history of south Indiawhich can never be forgotten.
Paes claimed Vijayanagara or „the city of victory‟, is the best provided city in the
world. Now Hampi or Vijayanagara has been included in the UNESCO‟s list of places of
global significance and needs a master plan for its conservation. The government of
Karnataka, together with the Archeological survey of India & assistance from UNSECO,
the Smithsonian Institution and several countries has undertaken gigantic work of
excavation in the city‟s 26sq kms of area. Mapping of the principal remains & buildings
are being done and many areas have been dug up to expose to view remains of temples,
palaces, tanks & other structures that lay buried for centuries. Without interfering with
their original shape, a number of structural remains & sculptures are being restored in
addition to partional rebuilding & replacement of building elements.
Thus Hampi became a vast open air museum. To conclude in the words of the art
critics “though the city became a victim of destruction and plunder,it retains its charm
even in the ruins”.
- PRAKASH ARULAPPA

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ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE

Outstanding features of Vijayanagara temples :

2. Every earlier temple had a large kalyanamandapa or Vasanthamantapa and a number of

The Vijayanagara kings built many temples in Hampi or Vijayanagara, Sringeri,

The Vijayanagara temples at Sringeri constructed in about 1380 A.D. in memory

The temple has 3 distinct compartments namely the Mahamantapa ( an open

Facing the entrance to the Mahamantapa, near the Kalyanamantapa is the

The Hazara Ramaswamy temple is a small shrine but a highly ornamental

Two other monuments of structural importance are the Krishnaswamy temple

THRONE PLATFORM OR MAHANAVAMI DIBBA :-

THRONE PLATFORM or MAHANAVAMI DIBBA described by Paes as the House of

The Veereshwara or Papanaseswara temple built by Virupanna, a treasurer of

The ceilings of Kalyanamantapa of Virupaksha at Hampi have paintings which

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