The Vijayanagar Empire is one of the greatest empires of southern India which was founded by Harihara and Bukka and the empire reached its zenith during the reign of Krishna Deva Raya
2. INTRODUCTION
• The Vijayanagar Empire was an empire based in the Deccan plateau region of
Southern part of India. Founded in 1336 C.E. by two brothers Harihara I and Bukka I,
who established their new kingdom along the Tungabhadra River in the deccan
plateau region and called their fortified capital Vijayanagar or “City of Victory” and
made Hastinavati (Hampi) their capital city. They ruled over Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, and parts of Kerala in southern India.
• Vijayanagara became the greatest empire of southern India over time. It aided the
restoration of Hindu life and administration following the disturbances and
disunities of the 12th and 13th centuries by acting as a barrier against invasion by
the Muslim sultanates of the north. Contact with Muslims (who were not personally
hated) sparked new ideas and increased creative production.
• Vijayanagara Empire which was ruled by the four royal dynasties of Sangama, Saluva,
Tuluva, and Aravidu. Among these, we can observe the fact that the Vijayanagara
Empire had attained its zenith under the regime of the Sangama and Tuluva
dynasties.
The ruins of Vijayanagara empire in the
boulder strewn landscape of Hampi
3. • The first dynasty, the Sangama, lasted until about 1485, when—at a time of pressure from
the Bahmanī sultan and the raja of Orissa—Narasimha of the Saluva family usurped power.
By 1503 the Saluva dynasty had been supplanted by the Tuluva dynasty. The outstanding
Tuluva king was Krishna Deva Raya. During his reign (1509–29) the land between the
Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers (the Raichur doab) was acquired (1512), the Orissa Hindus
were subdued by the capture of Udayagiri (1514) and other towns, and severe defeats were
inflicted on the Bijapur sultan (1520).
• Krishnadevaraya’s successors, however, allowed their enemies to unite against them. In 1565
Rama Raya, the chief minister of Vijayanagar, led the empire into the fatal battle at Talikota,
in which its army was routed by the combined forces of the Muslim states of Bijapur,
Ahmadnagar, and Golconda and the city of Vijayanagar was destroyed. Tirumala, brother of
Rama Raya, then seized control of the empire and founded the Aravidu dynasty, which
established a new capital at Penukonda and kept the empire intact for a time. Internal
dissensions and the intrigues of the sultans of Bijapur and Golconda, however, led to the
final collapse of the empire about 1614.
4. OBJECTIVE
• To study the various forms of arts of the Vijayanagar Empire
• To study the various styles of architecture of the Vijayanagar Empire.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• How the architecture style of Vijayanagara different from Dravidian style of
architecture?
• How Vijayanagara architecture displayed huge grandeur and various new features that
were not seen before among the contemporaries?
5. ART & ARCHITECTURE OF
VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE
• Vijayanagara architecture, which flourished from 1336 to 1565 CE, was a notable architectural
style that arose during the reign of the imperial Hindu Vijayanagara Empire. From their regal
capital at Vijayanagara, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in modern-day Karnataka, India,
the empire ruled South India.
• The architecture of the Vijayanagara Empire is best known at the capital, where there is a great
concentration of activity, increasing in scale and volume until the monumental creations of the
early to mid- sixteenth century.
• Vijayanagar architecture is a vibrant combination of the Chalukya, Hoysala, Pandya, and Chola
styles, which evolved from prior empires in earlier centuries. The Vijayanagara architecture mostly
adopted the principles of the Dravidian style, but at the same time, it also had its unique features,
which gave birth to a new style named the “Provida style''. Vijayanagara architecture can be
broadly classified into religious, courtly and civic architecture, as can the associated sculptures
and paintings. Rulers of Vijayanagar promoted Hinduism by constructing several religious
buildings and supporting extravagant religious festivals at its capital. The most prominent of all
the rulers of Vijayanagar empire was Krishnadevaraya, he himself was a great patron of
architecture and literature, and an accomplished poet himself. During his reign, the kingdom
reached its zenith of fame, glory and size.
Temple's inner walls with episodes
from the Ramayana depicted, in the
city of Vijayanagara
6. • The Vijayanagara architecture displayed huge grandeur and various new features
that were not seen before among the contemporaries. The Vijayanagara
architecture introduced a new tradition of using “hard stones” compared to the
earlier soft stone. The courtly architecture of Vijayanagar is generally made of
mortar mixed with stone rubble and often shows secular styles with Islamic-
influenced arches, domes, and vaults. Under the patronage of the Krishnadeva
Raya, art and architecture reached new heights of brilliance. In fact, the
influence of architecture was so great that it continued to have an impact on the
development of temples, palaces, and shrines in south India long after the
Empire saw its last days.
7. TEMPLE
ARCHITECTURE IN
VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE
• Temple building in the region had a long history, going back to dynasties such as
the Pallavas, Chalukyas, Hoysalas and Cholas. Rulers very often encouraged
temple building as a means of associating themselves with the divine – often,
the deity was explicitly or implicitly identified with the king.
• In terms of temple architecture, by this period certain new features were in
evidence. These included structures of immense scale that must have been a
mark of imperial authority, best exemplified by the raya gopurams or royal
gateways that often dwarfed the towers on the central shrines, and signalled the
presence of the temple from a great distance.
• Other distinctive features include mandapas or pavilions and long, pillared
corridors that often ran around the shrines within the temple complex
Raya Gopuram
8. TEMPLES OF
VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE
• The Virupaksha temple was built over centuries. While inscriptions suggest that the earliest
shrine dated to the ninth-tenth centuries, it was substantially enlarged with the establishment of
the Vijayanagara Empire. The hall in front of the main shrine was built by Krishnadeva Raya to
mark his accession. This was decorated with delicately carved pillars. He is also credited with the
construction of the eastern gopuram. These additions meant that the central shrine came to
occupy a relatively small part of the complex. The halls in the temple were used for a variety of
purposes. Some were spaces in which the images of gods were placed to witness special
programmes of music, dance, drama, etc. Others were used to celebrate the marriages of deities,
and yet others were meant for the deities to swing in. Special images, distinct from those kept in
the small central shrine, were used on these occasions.
• In Vitthala temple the principal deity was Vitthala, a form of Vishnu generally worshipped in
Maharashtra. The introduction of the worship of the deity in Karnataka is another indication of
the ways in which the rulers of Vijayanagara drew on different traditions to create an imperial
culture. As in the case of other temples, this temple too has several halls and a unique shrine
designed as a chariot A characteristic feature of the temple complexes is the chariot streets that
extended from the temple gopuram in a straight line. These streets were paved with stone slabs
and lined with pillared pavilions in which merchants set up their shops.
9. ARCHITECTURE OF PALACES
IN VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE
The royal centre was located in the south-western part of the settlement. Although designated as
a royal centre, it included over 60 temples. Clearly, the patronage of temples and cults was
important for rulers who were trying to establish and legitimise their authority through
association with the divinities housed in the shrines. About thirty building complexes have been
identified as palaces. These are relatively large structures that do not seem to have been
associated with ritual functions.
Palace buildings in Vijayanagara generally face east or north, and a very intricate system of
doorways, passages leading through a sequence of courts characterize these structures. Much
larger palaces have side extensions, and most of them are built on raised platforms made of
granite. Again, like the temples, these platforms are highly ornate, with multiple tiers of
decorated friezes and mouldings. The sculptures on these palace platforms are primarily those of
animals, demonic faces, floral. Pillars, beams were made of wood, while the roof was made of
brick lime or concrete, and copper, ivory was used for the finials. Multiple levels with each flight
of stairs, decorated by balustrades with Yali or elephant sculptures characterized most of the
palaces. The water tanks too had spouts which were decorative in nature. Unlike the temples
which primarily were of Dravidian style, the palaces adopted many Islamic style features too,
primarily use of arches, domes
10. STRUCTURES OF
VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE
• Urban Core: The Royal Centre occupies the western end of the Urban Core. The roughly ovoid zone,
narrower to the southwest and opening to northeast is contained within its own arc of fort walls,
though these are no longer complete. Large gateways leading into the Royal Centre stand to the east,
now forlorn in the middle of fields. The Royal Centre is where the Vijayanagara kings and their private
households lived and conducted the daily business of ceremony and government. A good deal of the
zone is subdivided into irregular interlocking compounds by high slender walls built of tightly fitted
granite blocks that face a rubble core.
• Mahanavami Dibba: It has two of the most impressive platforms, usually called the “audience hall”
and the “Mahanavami Dibba”. The entire complex is surrounded by high double walls with a street
running between them. The audience hall is a high platform with slots for wooden pillars at close and
regular intervals. It had a staircase going up to the second floor, which rested on these pillars. The
pillars being closely spaced, would have left little free space and thus it is not clear what the hall was
used for. Located on one of the highest points in the city, the “Mahanavami Dibba” is a massive
platform rising from a base of about 11,000 sq. ft to a height of 40 ft. There is evidence that it
supported a wooden structure. The base of the platform is covered with relief carvings. Rituals
associated with the structure probably coincided with Mahanavami or Dussehra. The Vijayanagara
kings displayed their prestige, power and suzerainty on this occasion.
11. • Lotus Mahal: One of the most beautiful buildings in the royal center is the Lotus Mahal, so named by
British travellers in the nineteenth century. It was a two-story pavilion that combined aspects of
temple architecture (the base, roof, and some stucco ornamentation) with Islamicate features, and it
most likely served as a reception hall or meeting place for the emperor and his counsellors. It has
multi-lobed, recessed arches in its openings, plastered ornamentation supporting vaults and domes,
and a stepped, pyramidal roof finished with temple-like finials.
• Hazara Rama Temple: While the majority of temples were in the sacred center, there were a few in
the royal center as well. The Hazara Rama temple is one of the most remarkable of these. The
architecture of Hazara Rama temple is highly ornate in nature. The temple faces east and consists of
sanctums of the god and goddess, a kalyanamandapa and other subsidiary shrines, all contained
within a prakara and enclosed by a high wall. The outer walls are richly carved in bold bas-relief and
depict scenes from the Ramayana. There are four beautifully carved pillars in black tone in the center
of the ardhamandapa. The pillars are mammoth and cubical which have been adorned with bas-reliefs
of Ganesha, Mahishasuramardini, Hanuman and several forms of Lord Vishnu, including the Kalki
avatar. The walls and pillars of this Hampi shrine carry the story Ramyana. The story is told in 7 cantos
where the protagonist, Rama, is depicted as a human rather than godlike. Besides, the sculptures of
infant Krishna are also impressive. The sanctum walls also have two bas-reliefs of Vishnu in the form
of Buddha, a rarely depicted avatar of the god
• Elephant Stable:
• Immediately outside this enclosure are the Elephant Stables. These comprise a long line of eleven
chambers roofed by alternating vaults and domes in a distinct Islamic style. These face west onto an
open ground where troops and animals would have paraded. On the north side of the parade ground
is a building with a high arcaded porch and an interior court, possibly used to view military displays in
front and martial entertainments such as wrestling and boxing matches inside.
12. Underground Temple: Excavations in the compounds west of the Hazara Rama
Temple have revealed the remains of numerous palaces, presumably for the
royal household. One complex of fifteen palaces has even been labelled the
Noblemen’s Quarter. An important early shrine located in this palace zone is
known as the Underground Temple, because it was built in a small valley and
was later partly buried by eroded soil. The shrine at its core is dedicated to
Virupaksha, the same god worshiped at Hampi.13
The Queen’s Bath: A water pavilion (also known as the "queen's bath") is a huge
square building with a plain front and a multi-lobed arched gateway, but an
intricate, open-air interior with pointed arches, plaster-decorated domes and
vaults, and hallways with projecting balconies that encircle an inner pool. It was
most likely used by royal members as a private bathing chamber or a cool resting
spot.
Water Tank: A big square-shaped water tank (pushpakarni) near to the
Mahanavami Dibba contains many stairs in a semi-pyramidal configuration of
black schist stone leading down to the next level. Its design made it simple for
individuals to enter and exit the water. The reservoir, which was fed by the
neighbouring Tungabhadra River by an aqueduct system, was most likely used by
royal members for ritual bathing and cleansing before prayers, or for the
immersion of metal deity incarnations during religious events.
13. CONCLUSIONS
The Vijayanagara empire was a magnificent time in South Indian history that will never be
forgotten. Paes believed that Vijayanagara is the best-equipped metropolis in the world.
Now, Hampi or Vijayanagara is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites and requires a
master plan for preservation. New temples were built to new constructions, and hundreds
of temples in South India were modified.
The empire's legacy comprises numerous monuments scattered over South India, the
most well-known of which is the Hampi group. The blending of various faiths and
vernaculars stimulated architectural creativity in Hindu temple construction, first in the
Deccan languages and then in Dravidian idioms using local granite. The architecture of the
Northern Deccan Sultanate can be seen in the secular royal structures. Efficient
administration and robust international trade brought new technologies, such as irrigation
water management systems. The support of the empire enabled fine arts and literature to
reach new heights in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved
into its modern form. By fostering Hinduism as a uniting factor, the Vijayanagara Empire
produced an age in South Indian history that transcended regionalism.
