Mahanavami Dibba in Hampi is a royal stage used for special functions and announcements. It is located in the royal enclosure. The 22 feet tall stage is completely made of stone and has 3 layers. At the top it has an area of 80 square feet. After climbing the Mahanavami Dibba you can see the…
Queen’s Bath as we can understand was the bathing placing of the women of the Vijaynagar royal family. This was first key visiting spot we saw as we entered Hampi from Kamalapur. From the outside this walled building likes an Iranian architecture. As we entered inside, we saw an elaborate design with Indian style windows…
Watching sunset at Hampi, a UNESCO world heritage site in the state of Karnataka, India could be amazing. Set among the ruins of erstwhile Vijaynagar empire, there are some specific locations from where sunset watching could be enchanting. One can either head to Hemkuta hill which is besides Virupaksha temple. The other one is Matunga…
The Hazararama temple is the only temple located in the core of the royal zone between the residential and ceremonial enclosures. It is dedicated to lord Vishnu in Rama Avatar. Built in the 15th century, it is the finest example of a compact Dravida Vimana type of temple. It has a sanctum, vestibule, pillared dance…
Basement of Queen’s palace The Queen’s Palace, Elephant stable and Lotus Mahal is located in the Zanana enclosure or royal center. This is a complex of buildings which also include Jal Mahal, few watch towers and some temples. As we walk through the entrance, we could see only the basement of the queen’s place on…
After underground Shiva temple as we went further we came across Noble men’s quarter. It is completely ruined and one will even not think that this was once upon a time, noble men’s quarter. Near the Noble men’s quarter is the Mohammadan Watch Tower. I am not sure why it is called Mohammadan Watch Tower….
The underground Shiva temple is originally known as Prasanna Virupaksha temple. It is called underground temple because it is now located few meters below the ground level. It is located near the Nobleman’s quarter after Chandikeswara temple. We visited there in the afternoon and it was sunny day. However, the inner shrine is very dark….
After Lakshmi Narasima temple, further on the way comes Chandikeswara temple. This temple is most likely dated to 16th century AD. The east facing temple has a sanctum vestibule, a mahamantapa with entrances on north, south and east. Most of the pillars in this temple has Vaishnava representations like Hanuman, Garuda, balakrishna, Kamdhenu, Srinivasa etc….
Besides Badavilinga temple is situated Lakshmi Narasima temple in Hampi. This is the largest statue in Hampi standing at 6.7 meters. Lakshmi Narasima is one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. This form is also known as ugra Narasima or angered Narasima. He is seated on the giant coils of Adisesha, the scared guardian snake…
