The remains of the lost empire - Hampi

Continuing on my Hampi sojourn........

As highlighted in my previous post, one thing I noticed was everything made out of stone, obvious!

Those are the ones that now give us a glimpse of pomp and splendor. Anything apart from stones, have been burnt and destroyed. The stone sculptures which resembles Gods were also vandalized. 

A large area probably court of law/stage? The wooden columns are all long gone; what remains is the platform

Guilty ought to be punished. Where? Just outside the city hall.

Massive entry doors of the palace. I looked behind and lo! the hinges were also carved out of stone.

Queen's bath fully equipped for shower as well.

The bazaar near the Vijaya Vittala temple. The town had 7 bazaars, each bazaar meant specific wares and goods.

The Tungabhadra river behind the Vijaya Vittala temple complex.

The King's balance consists of 2 carved granite pillar. It seems every year the king along with his 2 wives sat on one base plate while gold and other precious stones were placed on the other plate equivalent to their weight. They were then distributed to the people. Such extravagant lifestyle!!

The famous Vijaya Vittala complex.  One of the best preserved ruins.

A closer look at the gopuram.

The famous stone chariot. Symbol of Karnataka tourism. This chariot is carved out of a single stone and is a temple by itself. It has idol of Vittala (Krishna) carved on its sides. It seems this chariot was carved out as the royal family wanted to pull chariot as part of festivals and other occasions. Phew! so they thought carving a chariot out of stone was easier than making it out of wood???

Yeah, so this chariot stays at one place but its wheels can be rotated at stationary. The royals used to rotate the wheel; this was equivalent to them pulling a chariot. The wheels are jammed now and are chained so that they are not rotated so as to preserve them.

The famous musical pillars. There are 7 such elaborately carved pillars that support the temple. These pillars in turn have 7 minor pillars representing the 7 notes the representation instrument. When struck, they produce varying sounds based on what it represents - wind, stringed or percussion instrument. It seems that dance performances were held for royal family and their associates and these pillars served as musical instruments. These pillars were struck with sandalwood drumsticks and they produced sounds of veena, tabala and other traditional instruments.

Why isn't this a wonder of the world yet? Sadly, we dont get a demo of these anymore. These pillars are damaged; they sere handled without care by guides and others who showed visitors how music is resonated by using stones to tap them. They did not allow us inside this complex as well. :-(

 

The bazaar

Bidding goodbye to the Vijaya Vittala temple complex.

If I could travel back in time, I would want to travel to this period when Vijayangar was at its peak. When travelers from Rome and Arab marveled at the beauty and the wealth abounds. When the city was appreciated for its charm and wonder - lakes, waterways, gardens and fruit trees.

I want to travel back in time to that period of magnificence and abounds; to the city that eye has not seen nor ear heard of any place resembling it upon earth - to the lost empire of Vijayanagar.