Pampadevi
Also called: Pampa · Topic: Vijayanagara and the Deccan · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara"
Meaning
Pampadevi is the local mother goddess of Hampi, the site of the Vijayanagara capital in Karnataka. Local tradition says she did penance (prayer with hardship) in the hills around the Tungabhadra river so that she could marry Virupaksha. Virupaksha, a form of Shiva, was the guardian god of the Vijayanagara kingdom. This story helps explain why the rocky site was already sacred before the empire's capital was built there. After the city was ruined, local people remembered it as "Hampi", a name that comes from Pampadevi.
Example
The marriage of Pampadevi and Virupaksha is still celebrated every year at the Virupaksha temple in Hampi. In 1800, Colin Mackenzie made the first survey map of Hampi. He relied largely on the memories of the priests of the Virupaksha temple and the Pampadevi shrine.
Related concepts
- Sacred centre of Vijayanagara
- Virupaksha temple
- Hindu Suratrana
- Gopuram
- Mandapa
- Vitthala temple
- Lepakshi temple