Virupaksha temple

Topic: Vijayanagara and the Deccan · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara"

Meaning

The Virupaksha temple at Hampi is the main and most sacred temple of Vijayanagara. It is dedicated to Virupaksha, a form of Shiva and the guardian deity of the kingdom, and to his wife Pampadevi (Devi Pampa), the local goddess. Its earliest shrine dates from the 9th–10th century. Under Vijayanagara rule it grew into a huge complex, and Krishnadeva Raya added the hall in front of the main shrine and the eastern gopuram.

It matters because it shows how the Vijayanagara kings tied their rule to a god. They claimed to rule on behalf of Virupaksha, so this temple stood at the centre of both royal power and religion.

Explanation

Background: a hill that was already holy

• The temple stands in the sacred centre, the rocky northern part of the city along the Tungabhadra river. This is the oldest sacred zone of Vijayanagara.
• These hills were holy before any king built here. Three traditions overlapped:
• Vali and Sugriva: local tradition said the monkey kingdom of the Ramayana stood here.
• Pampadevi: the local goddess did penance (prayed and fasted) in these hills to marry Virupaksha. Their wedding is still celebrated every year.

• Jaina temples from before the Vijayanagara period stand in the same hills.

• Why the kings built here:

• A new dynasty needed legitimacy (the right to rule in people's eyes).

• So it built where people already worshipped, and made the local god its own royal god.

• UNESCO says the temple was built to house Devi Pampa, the local deity, and her husband Lord Virupaksha, the royal deity. [3]

How it grew over time

• 9th–10th century: the earliest shrine was built. It is much older than the empire, which began in 1336.
• Vijayanagara period: the temple was hugely enlarged. The old central shrine became only a small part of the huge new complex.
• Krishnadeva Raya built:
• a hall in front of the main shrine, put up to mark his accession (the day he became king);

• the eastern gopuram (the tall tower over a temple gateway).

• UNESCO gives the date and name: Krishnadeva Raya built the large east gopuram and the Ranga-Mandapa in 1510. [3]

• NCERT just calls it the hall before the main shrine. UNESCO's name and date add to NCERT's account and do not contradict it.

Main features: the Vijayanagara temple style

• Raya gopuram (royal gateway):
• The gateway towers dwarfed the tower over the central shrine, so the gate was taller than the sanctum (the room holding the main image).

• They could be seen from far away. They showed that the king had enough men, money and stone to build so big.

• Mandapas (pillared halls) and long pillared corridors ran around the shrines.

• Kalyana mandapa: a hall for the wedding of the deity. This fits Virupaksha, whose yearly marriage to Pampadevi is still celebrated.
• Chariot street:
• A stone-paved street ran straight out from the gopuram.
• Both sides were lined with pillared pavilions where merchants kept shops.
• ASI records temple bazaars with "storeyed mandapas", meaning pillared pavilions with more than one floor. [2]

Results: temple and kingship joined

• Royal orders were signed "Shri Virupaksha", usually in the Kannada script. The god was treated as the real ruler and the king as his agent.
• The temple was also a social, cultural and economic centre:
• it owned land and ran on land grants from rulers;
• it gave people work;

• it hosted music, dance and drama.

• Royal visits to temples became state occasions, attended by the great nayakas (the big military chiefs).

• In 1565 a Deccan Sultanate confederacy conquered the city. It was plundered for six months and then abandoned. [3] But the Virupaksha temple is still in worship today. [2]

Time, place and evidence

• Place: Hampi, on the southern bank of the Tungabhadra, in Karnataka (Bellary district). [2][3]
• Period:
• earliest shrine c. 9th–10th century;
• main growth under the Vijayanagara empire, whose surviving city ASI dates to AD 1336–1570; [2]

• Krishnadeva Raya's additions in 1510. [3]

• Key people:

• Krishnadeva Raya, patron of the hall and the eastern gopuram;

• the deities Virupaksha and Pampadevi.

• Other name: ASI calls it the Pampapati temple, the largest surviving temple at the site. [2]

• Setting: UNESCO says the sacred centre is dominated by four big temple complexes: Virupaksha, Krishna, Tiruvengalanatha (Achyutaraya) and Vitthala. [3] UNESCO also calls Virupaksha the most sacred temple of the complex. [3]
• Heritage status: part of the UNESCO World Heritage property "Group of Monuments at Hampi", inscribed in 1986, which covers 4,187.24 hectares. [2][3]
• How we know:
• the standing temple itself;
• royal orders signed "Shri Virupaksha";
• ASI and UNESCO records; [2][3]
• NCERT Class 12, Ch 3.

Don't confuse with

• Vitthala temple, Hampi: this temple is to Vitthala, a form of Vishnu worshipped mainly in Maharashtra. It is famous for its stone chariot and musical pillars. Virupaksha is a Shiva temple and is still in worship.
• Virupaksha temple, Pattadakal: an earlier Chalukya temple in Karnataka (8th century, c. 740s), built by Queen Lokamahadevi. It is a different temple from the Hampi one.
• Nayaka gopurams (Madurai): some of the most spectacular gopurams came later, under the nayakas, in the Tamil country. The Virupaksha eastern gopuram is an imperial Vijayanagara work by Krishnadeva Raya.
• Pampapati vs Virupaksha: these are not two temples. Pampapati ("lord of Pampa") is the ASI's name for the same temple. [2]

Prelims Hooks

• Virupaksha = a form of Shiva, the guardian deity of Vijayanagara. Royal orders were signed "Shri Virupaksha", usually in the Kannada script.
• The earliest Virupaksha shrine dates to the 9th–10th century, before the empire was founded in 1336.
• Krishnadeva Raya built the eastern gopuram and the Ranga-Mandapa (the hall before the main shrine) in 1510, to mark his accession. [3]
• Pampadevi did penance in the Hampi hills to marry Virupaksha, and their wedding is celebrated every year.
• Trap: the stone chariot and musical pillars belong to the Vitthala temple, not Virupaksha.
• Hampi (Karnataka): UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. The Virupaksha (Pampapati) temple is the largest surviving temple there and is still in worship. [2][3]

Mains Points

• Building on existing sacredness:
• The kings did not create a holy site. They took over one that was already sacred (Pampadevi, Vali–Sugriva, Jaina shrines) and made its god the god of the state.

• Signing orders as "Shri Virupaksha" made the king the god's agent. This gave a new 14th-century dynasty instant legitimacy.

• Temple as royal advertisement:

• Krishnadeva Raya marked his accession with a hall and a gopuram taller than the old shrine tower (1510). [3]
• The building praised both the god and the king's command of labour, money and stone.

• The small 9th–10th century shrine, wrapped inside a huge imperial complex, shows continuity and change: an old local cult kept going but was taken into imperial power.

• Temple as an urban and economic hub:

• The chariot street with merchant pavilions and ASI's storeyed temple bazaars [2] show that worship, trade and festivals all ran through one institution.
• This makes the temple useful for GS-I answers on temple urbanism in medieval south India.

Related concepts

• Sacred centre of Vijayanagara
• Pampadevi
• Hindu Suratrana
• Gopuram
• Mandapa
• Vitthala temple
• Lepakshi temple

Read more

• The sacred centre and temple architecture