Why visit Hampi
- Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage site
- Vithala temple comprising of 56 musical pillars
- Daoroji bear sanctuary in close proximity
The site of Hampi comprises of Sacred and Royal centres, with the urban core of the city fortified and separated from the Sacred centre by an irrigated valley, through which ancient canals and waterways still run. The grandest of all the religious monuments in the Sacred Centre is the Vitthala Temple. The temple with its elaborate madapas (columned halls) is dedicated to Vitthala, an incarnation of Vishnu the Preserver of the universe, the second God in the Hindu trinity. The temple represents the pinnacle of Vijayanagara art and architecture. The 56 pillars of the temple complex are musical pillars and the complex houses the Stone Chariot with stone wheels that actually turn. The Hampi Bazaar, 35 yards wide and nearly 800 yards long was known to be a "very beautiful street with very beautiful houses". The Virupaksha Temple rises majestically at the western end of the famous Bazaar. The temple has a 120 feet tall tower on its eastern entrance. The temple contains the shrines of Shiva, Pampa and Bhuvaneswari. Parts of this temple are older than the Vijayanagar kingdom itself. The work of this style dates back to the 11th or 12th century. Nearby is the 6.7meter tall monolith of Ugra Narasimha. An inscription nearby states that it was hewn from a single boulder in 1528 during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya.
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