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Hampi chariot can’t be touched

Topics Covered: Art and Culture.

Hampi chariot can’t be touched:

Context:

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has put up a chain barricade to prevent people from touching or climbing the iconic stone chariot in front of the Vijaya Vittala Temple at Hampi and causing damage to it in any way.

  • The stone chariot was one of the most visited monuments in Hampi and needed extra protection.

About the stone chariot:

  • The chariot inside the temple complex is a shrine dedicated to Garuda, but the sculpture of Garuda is now missing.
  • The Hampi chariot is one among the three famous stone chariots in India, the other two being in Konark, Odisha, and Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu.
  • The delicately carved chariot at Hampi, art historians say, reflects skill of temple architecture under the patronage of Vijayanagara rulers who reigned from 14th to 17th century CE.

hampi

About Hampi:

  • It was the last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar.
  • It was a part of the Mauryan Empire back in the third century BC.
  • It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
  • Its name is derived from Pampa which is the old name of the Tungabhadra River on whose banks the city is built.
  • The site used to be multi-religious and multi-ethnic; it included Hindu and Jain monuments next to each other.

Architecture:

  • It has been described by UNESCO as an “austere, grandiose site” of more than 1,600 surviving remains of the last great Hindu kingdom in South India.
  • The buildings here predominantly followed South Indian Hindu arts and architecture dating to the Aihole-Pattadakal styles, but the Hampi builders also used elements of Indo-Islamic architecture in the Lotus Mahal, the public bath and the elephant stables.
  • Hemkunta Hill, south of the Virupaksha temple contains early ruins, Jain temples and a monolithic sculpture of Lord Narasimha, a form of Lord Vishnu.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

  1. Various dynasties which rules hampi.
  2. About Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme.
  3. Tungabhadra river basin.
  4. Temple architecture during the Vijayanagara Empire.
  5. Important UNESCORTED world heritage sites in India.

Mains Link:

Write a note on architectural significance of Hampi.

Sources: the Hindu.