VIJAYANAGARA-ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE

VIJAYANAGARA-ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE

The Vijayanagara Empire has contributed immensely in many fields relevant to the culture of Karnataka. Archaeology and sculpture are not exempted from this general rule. The empire lasted for almost 300 years during the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th centuries. The architecture of this period is usually perceived as a continued and evolved form of the Dravida style. A scholar has described it as “the supremely passionate flowering of the Dravidian style”. It is also seen as a meaningful synthesis of the Draivida, Hoysala and Chalukya styles. The rulers of this dynasty were interested in renovating and enlarging many dilapidated temples of the past. The Hemakuta temple at Hampi and the Vishnupada at Viziyanagaram in Andhrapradesh illustrate this point. Even the Lakshmi temple at Melukote and the Belur Chennakeshava temple belong to this category. These monarchs have built many temples outside Karnataka also. Consequently they have continued the regional traditions of those parts and added something of their own. Hence the temples built by them in their Northern domain (Deccan Andhra and North Karnataka) have continued the Chalukya, Hoysala and kakateeya styles. On the other hands their temples in the South i.e. Tamilnadu have adopted and improvised upon the Dravidian i.e. the Pandya, Pallava and Chola styles. The temples at tirupati, (krishnadevaraya mandapam or pratimaa mandapam) tADapatri, kAnci, shrIranga, madurai, penugonda, vellOre, pushyagiri and cidambaram have followed the relevant patterns. Krishnadevaraya provided a new 188 feet tower to the EkAmbaranAtha temple at kAnjIvaram. His relative Tirumalanayaka added the vasanta manTapa also known as pudumantapa to the renowned Meenakshi temple at Madurai. (Tirumala Nayaka) One finds examples of the Jaina style of architecture also in places such as the tribbhuvana tilaka chUDAmaNi basadi at mUDabidri and the Vardhamana basadi at tirupAruTTikuram. Of course many secular structures of Vijayanagara are influenced by the Islamic Architectural style prevalent in Bidar., Bijapur and Gulbarga. (Indo-Saracenic Architecture) They are influenced by the Portugese style also in rare instances.

The rulers from Vijayanagara did not lag behind in building new temples either. Most of their new temples are located in Vijayanagar their glorious Capital now known as Hampi. The vidyAshankara temple in Shringeri, the cintalArAya temple at Tadapatri, kAmAkshi temple at Kanchi, the shiva temple at kuruvatti, pApanAshEshvara temple at Huvina Hadagali and the pApanAshEshvara temple at Lepakshi are some of the important temples built during this period.

The religious and secular structures built by the kings of Vijayanagara at Hampi at various point in its history are described in a separate entry. (Hampi) However mention should be made of the Virupaksha temple, Hajara Rama temple, Vijaya Vittala temple, Kodandarama temple, Malyavanta Raghunatha temple, Kamalamahal, bathing ghats and the Manavami dibba (Manavami mound)

Some of the salient features of the Vijayanagara style of architecture are as follows. They include the religious, military and secular strands:

Building a temple complex was a novel idea floated during this period. The complex cotituted concentric series of rectangular enclousure walls with towers in the middle of each wall. Occasionally the main temple at the centre is surrounded by a number of smaller temples. This idea was used as a substitute for a single huge temple.
Another notable feature of this period was the construction of a number of ‘manTapa’s in the premises of a temple. ‘kalyanamanDapa’ is the most conspicuous among them. Mandapams were added to already existing temples also. These are vast halls with flat roofs supported by intricately carved pillars. The top of the mantapas contain dEvakOShas made of brick and mortar. Such mandapams are found in the temples of Tirupati, (Tirumala Raya Mandapam, Pratimaa mandapa and Rangamandapa) Chennai, (Jalakanteshwara Temple) Vellore (Kalyanamandapam) and Madurai.
The temples of a male God are usually accompanied by another ‘dEvi shrine’ meant to keep a replica of the consort of the Lord.
The decorative aspects of the Vijayanagara architecture are quite distinct. Decorative friezes are found horizantally on the plinth mouldings, caves and the pillars in the interior of a temple. They appear vertically on composite pillars. These friezes are also found on the walls and doorways.
The pillars constitute a unique aspect of this style. The architects constructed round pillars, double pillars, lamp pillars and composite pillars. Chitra Khanda pillar is a shaft composed of a series of miniature shrines one over the other. The renowned musical pillars are constructed by having a central shaft surrounded by a cluster of miniature shafts.
The brackets in the temples are as decorative as the pillars. Usually, they are terminated as an inverted lotus bud.
The civil structures of Vijayanagara are also well known. The streets, walls, ditches, guesthouses, bazaars, bathing ghats, irrigation devices, canals and aqua ducts are noted for their strength and durability.
For an empire which was constantly under the threat of invasions fortification was of utmost importance. The forts at Anegondi, Ikkeri, Penugonda, Chitradurga, Bhatkala and Chandragiri provide suitable examples for the military architecture of this period.

After the fall of the Empire many feudatories tried to continue the architectural and sculptural tradition of Vijayanagar of course with meager resources. The kings and chieftains of Keladi, Ikkeri, Mysore and Srirangapattana are some examples. The Aghoreshvara temple at Ikkeri and Rameshvara temple at Keladi illustrate this point.

This is a brief introduction to an important topic. Readers are requested to make use of the bibliographical references.