Hampi | Monuments & Ruins of the Vijayanagar Empire  | el Liven
Channel: el Liven
Date: 2021-02-21

Hampi City, 16th century ruins of the Vijaynagar empire. Documentary with subtitles and chapter links to 30 monuments. Includes Palace, Virupaksh and Vitthala complexes, Stone Chariot, Narsimha Monolith, Mahanavami Dibba and a coracle boat ride on the Tungabadhra!

#Hampi #Vijaynagar #elLiven

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We get an overview of the Hampi landscape from an aerial perspective. Start with the Palace Complex. Our guide takes us to the east entrance to the Mahanavami Dibba. The platform and exquisite carvings are described through the eyes and writings of Domingo Paes a contemporary Portuguese visitor to the Vijayanagar Court. Focus on the water management through engineered tanks, Stone Aqueducts, and the newly discovered Stepped Tank.The ruins of the King's Palace and the King's Audience Hall are next with a view of the 12m Elephant Trough. The Hazra Rama Temple its detailed carvings telling the story of the Ramayana in 5 circuits and its polished granite pillars of the ardhmandap. An interlude of deities of the week days lies next to a small site museum.

The Queen's Bath is shown along with specimens of the islamic arch in it's pavillions. Onto the Queen's Palace through the high tapering granite wall. The beautiful two storied Lotus Mahal. Behind this is the Elephant Stables made famous by Abdul Razzaq, an unwilling ambassador from Persia. The Treasury is now an open display of Vijayanagar artefacts.

Move to the grand Hampi Bazzar leading to the loft east gopuram of the Virupaksh Temple Complex. The courtyard and subshrines with the unique 3 headed Nandi, Shiva's vehicle. Inside the ardhmandap are a lively display of the Vijayanagar Yali. Look up to the paintings on the ceiling, the only surviving specimens from that era. 

Overlooking the Virupaksh complex are the Sasivekalu or Gram Ganesh, and the Kadivekalu or Mustard Ganesh monoliths. The iconic Narsimha Monolith lies below these along with the enormous 2.5m Shivlinga permanently immersed in water. The coracle boatmen wait at the banks of the Tungabadhra River. They took us for a spin in a coracle! 

We took the electric car to Vitthala Temple Complex. The Stone Chariot at the entrance is a major draw, surreal in the early morning light. It houses Garuda, Vishnu's vehicle. Vitthala temple with it's elephant balustrades is opposite. The religious and secular carvings on its platform, pillars and pilasters is legendary.  The 'musical' pillars are also heard. Take in the 100 year old frangipani tree planted by the Robert Sewell, then collector of Bellary and author of the definitive book on Hampi. The beautiful Kalyan Mandap and it's rampant Yalis. A detailed carving of Ravan with his 10 heads and 20 arms. 

The King's Balance is near the north gopuram. Futher down on the banks of the Tungabadhra is the mandap of Purandara Das who laid down the precepts of Carnatic music that is followed to the present day.

Credits:
🎬 Shotcut https://www.shotcut.org/
🎵 Carnatic Music by Zakir Hussain shared by Lossless Legs https://www.shnflac.net/
🎛🎚🎧 Audacity https://www.audacityteam.org/
Wikimedia Commons - Queens Bath exterior, Hazara Rama entrance, 
Lotus Mahal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lotus_Mahal_Pavilion_MS.jpg

📚 References:
Robert Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (includes writings of Abdul Razzaq, Domingo Paes, and Ceasar Frederici) https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.77323/2015.77323.Forgotton-Empire
Archeological Society of India: Guide to Hampi and its Monuments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purandara_Dasa

Monuments:
00:00:00 Intro
00:40:00 Palace Complex
00:57:00 Mahanavami Dibba
02:27:00 Stepped Tank
02:58:00 King's Palace
03:52:00 Hazra Rama Temple
06:55:00 Queen's Bath
07:52:00 Lotus Mahal
08:26:00 Elephant Stables
09:32:00 Virupaksh Temple Complex
10:50:00 Narsimha Monolith
11:53:10 Mustard Seed Ganesha
12:08:10 Gram Ganesh
15:17:07 Vithala Temple Complex
15:55:06 Stone Chariot
16:22:07 Vitthala Temple
16:50:20 'Musical' Pillars
19:20:03 Kalyan Mandap
20:56:11 King's Balance
21:12:23 Purandara Das Mandap