Worldroom MICE Tourism Guide: India 2008


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	School boys who've studied Indian history in their formative years, will most certainly have heard about the legendary wealth and status as a political force in the Deccan of the Vijayanagara Empire in southern India. As you stand (ignoring the modern construction along the way) in awe, soaking in the fantastic ruins of Hampi-- the First City, of that legend from India's antiquity, you get in some small measure a glimpse of that power and glory..long lost to the winds of time. Egged on by the guidance of their mentor sage Vidyaranya, two brothers Harihara and Bukka, local chieftans in the Bellary region of present-day northern Karnataka, set out to carve out a Hindu kingdom (1336) for themselves , in defiance of the increasing power base of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate , which was spreading its tentacles inexorably over the peninsular region of the Deccan. Thus started the beginnings of a kingdom that would shake the foundations of Deccan politics. Vijayanagara rose to become one of the south's most powerful Hindu kingdom and enjoyed uninterrupted rule for almost 300 years with 23 kings and four dynasties guiding its fortunes over that period. Not only was Vijayanagara an important political force, its commercial activities catapulted it into becoming one of old India's wealthiest kingdoms, with gemstones and costly textiles sold with lavish abandon in the markets. Culturally too, the kingdom flourished under the patronage of its royals particularly the legendary Raja Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529 AD) and his half brother Achyuta Raya of the Tuluva Dynasty. Art and architecture -particularly religious architecture, reached a new high under them. The kingdom reached its peak during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya who ruled the entire region south of the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, except for the small principalities lining the Malabar Coast. Its wealth-a legend, even today, garnered from its control of the spice and cotton trade. Looking around you at the plethora of temples and shrines, royal and residential structures, and bazaar streets and network of canals, crowding the 18km Hampi site, it's easy to understand the monumental and mythical proportions of their contributions. But there was a thorn in the flesh of these rulers-despite the powers they enjoyed-it came in the form of a constant threat from the Islamic rulers of the Bahmani kingdom, north of Hampi. And it was from here that the end of the kingdom came, like a viscous swipe of fate to bring them down, in the avatar of the Deccani sultans in 1565 at the battle of Talarikota. The ransack, pillaging and devsatation of Hampi, the capital, that ensued with that defeat -- was terrifying and complete. In time the abandoned capital never rose to the heights it had enjoyed ever again -- even when the region came under the sway of other rulers in later times. The stark, boulder-strewn aridity of Hampi, brought to life in its heyday by its inventive kings with a network of canals from the nearby Tungabhadra River, is today a mute reminder of the terrible end. In the 19th and early 20th century the massive site with its evocative ruins aroused the intrest of European archaeologists in the Raj-era. In 1986 it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and subsequently ' World Heritage Site In Danger' as rampant overdevelopment in the area threatened to swallow up the ruins. A 12-hour drive from Hyderabad takes you to Hampi with over 500 monumnets strewn across the hilly slopes and vales over the 18km heritage site. There are attractions for the curious vistor as well as for pilgrims. Only a few of these temples are living temples today. The vast site can be quite conveneintly explored by auto. The ruins are broadly segregated as the Sacred Area, comprising the many temples, shrines etc and the Royal Area which covers the functional areas of the palace. The diversity of Hampi's architectural style is marked by Islamic elements (Muslims coexisted with the Hindu populace in every phase of life) as the Hampi kings had no qualms in borrowing the best from their Islamic neighbours-even though they were enemies. The local flavour came from the propensity to use granite-hard and unyielding, but with a promise to live forever - and what more could a ruler appeasing his gods want when he raised temples to them? Close to the life-giving Tungabhadra-emasculated by the severe heat -- an unbridled force in the monsoons-- on its southern bank lies the ruminating Virupaksha Temple. Situated in the designated Sacred Area it shares space with Pattibhirama, Raghunatha Balakrishna and Vittala temples. Next