Making of Sacred Structures, Hampi Co-Authored by Meera Natampally & Sangeetha Priya
Making of Sacred Structures, Hampi
Co-Authored by Meera Natampally
& Sangeetha Priya
- The authors are practising Architects, working with NIAS, Bangalore,
the work cited in this article is part of IDH (Indian Digital Heritage) project
funded by Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India.
The study of
traditional Indian architecture gives us rare insights into the design,
construction and articulation of the fascinating architectural marvels that
have withstood the test of time. Temples are the most widely constructed
typology of ancient India. Especially in the Southern region since the
residential structures where of temporary nature, while the stone temples still
remain awe-inspiring, with their haunting spaces, immaculate proportions and
grand scale.
Adam Hardy,
in his book 'Temple Architecture of India' comments on the temples of India as
being, "unparalleled in their
combination of direct sensuous appeal and complex formal structure".
In
traditional Indian Architecture beauty and ornament is an integral part of the structure itself. New structural innovations in the Vijayanagara period
gave rise to a architectural language. The temple architecture of the Vijayanagara empire is
the culmination of the Dravidian temple building tradition. The temples at
Hampi are adept examples of impeccable synergy between Structural innovation
and Ornamental expression.
Hampi is a quaint village in the
Bellary District in Karnataka, surrounded by rocky hills and lush green valley
fed by the Tungabadra river. It was the capital city of Vijayanagara empire.
The city had fallen into destruction after the Islamic invasion around 1565 and
was re-discovered in the 1800s by the
British in the Madras Presidency. Yet it was not until 1986 that it got the
befit recognition as a world heritage site by the UNESCO. Today several
attempts are being undertaken by the UNESCO and the Govt. of India to conserve,
rehabilitate and promote Hampi as an important archaeological site. Hampi gets
a fair amount of tourists and several residents of the neighbouring villages
gather for the festivities of the Virupaksha temple since several other temples
are either disengaged without the main deity or are in ruins.
While
the structure of the Hindu temple hasn't undergone much fundamental change
since the Vijayanagara period, the temples of Hampi gives us a rare insight
into their conception and construction.
A large
number of shrines were built during this period. The Vitthala temple is a
prominent example of the Vijayanagara style. Its construction was said to be
initiated as early as 1505 Vira Narasimha and contributions were made by
several kings till mid 16th century including Krishnadevaraya and Achyutha, as
a result the temple complex has all the features of archetypal Vijayanagara
architecture.
The Vitthala temple is located at
the banks of the Tungabadra river. The surrounding rocky hills provide the
perfect setting for the temple, and also become the source of granite used for
construction. While the temple is representative of the architecture of
Vijayanagara, it incorporates elements drawn from its predecessors in the Tamil
country.
The main temple faces east and is
surrounded by a colonnaded compound or prakara
that is around 165m by 54 m. Lofty towers or gopuras flank the east and south entrances. Within the prakara we find the chariot shrine in
front of the main shrine and two elaborately carved festive mandapas on either sides, sometimes referred
to as the kalyana mandapa and the natya mandapa. The temple complex houses
a 100-pillared hall which is also called the sabha mandapa, which may have been used to deliver religious
lectures and recitals. Besides these there are smaller shrines dedicated to
other deities.
The structure is trabeated,
using stone for the plinth, coulmns, beams and the roof slabs, while the super
structure is made of brick and plaster. This made it possible to have elaborate
figurines on the entrance gopuras as
well as on the turrets that lined the parapet on the mandapas, most of which are in ruins now.
The carving on the plinth of the
prakara colonnades show elephants used for transporting stone for the
construction of the temple.
The
main shrine is dedicated to lord Vitthala.
The shrine is approached through a large pillared hall called the maha-mandapa. Such huge halls with
unusually large spans were seldom seen before the Vijayanagara period. In order
to make this possible, composite columns were constructed. The composite columns
accommodated several smaller columns and they support an extended cornice that holds
the beams. Many believe these columns emit musical notes when struck. Hence,
the composite pillars are called musical pillars.
Another important contribution of
the Vijayanagara period was the expansion of the temple complex with the
addition of large pillared halls or mandapas.
These madapas were highly embellished
and were used for ritual and cultural ceremonies including wedding ceremony of
the gods, dance and literary deliverances. In order to accommodate these
rituals the halls were built bigger, with larger spacing between columns and at
some places with different ceiling heights to create a free central space.
The Kalyana
mandapa accomodates a central stage, with a high ceiling, this raised slab
is supported by yali columns on the
sides. These columns are elaborately carved with their capital forming a corbelled
bracket the support the raised slab. The structural feature is worked out as a
ornament in itself, with the projecting yalis
holding up the ceiling and dropping
flower shaped finials at their ends. This was a characteristic feature of
Vijayanagara architecture.
The highly
decorative turrets on the parapet of the mandapas
is another typical feature of Vijayanagara architecture. The doubly curved
eaves is made of a sections carved from stone. The turrets tower above the
eaves hold them in place through their uniform weight along the eaves projection.
The temple enclosures have tapering towers or
gopurams at their entrance gates. In the Vijayanagara period the base of the
tower is constructed with granite and the upper portions employ brick and
plaster leading to the highly intricate figural decorations in the stepped
portions of the tower. These towers originally have a hollow centre with
corbelled stone forming tiers. This stepped nature of corbelled construction
led to the tiers called bhoomi, that
accommodated intricate sculptures. The proportion and number of tiers were
worked out based on the width of the base or adisthana. Here also we find close relationship of beauty and
proportion with structure. Similar construction is done employing brick and
plaster for the super structure of the main shrine as well as the upper portion
of the towers in Vitthala temple.
Our work as part of the Indian Digital Heritage
(IDH) project which deals with research and study of the monuments at Hampi and
reconstruction of the temple structure in a 3D virtual modelling environment.
Study of Proportions and Axes: Temple architecture follows immaculate geometrical
proportions. Several levels of proportions can be analysed from the plan of the
Vitthala temple.
The main shrine was built as early
as 1505. The prakara is built around the shrine such that the garba girha falls at the centre of a
square. The point of intersection of two arcs within the square forms the apex
of two equal triangles inscribing the rectangular enclosure of the prakara. This proportion is similar to
the proportions of the Chola Temple, at Gangai
konda Cholapuram in Tanjavur as analysed by Pierre Pichard. The garuda shrine which was built the last,
falls at the centre of the rectangular portion adjacent to the mandala.
The gopuras fall at the cardinal axes. The east gopura is along the central axis of the main shrine. The south gopura
is at the central axis of the prakara
and the north gopura at the central
axis of the garba-griha.
With the garba-griha as the centre, a nine-square mandala can be inscribed at the centre. No other construction is
permitted within this mandala, hence we find the subordinate shrines tucked in
the corner of the complex.
Reconstruction of Architectural element: Virtual restoration or Reconstruction is done for
the temple in order to get a deeper understanding of the monuments in their
original form, without disturbing the actual site.
The reconstruction is made possible
through the study and documentation of the monument in ruins, comparing them
with similar monuments of the period, study of the system of ordering and
proportions in ancient texts on temple architecture and discussion with traditional
craftsmen.
The
turrets over the mandapas are made of brick and plaster and hence have been
destroyed easily. From studying the turrets in similar temple complexes and
understanding the grammar of arrangement from the ruins the turrets have been
reconstructed.
The Gopuram has only three tiers at present and the
upper part of the structure, again made of brick and plaster, has been
destroyed completely. Based on the study of proportions of the base of the
gopuram and the proportions of the existing tiers, the upper portion of the
gopuram has been virtually reconstructed. The sculptural details on the tiers
have been understood from literature study of ancient treatises on temple
architecture.
The models help us in documentation and digital
storage and also in creation of animations for museums and virtual tours.
The 3D
models thus made can be used to view the temple complex in its exact historic
context. Virtual environments help us visualise the cultural and ritual
activities along with the temple structure giving a holistic picture of the
Vijayanagara empire in all its former glory.
Traditional architecture is truly timeless as they
have evolved slowly through many years, establishing concepts and framework as
a result of many centuries of practice. Several valuable lessons can be learnt by studying
our ancient architectural marvels.
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