A TRIP TO HAMPI, Part-3.

                 After returning from Purandaradasara Mandapa, we entered the Viroopaksha Temple.  This temple  has been the only one, where Pooja rituals are still in practice. The approaching street was once upon a time, the famous jewellery Bazaar where pearls and diamonds along with Gold were sold like household commodities.

The Lord Viroopaksha temple and famous Jewellery Bazaar street.

  Photography is prohibited inside the temple and we came out to take some shots from outside.

 The same temple,  side view.

A bird's eye view of Viroopaksha temple.

 There is a Rock hill at the rightside of the temple, which houses some Jain Basadis and other structures. I did not shoot anything there.

 The main road leading to Bus station  near Viroopaksha temple. The Blue patches at the left side of the frame are makeshift shops at the Bus station and the stone building near that, is a part of the famous Jewellery Bazaar.

               Our next stop was Kadalekalu Ganapa temple, which is situated at the left side of the main road.

Kadalekalu GanapatiTemple.

The damaged idol of Lord Ganapathi at kadalekalu Ganapathi temple.  Muslim invaders, after Rakkasathangadi  battle ruined most of the Temples here, among which this  is also one.

A trader from Southern parts of India, has built this temple and it is called Sasivekalu Ganapa Temple.

The same temple, shot from the front and exposure changed.

                   Next stop was Lord Krshna Temple. As with other temples, a Bazaar street lies on front of the temple.

Bazaar Street in front of Lord Krshna temple.

                  The temple is a huge structure with intricate stone carvings. We spent a good amount of time here shooting.

The Northern Gate of the temple, framed.

The corridor at the North side of the Temple.

Different views of the court hall of the temple.

                  As seen with Vijayavitthala and Achyutharaya Temples, the left end of Bazaar street has a Pond large enough to hold Boat  festivals of the temple.  The pond is full of Weeds and an eyesore to watch, but somehow we managed to click these shots.

We mainly concentrated on the reflections and shot accordingly.

The main entrance of the pond area.

                      From there, we walked again a few metres, to reach Lord Ugranarasimha Temple.

The Idol of Lord Narasimha was badly damaged, but archeology dept has been trying to restore it to some extent.

              A Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, lies very next to this Narasimha enclosure, called Badavilinga.  It is said that a poor woman, who made a living by selling Flowers, contributed  and constructed this Temple. Because of poor light, I did not take out the Camera.


              Marappa, our Guide, urged us to move faster and  took us to our next destination- underground temple of Lord Shiva.

Approaching pathway of underground temple.

Entrance of the Temple.

Front area of the Temple

The Courthall of Shiva temple.

Temple entrance and the door of Garbhagrha.

               

The entrance shot from inside

   The journey continued and we reached Lord Rama temple, called Hajara Rama temple. Compared to other temples, it is smaller in size and does not posess a bazaar street in front.

Entrance of Hajara Rama Temple, shot from inside.

Inner area of the temple.

The front area of the temple.

The front area shot from inside- framed.

The court hall of the temple.

 Sample of the stone carvings at the temple.

Temple Shrine  with sculptures.

Temple Shrines framed- shot from the corridor,  at the backside of the temple.

               This is the last stop in the Temples area and  from here on we entered the Royal Enclave- the area housing palace,  soldiers dormitory, building for housing Elephants and Mahanavami Dibba. More to come in the next post.

A TRIP TO HAMPI, Part-2.

  Next day, we were ready at 6.30 a.m and Marappa took us to Hampi.

     Soon, we reached Malapanagudi, where A beautiful stone structure welcomed us. The second day took an inspiring start.

The stone Mandapam at Malapanagudi.

     
                  Marappa drove his Autorickshaw straight to the Parking place at the end of the Bazaar street in front of Lord Viroopaksha Temple. From there,  a drift in the pathway took us to the riverside.
               
                   Walking along the stone made old pathway, we reached the Chakrateertha. The Chakrateertha is a place, where river Tungabhadra rushes between two rock hills to form a whirlpool. On the banks of the river, is situated  a temple dedicated to Lord Hanumantha-  Yantroddharaka.

On the way to Chakrateertha-

Chakrateertha riverfront. The hill seen far away in the background is Anjanadri hill.

 A Panoramic view of Chakrateertha, shot from the top of the Yantroddharaka Temple.

Lord Yantroddharaka Mukhyaprana, at the temple.

 A tree which had Yellowish leaves and contrasting with the Sky, caught my eyes and I quickly responded with my camera.

Anjanadri Hill.

           Our next destination was Achyutharaya Temple. The pathway which I was talking about, continues near Kodandarama Temple at the right side of Chakrateertha and leads to this Temple.
Completely Deserted, this magnificient temple is very vast indeed. The Temple is dedicated to Lord Achyutharaya [Lord Vishnu]. Me and Pavamana entered into the temple complex and shot extensively.

 Malyavantha Raghunatha Temple, shot from Achyutharaya Temple.

The Main entrance of the Achyutharaya Temple.

 A stone Mandapam, might be a Gate - at the right side of the Temple.

The North Gate of the Temple, along with corridor. In the background is Malyavantha Hill and Lord Raghunatha Temple.

The main Gate of the Temple - Inner  court.

The two Gates- inner and outer ones,  framed.

The main entrance- outer court.

The Bazaar street- stone built corridors at both sides of the wide,wide road approaching the Temple.

The administrative complex of the temple.

While leaving the place, Pavamana pointed out at  this small and unknown temple and I shot.

Entrance of the Navagraha temple near the pathway.

The Navagraha temple.

We have come a long way, leaving the Malyavantha hill behind and a lot of monumental ruins welcome us - through the walk.

 The way leading to purandaradasara Mandapa.

On the way to Purandaradasara mandapa, a quick look-back yields this picture.  The shrine seen in the  shot is of Lord Viroopaksha Temple. An indication of where we started.

Two shots of the same structure, with different perspectives:-  one for the structure and another for the Silhoutte effect.

Pavamana shooting one of the stone mandapams- near the Tulabhara of Vijayavitthala complex.

Framing the pathway, which led us to Vijayavitthala complex.

The Tulabhara Mandapa-  The stone structure, which was used to weigh the offerings and the persons who had made vows as a ritual.

The Tulabhara Mandapam, as an aid for framing.

         Now, we have come to the end of the route- Purandaradasara Mandapa.  Saint Sri Purandaradasa, after repeated  appeals from the king to accept some gift,  told him to construct a building near the river, which can be used for performing Dhyana and japa.  The building was called upon his name.

Sri Purandara dasara Mandapa.

The sculpture of  sri Purandara dasaru.

Once upon a time, this structure was in a very dilapitated state and the Archeology Dept has restored it.  

The old Stone Bridge between Hampi and  opposite riverbanks.

 There is a temple on the other side of the river.

               After visiting the Purandaradasara mandapa, we started back to the Viroopaksha Temple. On the way, we happened to see an interesting sculpture of humen feet surrounded by a Snake.  Pavamana observed that, there were more of them, here and there. A legend was told, which we  felt rubbish and forgot conveniently.

           Our next destination was the Lord viroopaksha temple. More about it, in the coming post.