The temple ruins of Hampi – 3: The Krishna, Ugranarasimha and Ganagitti temples

The temples and other monuments of Hampi were built over 3 centuries, destroyed over a period of 6 months, and “seen” by our group over two, half-day sessions. Obviously, we could not do justice to all the monuments.

This meant that while we spent more time at the Hazara Rama Temple, the Vittala Temple, as well as the monuments of the royal family, we breezed through the Krishna Temple, the Badavilinga Temple, the Ugranarasimha or Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, and Kadalekalu Ganesha and Sasivekalu Ganesha Temples. We could not visit some monuments at all—the Hemakuta group of monuments, the Ganagatti Jain Temple, the octagonal water tank, Bhima’s Gate, etc., were pointed out to us by our guide in passing.

So, while I cannot write a detailed post on these quick visits here, I will compensate that with some photographic impressions of those “breeze in, breeze out” visits here.

Carved pillars at the Krishna Temple, depicting stories from the Bhagavatham. The Krishna Temple was consecrated in 1513 and is a complex with many sub-shrines and halls.

A carving of a dancing girl at the Krishna Temple
This magnificient monolithic idol of Narasimha, the fourth incarnation of Vishnu, is 6.7 m tall. Seated on Adisesha, Vishnu's guardian serpent, its seven-headed hood is like a canopy for the idol. The original roof of the chamber enshrining the idol is missing. According to lithic records, the idol was consecrated in 1528.
Hemakuta group of monuments
A Jaina Temple, the Ganagitti Temple is one of the earliest temples constructed during the reign of the Vijayanagara Empire. Also known as the Kunthunatha Jaina Temple, it was consecrated in 1386 and does incorporate design elements from the earlier Chalukya era temples
Lamp column at the entrance to the Ganagitti Temple

P.S.: This visit was part of a tour organised by Doreen D’Sa of Doe’s Ecotours. She can be contacted at does_ecotours@yahoo.co.in.

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Read more about my trip to Hampi through the following posts:

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