Popular perceptions are funny things, especially in art.. You don’t realise how deeply entrenched they are in your mind till you see something that is different. So much so that it forces you to re-look and re-imagine the perception in a new context. No matter how much of an open mind I keep and think I am aware of internalising popular perceptions, I am surprised every now and then. This blog post is about one such incident.
It had been a regular day — there was nothing special or extraordinary about it. Just one of those ordinary days. As I got off the bus from work that March evening, fond thoughts of spending the evening with some music, popcorn and books accompanied me as I walked home. As I passed the local vegetable market, I saw a large tableau set up by a local organisation, which depictedLord Vishnu reclining on Sheshanag in his characteristic pose.
At first glance, the tableau looked normal and I would have passed it without a second glance if I hadn’t looked at the face. And that’s when I stopped !
The simple and elegant entrance to the Hazara Rama Temple
For me, the Hazara Rama Temple is right on top of the list of temples I liked in Hampi. This is not one of the biggest or the grandest of temples in Hampi, but it is certainly the most intimate temple, a temple which felt like my own personal space. It is also the temple with the most intricate carvings, which begin with the outer walls of the temple complex itself.
Inside, the temple is no less ornamental. It is full of bas reliefs from the life of Rama or Krishna, both avatars of Vishnu. I was very proud of myself for being able to recognise the various characters in the panels and reliefs and the stories that were trying to convey. All thanks to the stories that my grandmothers and my mother narrated to me in my childhood. And of course, Amar Chitra Katha!
Carving above the entrance to the Hazara Rama TempleThis wall panel at the Hazara Rama Temple depicts hunting scenes, foreign traders, and dancing womenSculpted friezes on the walls of the main shrine at the Hazara Rama Temple
All monuments in Hampi have been built out of granite, the local stone. Only in two places have other stones been used and that too for decorative purposes, rather than as a building stone per se. The first instance is at the Mahanavami Dibba where a green schist has been used as a cladding stone. The second instance is at the Mahamandapa of the Hazara Rama Temple, where 4 pillars made from black Cuddapah stone—brought all the way from present day Andhra Pradesh—have been installed. The carvings on these pillars are also from the lives of Rama and Krishna and are simply awesome. The gleam of the black pillars in the cool, dim light of the Mahamandapa is indescribable.
Intricately carved pillars made of the black Cuddapah Stone in the Mahamandapa of the Hazara Rama Temple
The Hazara Rama Temple is located somewhere between the Royal Enclosure and the Zenana Enclosure, and historians consider that this temple was built for the exclusive use of the royal family.
I do not buy this theory simply because of the nature of the bazaar outside the Temple. Like all the main temples in Hampi, the Hazara Rama Temple too had a bazaar outside its premises—the Paan-Supaari Bazaar. Now tell me, why would a bazaar outside the so-called Royal Temple, be selling paan (betel leaf) and supaari (betel nut)? If the bazaar had been selling precious stones and gold and silver items, I might have been willing to consider the fact that the Hazara Temple was exclusively meant for the Vijayanagara Royal Family.
The Paan-Supaari Bazaar outside the Hazara Rama Temple
What do you think?
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:
At first glance, the tableau looked normal and I would have passed it without a second glance if I hadn’t looked at the face. And that’s when I stopped !
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