The Royal Heritage of Hampi

In this last blog in the Hampi blog series, I will introduce you to some of The Royal Heritage of Hampi. Most of them were built by King Krishnadevaraya in the 15th-16th century. All of these royal monuments were the symbol of the royalty and prosperity of Hampi. Even today its grandeur is intact.

Queen’s Bath

Queen’s bath is very eminent among the royal heritages of Hampi. It was built in the 16th century by King Achyutaraya for the women of the royal family of the Vijayanagara kingdom. No one other than the royal women were allowed to enter the area of the Queen’s bath.

The area of the bath is nearly 15 square meters with a depth of 1.8 meters. It is surrounded by corridors with a ceiling built in the Indo-Islamic style of architecture. These corridors have balconies with windows. There are steps leading to the floor of the bath from these corridors.

Stepped Well

It is one of the very famous tourist attractions in Hampi. There are few more stepped tanks in Hampi just like this water tank. And these tanks are also referred to as Pushkarinis. The depth of each tank would be between 50-70 feet.

During the Vijaynagara period, during the festivals in Hampi, the idols and the photos of God and Goddess were taken out from the temples in Hampi. And were taken for the coracle ride in these stepped tanks as a part of the festival rituals.

Though a couple of stepped tanks were built in the area of royal enclosure, as a part of the royal heritage of the Vijayanagara kingdom. And these stepped tanks were not accessible to the normal people of Hampi.

Mahanavami Dibba

Mahanavami Dibba is a stoned platform which is located within the royal enclosure just beside the Stepped Tank. It was established by King Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century as a celebration of a victory over Udaygiri. There are few steps that you need to climb to reach the top of the Mahanavami Dibba. And from the top, you will have a spectacular view of the entire royal enclosure area.

During the Dussehra festival, the king used to celebrate the festival from this Mahanavami Dibba. King used to enjoy all the cultural activities such as army march-past, dance performances, musical events, and many more during the festival. Because of its significance in the Dussehra festival, this was also called Dasara Dibba.

King’s audience hall

This is an open court hall that was built during the Vijayanagara time. King used to solve all the court cases here. This building was also known as Durbar hall during that time.

King’s Secret Chamber

Just beside the King’s audience hall, there is a King’s secret chamber. This chamber was used by the king to have his secret meetings with the senior authorities.

Lotus Mahal

Lotus Mahal is one of the beautiful tourist attractions inside the royal enclosure. It is also known as Kamal Mahal or Chitragani Mahal. This place was used as a recreational area for the royal women of the Vijayanagara Empire. The architecture of this building is a blend of Indo-Islamic style.

So this is the end of my Hampi blog series. I hope you all have enjoyed this blog series. I must say that our country is rich in its history and culture. And, Hampi is the best example of it. It feels sad that most of the monuments are in their ruin state today, but somewhere we are still lucky that at least we are able to witness the traces of it.

Visiting the Hampi built a different outlook for me towards the history and richness of the culture of India.

Culture and History are two strongest pillars of any country.

– Ketan Meena Patoliya

Checkout the YouTube vlog on The Royal Heritage of Hampi