Virupaksha Temple

Virupaksha Temple is situated 350 km from Bengaluru in Hampi, in the Indian state of Karanataka which lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the ancient Vijayanagara city. The evidences from the earlier scripture testify that the form of Virupaksha, also called Pampapati, was the principal deity of this site. Virupaksha is a form of Lord Shiva, popularly worshipped during the medieval ages. The Virupaksha temple at Hampi was a famous place of pilgrimage during the Vijayanagara period and still is the most important temple of the area.

The name ‘Virupaksha,’ literally means Lord Shiva `with oblique eyes` or ‘mis-formed eyes.’ The division of the word ‘Virupaksha’ goes like `vi + roop (mis-formed) + `aksha` (eye). Virupaksha is the lord of Hemakuta, the local hillock that is compared to the Himalayan Mountains in holiness and significance. The Virupaksha-linga on Hemakuta is included among the sixty-eight `svayambhu-lingas`, which are considered to be of special sanctity since they are self-manifest.

The history of Virupaksha Temple can be traced back to approximately the 7th century CE, with evidence suggesting that the Virupaksha-Pampa sanctuary existed long before Hampi became the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Inscriptions referring to Lord Shiva date back to the 9th and 10th centuries. Originally a small shrine, it was gradually developed into an extensive temple complex under the patronage of the Vijayanagara rulers. Historical evidence also indicates that additions were made to the temple during the late Chalukyan and Hoysala periods, although most of its structures are attributed to the Vijayanagara era. The construction of the temple complex is attributed to Lakkana Dandesha, a chieftain who served under King Deva Raya II of the Vijayanagara Empire.

The ceiling paintings inside Virupaksha Temple date back to the 14th and 16th centuries, reflecting its rich artistic and religious heritage. The Virupaksha-Pampa tradition of worship continued even after the destruction of Hampi in 1565. In the early 19th century, the temple underwent major renovations and additions, including the restoration of some damaged towers of the northern and eastern gopurams. Today, Virupaksha Temple remains one of the best-preserved and actively maintained temples in Hampi, exemplifying the region's religious traditions and architectural legacy, while many other temples in the area suffered extensive destruction during the attacks by the Deccan Sultanates.

Virupaksha was not originally the main god of Hampi. Sites throughout southern India are associated with non-Aryan local goddesses, many of whom, in course of time, came to be ‘Sanskritized’ by marriage to a great god of the Hindu pantheon, generally Lord Shiva. The original patron goddess of Hampi was Pampa. Indeed, the name Hampi is derived from Pampa, who is also known as Hampa-devi, and is considered the ‘mind-born’ daughter of Lord Brahma. 

As per legends, the goddess performed severe penances in her quest to marry Virupaksha. Later she was reborn as Dakshayani, the daughter of Daksha. She again took birth as Parvati, the child of the Himalaya Mountains. From at least the Vijayanagara times to this day, the Kalyanotsava (marriage festival) of Virupaksha and Pampa has been the most important festival in the Virupaksha temple. Virupaksha is also known as Pampa-Virupaksha or as Pampapati, the husband of Pampa. Although this goddess, in course of time, became merely one of the two consorts of Virupaksha and her worship was relegated to only a small sub-shrine in the Virupaksha complex, her erstwhile importance is indicated by the fact that the site (Hampi), the Tungabhadra river (Pampa river) on the banks of which it is located, a lake (Pampa-sarovar) adjacent to the temple, the principal male god (Pampapati) and even the entire pilgrimage area (Pampapura or Pampa-kshetra) still bear her name.

The cult of this goddess dates back to antiquity. She was probably an aquatic deity, hinted at by the fact that the Tungabhadra River at this site and a lake are also known by the name Pampa. First specific reference to the goddess Pampa is in the inscription of 1199 CE in the Durga-devi shrine to the north of the Virupaksha temple.

The Virupaksha Temple currently comprises a sanctum, three ante-chambers, a pillared hall, and an open pillared hall, all adorned with delicately carved pillars. The main temple is surrounded by a pillared cloister, entrance gateways, courtyards, smaller shrines, and various other structures. The nine-tiered eastern gateway, which stands approximately 50 metres tall, is the largest entrance to the complex. It is well-proportioned and incorporates elements of earlier structures, featuring a brick superstructure built upon a stone base. This gateway provides access to the outer courtyard, which contains numerous subsidiary shrines. 

A smaller eastern gateway leads to the inner courtyard, where several additional shrines are located. Another gateway to the north, known as the Kanakagiri Gopura, opens into a small enclosure containing subsidiary shrines and eventually provides access to the Tungabhadra River. A narrow channel of the river flows along the temple terrace before descending towards the temple kitchen and continuing through the outer courtyard. 

There is an ornate shrine of Bhuvaneswari and a shrine to Vidyaranya, the spiritual founder of Vijayanagara in this temple. The inner ‘prakaram’ consists of shrines and pillars dating back to the 12th century. The closed `rangamandapa`, which has four doorways, was built before the sixteenth century. The granite portion of the northern gopura is also of the fifteenth century, as the flat pilasters on it are typical of the pre-sixteenth century’gopuras’. 

Krishnadevaraya, one of the most renowned emperors of the Vijayanagara Empire, was a major patron of the temple. The central pillared hall, regarded as the most elaborately decorated structure within the complex, is believed to have been added during his reign. He is also credited with constructing the gateway tower that provides access to the temple's inner courtyard. An inscription on a stone plaque installed beside the pillared hall records his contributions, stating that he commissioned the hall in 1510 CE to commemorate his accession to the throne.

Among the three `gopuras` namely a large 50 meters tall outer eastern tower, a small inner east and a northern one in Virupaksha temple, the inner east ‘gopura’ was constructed by Krishnadevaraya. However, the present outer east gate is, on stylistic grounds, evidently not a fifteenth-century structure. Therefore, by the early sixteenth century the Virupaksha temple was a large complex, comprising an outer and inner courtyard, three ‘gopuras’, pillared halls, a kitchen, galleries, a temple-tank, a chariot-street, the principal shrine and a number of sub-shrines. 

Krishnadevaraya also built a ‘mandapam’ in front of the sanctum, and embellished it with Vijayanagara style bas-reliefs and murals. Several of Shiva’s manifestations, and the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu are portrayed here, as is the classic scene from Mahabharata depicting the shooting of the fish device by Arjuna in order to secure the hand of Draupadi for marriage. There is also a mural depicting Vidyaranya, the spiritual founder of Vijayanagara in procession. In the vicinity of the Virupaksha temple, there are several dilapidated mandapams. In front of the temple was once an ancient shopping centre lined with mandapams, the ruins of which stand till date. 

The halls within Virupaksha Temple served a variety of religious and ceremonial purposes. Some were used to house the images of deities during special programmes involving music, dance, and drama, allowing the gods to symbolically witness these performances. Other halls were used for the wedding ceremonies of the deities, reflecting the temple's importance as a centre of religious worship, cultural expression, and ritual celebration.

The Virupaksha or the Pampapathi temple is artistically structured and the towers of the temple deserve admiration. One of the most remarkable architectural features of Virupaksha Temple is the application of mathematical principles in its architectural design and decoration. The temple incorporates repeating patterns that resemble the concept of fractals, in which similar shapes recur at different scales. Its overall form is triangular, and as the structure rises towards the top, its patterns divide and repeat themselves in a manner comparable to the branching patterns of a snowflake. These features demonstrate the sophisticated geometric principles reflected in the temple's architecture. 

The Virupaksha Temple features a natural pinhole camera effect, incorporated into its architecture. Sunlight enters through a tiny, precisely designed opening or slit in a stone wall inside the temple. Owing to the rectilinear propagation of light, which causes light to travel in straight lines, the opening projects a sharp, inverted live image of the massive Raja Gopuram, or main nine-storied entrance tower, onto an interior wall on the western side. This phenomenon is visible because the enclosed interior space acts as a dark chamber, allowing the projected image of the tower to appear clearly on the opposite surface. Dating back to the Vijayanagara Empire era, this centuries-old architectural feature exemplifies an advanced practical understanding of geometry and optics, that existed long before the invention of modern photography.

A Vijayanagara period Sanskrit language text, ‘Virupaksa-Vasantotsava-Campu’ written by Ahobala, highlights the importance of God Virupaksha and the close association between the Vijayanagara king and this deity. The nine-day spring festival of Virupaksha described in this work is an elaborate and extensive affair, enacted under the patronage of the king of Vijayanagara Empire. The king of Vijayanagara plays a key role in the celebrations, the festival is therefore, a public display of imperial magnificence, linking both god Virupaksha and the king. By closely associating the two, this festival, serves both to legitimize and consolidate the power of the king, who is the temporal embodiment of the power of the deity, and at the same time imbues and imparts to the deity a royal stature. 

The chariot festival in the month of February is the main annual festival celebrated here. The divine marriage between Virupaksheshwara and Pampa is celebrated in the month of December.

The outstanding importance of Virupaksha during the Vijayanagara period is reflected in the setting up of temples dedicated to this god in other parts of the city and the kingdom. The earliest of these in the capital was the temple dedicated to Prasanna Virupaksha, also known as the ‘Underground Temple’. Another temple dedicated to Virupaksha was built in 1398 A.D. on Hemakuta hill by two Brahman brothers. Besides these two, on Hemakuta in Hampi, there is a small, pre-Vijayanagara shrine that is at present called the ‘Mula-Virupaksha Temple’.

In the nineteenth century the Virupaksha temple and cult seems to have been more active than in the previous century. Worship in the Virupaksha temple survived into the twentieth century. Thus, Virupaksha has been the principal deity of Hampi or Pampa-kshetra from at least the twelfth century AD to modern times. The great Virupaksha temple has been the most important temple at the site throughout these centuries, though it was temporarily overshadowed in splendour and popularity by the Vitthala temple for a few decades prior to AD 1565. 

The period of two hundred odd years that the site served as the capital of the greatest medieval Hindu kingdom in India was the peak period in the history of the Virupaksha temple and cult. During these years Virupaksha became the patron deity of a dynasty, a city and a kingdom, and his cult gained in immense prestige and popularity not only in Hampi, but also throughout the kingdom. This devotion and popularity manifested in generous endowments made to the great Virupaksha temple. Grants were issued in Virupaksha’s presence and temples dedicated to Virupaksha was being constructed elsewhere in southern India. Yet God Virupaksha and his temple at Hampi were not dependent exclusively or even predominantly on royal patronage and connections, for they had enjoyed a following prior to the Vijayanagara period and have retained their significance long after the Vijayanagara kingdom has been relegated to the realm of history.

At present, the Virupaksha temple is the most important temple and pilgrimage spot in Hampi, drawing numerous devotees and vast crowds for its principal festival.