Virupaksha Temple — Hampi

Virupaksha Temple — Hampi

The Unblinking Eye of Śiva at Vijayanagara

The Virupaksha Temple at Hampi is the oldest continuously functioning temple in the Vijayanagara capital — a place of worship since at least the 7th century CE, when the earliest Chalukya shrine was built on this site. Its 50-metre eastern gopuram, erected by Krishnadevaraya after his 1509 coronation, dominates the ruins of a city that was once the second-largest in the world (after Beijing).

The name Virūpākṣa means "the one with oblique eyes" — a reference to Śiva's third eye, which sees beyond maya. The temple is built along the Tungabhadra river, at the foot of Hemakuta Hill, directly across from the elephant stables and the Queen's Bath — in the heart of what was the Vijayanagara sacred centre.

What Makes It Unique

• Continuous worship for 1,300+ years — unlike every other Hampi monument, Virupaksha was never abandoned after the 1565 sack
• The gopuram's pinhole camera effect — light passing through a small aperture in the gopuram projects an inverted image of the tower onto the inner wall of the temple — a pre-photographic demonstration of the camera obscura principle
• Hampi Bazaar Street — the 700-metre temple street leading east from the gopuram was one of the greatest market streets of the medieval world, dealing in diamonds, rubies, silk, and Arabian horses
• The temple elephant — Virupaksha still maintains a live temple elephant, Laxmi, who gives blessings daily

The Tiger, the Bull, and the Elephant

Śiva's vāhana at Virupaksha is Nandi (the sacred bull) — an indigenous Indian animal. But the Vijayanagara sculptors also depicted Śiva in his tiger-skin-clad Bhikshatana form, and the temple elephant participates in every ratha (chariot) festival. The Sanskrit siṃha (lion) was never native to the Tungabhadra basin; the apex predator here was the tiger (puli), and the Vijayanagara emblem itself was the boar-swordsman.

Trade and Empire

Hampi's position astride the Tungabhadra river trade corridor made it one of the wealthiest cities of the medieval world. Persian and Arabian horses — essential for the Vijayanagara cavalry — were imported through Goa and Bhatkal, then driven inland through the temple bazaar. The inscriptions record taxes on pepper, cotton, and iron from the Ballari mines. Portuguese traders (post-1510) established a factory in Hampi, exchanging horses for southern spices. Domingo Paes, the Portuguese chronicler who visited in 1520, wrote: "The city is as large as Rome and very beautiful to see."

Festivals

• Maha Shivaratri — the principal festival of Virupaksha; the entire Hampi sacred zone becomes a pilgrimage site
• Hampi Utsav (November) — the Karnataka government's cultural festival
• Purandara Dasa Aradhana — the birth anniversary of the founding composer of Carnatic music, who lived and composed at Virupaksha
• Annual chariot festival — the ratha processions through the 700-m bazaar street

The 1565 Sack — and Survival

After the Battle of Talikota (1565), the Deccan Sultanates looted Vijayanagara. Every monument in Hampi was vandalised — except Virupaksha. The temple's priests negotiated its survival by continuing pūjā through the sack. The temple has never ceased to be a living place of worship.