Hazara Rama Temple, Hampi

01The Ramayana in bands

Start at the north-west corner of the inner shrine and walk clockwise, and the Bala Kanda unfolds before you: Dasharatha’s putrakameshti yajna, the birth of the four brothers, Vishvamitra leading Rama and Lakshmana away, the breaking of Shiva’s bow. The panels go on round the walls to the war in Lanka. The outer enclosure wall carries a different procession, of horses, elephants, soldiers and dancing women, the Mahanavami festival as the court saw it each autumn. Inside, four black stone pillars show Vishnu’s forms, among them the Buddha avatara.

02Temple of the palace

The temple stands between the king’s residential enclosure and the audience halls, and scholars take it to have been the state chapel where the royal family worshipped. Its style is Deccani-Dravida, small in scale, built of granite with a brick tower that is now partly lost. It is usually dated to Deva Raya I in the early 15th century. In 1565 the sanctum was emptied and the shrine has had no worship since. Of all the Hampi temples it is the one to go slowly round, panel by panel.

The life of this place