Architecture in ancient India was a very sophisticated undertaking. Various kingly dynasties across the country vied with each other to build great monuments as acts of conscious legacy making.             

Temple architecture in particular was approached with rigor and devotion as it was governed by advanced scientific principles that included sacred geometry, materials science and skilled artisanship. Numerous temples across India testify to this elevated and subtle comprehension of design principles and construction techniques that were known to our ancestors.

The temples of Hampi, built during the reigns of the various Rayas of the Vijayanagar empire, are among the finest examples of this advanced craft and science of temple building. Their constructions was governed by a science and aesthetic that was allied to the sacred, which was different from the splendid courtly and civic architecture that also prevailed over the kingdom. The southern part of India, spanning what is now the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu, witnessed one of the greatest waves of temple construction and renovation during the peak period of the Vijayanagara kingdom.              

One of the things that set the temples of Vijayanagara apart, particularly those in the capital city of Hampi, was the choice of granite as the principal building material. For almost 400 years prior, soapstone was the material of choice for many of the famous temples built during the time of the western Chalukya and Hoysala empires that flourished before the advent of the Vijayanagara empire. Soapstone or schist was a material that facilitated elaborate carvings and sculptures owing to its softness. Granite on the other hand was dense and not easy to sculpt. But it created a palpable sense of magnificence and timelessness that can be experienced by any visitor to the temples of Hampi to this day as this picture testifies.

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