4/5 Chetan B. 4 years ago on Google
Krishna
Bazaar
is
a
relatively
newly
excavated
site
in
Hampi.
As
the
name
indicates
this
Bazaar
is
associated
with
the
Krishna
Temple.
Basically
this
was
the
car
street
for
the
temple.
The
sacred
tank
(Pushkarni)
of
the
temple
too
is
located
next
to
the
Krishna
Bazaar.
Unlike
the
many
car
streets
associated
with
other
large
temples
in
Hampi,
Krishna
Bazaar
is
bit
low
laying
with
respect
to
the
relatively
elevated
site
of
the
temple.
So
you’ll
find
a
series
of
broad
steps
in
front
of
the
Krishna
Temple
to
reach
the
bazaar
street.
Thanks
to
the
low
laying
terrain
the
whole
bazaar
got
buried
in
silt
over
the
time.
This
area
later
turned
into
thickets
of
banana
plantations.
Before
the
excavations
it
was
impossible
to
tell
that
it
was
a
marketplace
once.As
you
enter
from
the
Krishna
Temple
side,
Hampi
-----------
The
city
of
Hampi
bears
exceptional
testimony
to
the
vanished
civilization
of
the
kingdom
of
Vijayanagar,
which
reached
its
apogee
under
the
reign
of
Krishna
Deva
Raya
(1509-30).
It
offers
an
outstanding
example
of
a
type
of
structure
that
illustrates
a
significant
historical
situation:
that
of
the
kingdoms
of
South
India
which,
menaced
by
the
Muslims,
were
occasionally
allied
with
the
Portuguese
of
Goa.
The
austere,
grandiose
site
of
Hampi
was
the
last
capital
of
the
last
great
Hindu
Kingdom
of
Vijayanagar.
Its
fabulously
rich
princes
built
Dravidian
temples
and
palaces
which
won
the
admiration
of
travellers
between
the
14th
and
16th
centuries.
Conquered
by
the
Deccan
Muslim
confederacy
in
1565,
the
city
was
pillaged
over
a
period
of
six
months
before
being
abandoned.
As
the
final
capital
of
the
last
of
the
great
kingdom
of
South
India,
that
of
the
Vijayanagar,
Hampi,
enriched
by
the
cotton
and
the
spice
trade
was
one
of
the
most
beautiful
cities
of
the
medieval
world.
Its
palaces
and
Dravidian
temples
were
much
admired
by
travellers,
be
they
Arab
(Abdul
Razaak),
Portuguese
(Domingo
Paes)
or
Italian
(Nicolò
dei
Conti).
Conquered
by
the
Muslims
after
the
battle
of
Talikota
in
1565,
it
was
plundered
over
six
months
and
then
abandoned.
Imposing
monumental
vestiges,
partially
disengaged
and
reclaimed,
make
of
Hampi
today
one
of
the
most
striking
ruins
of
the
world.The
temples
of
Ramachandra
(1513)
and
Hazara
Rama
(1520),
with
their
sophisticated
structure,
where
each
supporting
element
is
scanned
by
bundles
of
pilasters
or
colonnettes
which
project
from
the
richly
sculpted
walls,
may
be
counted
among
the
most
extraordinary
constructions
of
India.
In
one
of
the
interior
courtyards
of
the
temple
of
Vitthala,
a
small
monument
of
a
chariot
which
two
elephants,
sculpted
in
the
round,
struggle
to
drag
along
is
one
of
the
unusual
creations,
the
favourite
of
tourists
today
as
well
as
travellers
of
the
past.Besides
the
temples,
the
impressive
complex
of
civil,
princely
or
public
buildings
(elephant
stables,
Queen's
Bath,
Lotus
Mahal,
bazaars,
markets)
are
enclosed
in
the
massive
fortifications
which,
however,
were
unable
to
repulse
the
assault
of
the
five
sultans
of
Deccan
in
1565.
