5/5 Pranam B. 5 months ago on Google
Best
place
to
witness
sunset
in
the
evening.
The
modest
structures
are
the
best
preserved
examples
of
pre
and
early
Vijayanagara
period
architecture.
As
per
the
locality,
Lord
Shiva
did
penance
before
marrying
Pampa.
Shiva
was
impressed
by
her
prayer
and
dedication.
On
this,
it
rained
gold
on
this
hill.
"Hema"
in
Sanskrit
language
means
"Gold".
The
name
of
the
hill
thus
connects
with
this
legend.
Also
this
is
the
place
where
Shiva
burnt
Kama
(the
god
of
lust)
with
his
third
(fire)
eye.
In
helping
Pampa
to
marry
Shiva,
Kama
distracted
Shiva
from
his
penance.
This
attracted
the
wrath
of
Shiva
and
eventually
killed
Kama
by
fire.
Later
Rathi
(goddess
of
passion
and
Kama’s
wife)
pleaded
for
the
life
of
Kama.
Shiva
brought
him
back
to
life
but
only
in
character
not
as
a
physical
being.
Hemakuta
Hill
has
a
group
of
temples
in
the
surrounding
area.
There
are
more
than
35
temples
on
Hemakuta
Hill.
These
temples
are
built
in
the
pre-Vijayanagara
and
Vijayanagara
periods
(9th
to
14th
century
AD).
These
are
referred
to
as
Jain
Temples,
but
many
of
these
temples
are
dedicated
to
Lord
Shiva.
The
largest
and
most
elaborately
decorated
temples
are
situated
on
the
northern
side
of
the
hill
and
face
the
Virupaksha
temple
compound.
Some
of
the
temples
located
on
the
northern
side
of
the
hill
are
built
in
the
"Trikutachala"
style
of
architecture.
In
this
style
of
architecture,
three
shrines
are
placed
in
a
perpendicular
position
to
each
other
facing
a
common
central
hall.
The
temples
have
almost
plain
outer
walls,
except
for
the
horizontal
chain
of
floral
motifs
that
provide
some
ornamentation
to
the
walls.
