Bala Krishna Temple, Hampi

In Hampi this is one of the must see sites. Balakrishna Temple was built by Maharaja Krishnadevaraya in 1515 A.D. He had defeated Prataparudra Gajapati, the ruler of Orissa in the battle and had seized an image of child Krishna and brought this back to Vijaynagar. To celebrate the victory he initiated the construction of new temple. Then the beautiful idol of Lord Krishna was consecrated in this temple. This is evident from the inscriptions on the slab. They describe the conquest and the consecration of this temple on 16 February 1515 by Maharaja Krishnadevaraya. (Click on the images for bigger view)

Tower at the entrance

The main tower at the east is an impressive sight with numerous carvings on it. The epic stories carved on the walls of the tower.

Central courtyard

Built in the center of a courtyard, the temple has various sections. They are: a sanctum, an antechamber, an ardha mantapa, a circumlocutory passage, a pillared hall with three entrances and an open pillared mantapa. These all together form the main temple. Apart from the above there are also a number of other shrines for the attendant deities. The sanctum is at present empty. The image of Balakrishna showing him as a child holding butter in the right hand is now relocated to the Government Museum at Madras.

Pillared Mantapa

The carvings in the pillared hall are especially spectacular with the Yalis (the mythical lion) on the pillars. The inner sides of the entrance exhibit beautifully sculptured Apsaras. The entrances to the temple hall flanked with impressive carvings of elephant balustrades. The carvings of the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu can also be seen in this temple.

Tower of one of the sub shrines

Laksmi Narasimha Temple, Hampi

If the monolithic Ganesha Statues of Hampi are around 2.3 meters, the statue of Lord Narsimha is much larger than them. This is the biggest statue in Hampi and is of 6.7 meters in height. This statue has been constructed out of a single boulder. As per the inscriptions found it was carved in 1528 A.D. during the rule of Krishnadevaraya.

Ugra Narasimha (Click on the image for better view)

This idol of the Narasimha was well designed and has large bulging eyes and broad chest, and it is a architectural beauty. Here the Lord is in cross-legged yoga position with the belt supporting the knees. Originally, during the glory days of Hampi, the Goddess Laksmi was seated on his lap. This is confirmed by the presence of one of her hands on the back of the statue. The carving of hand of the Goddess has the finger nails and rings still intact. But due to the destruction in 1565 A.D the Goddess Laksmi statue was badly damaged and today we can only see the Lord Narsimha alone without the Goddess. The Lord is sitting on the coil of a giant seven-headed snake called AdiSesha. The heads of the snake forms a hood above his head. The entire image is set within the beautiful Makar Torana an arch, with a lion-mask above the hoods of Adisesha. On the either side of the statue there are lions as guard.

This is also popularly known as Ugra Narasimha which means terrifying form. This is attributed to the protruding eyes and the facial expression. Narsimha means half-man and half-lion.

Royal Land, what next

The journey of 10 days across the Royal Land that started from Mandwa ended in Jaipur. The exiting moments we had in the different cities of Rajasthan that we passed through was never ending. Each of the cities had their own uniqueness. I have already written about these places in my prvious postings. Just to summerise what we had covered in these places:

Mandwa known for beautiful fresco paintings through out the place. Bikaner, the camel country known beautiful fort - palace and the marble cenotaphs. Kumbalgarh known for biggest fort in India. Jodhpur, the blue city known for hilltop fort and palaces. Jaisalmer known for Golden fort, Jain temples and huge number of palaces. Ranakpur famous for the carvings of Jain temple. Mount Abu the only hill station of Rajasthan and home for famous Jain temple with exquisite carvings. Udaipur known for the fort, temple and the lake palace. Jaipur known for numerous forts and palaces.

After covering more than 80% of Rajasthan there is still more to cover. The next trip to this Royal state would explore some parts of Udaipur and Jaipur that could not be done due to lack of time. Other exiting places in the state to travel would be Kota, Bundi, Ajmer, Pushkar, Chittorgarh, Osian, Alwar, Ranthambore etc.,

But for now I have set my eyes on another beautiful state of India - Madhya Pradesh. Since, I have already done it, I will share with you all my friend very soon.