https://3speak.tv/watch?v=litguru/nkaebrqq

All around lie the remnants of that ancient forgotten empire- Vijayanagar. Here was a place of ancient voices and faces, as far back as the 7th century, swirling in a turbulent history of prosperity and decline, an empire that shaped the course of history in the region and the world. Yet for long it has remained but a distant forgotten land.

The royal Hampe temple, a cathedral- so the old historians and travelers referred to the complexes of this fabled land. The spiritual center of the Vijayanagar empire. Rulers lived and died. Festival filled the nights. Invasions. Wars. And all that comes when people come together to make a last stand.

The Virupaksha temple should probably be called the Virupaksha and Pampadevi temple, for Virupaksha is a manifestation of none other than Lord Shiva and his consort Parvatti, who takes the form of Pampadevi in the temple. Pampa was an old name for the nearby Tungabhadra River on whose banks, bouldered with granite, the majestic city was built.

Histories, rituals, events, commemorations, and much more decorated every inch of the palaces, temples, and gateways that had withstood the test of man's wrath, and the ravages of time. Before its destruction, its grandeur was much higher. It was a vast realm of granite filled with merchants, warriors, nobility, priests, temple girls, and so on.

I felt dizzy thinking about the city in its heyday, when crowds filled the squares and streets on this alien world of stone.

The temples are dedicated to forces represented in the form of gods and divine beings. Destruction and transformation. The end of ignorance, restoration of cosmic balance, spiritual liberation, strength, obstacle removal, blessings, fertility... to walk among Indian temples is to enter a world of sensory delights. Voluptuous shapes caress your eyeballs wherever you look. Everything is an invitation to inspect, appreciate, visually caress, and feel the thrilling current of electric spiritual energy transmitted trough architectural forms and motifs. A sensual zap! Shiva-Parvati dancing eternally the ecstatic dance of life and death.

The structures used to be painted at the height of their splendour, and from time to time I would notice the old faded paint in some images. I marveled at this, imagining all the motifs that I had come across painted with bright vivid colours. Flowers. Abstract shapes. Anthropomorphic sinuous curves. Dancing bodies. How stunning! An entire empire built to turn on the senses through symbols and art.

The temple complexes were extensive, and the grounds stretched along the rocky dry terrain. The stone temples and other structures like elephant stables had been built with material from local quarries. One can see jagged rocks and large boulders surrounding the ruins. Some rocks even had carved figures, begun and abandoned by the ancient artist.

I had the opportunity to take many photographs of the beautiful structures but most important the art and design motifs adorning the beautiful and majestic temples. I could see that there was a common theme in the forms decorating the temples. What did it all mean? Scenes of daily life, festivals, political events, godly frolics, and so forth. Everywhere I looked, I saw the beauty of the human body aroused to glorified exaltation like a rising Shiva linga firmly placed upon Parvati's embracing pedestal. All carved in granite.

I created the music with UDIO generative music software. I sought to create a tune with ambient rhythm that would accompany this highly exotic part of the world. The song is created with a prompt through a series of iterative steps to create a score with an intro, middle, and end. I worked with a song entitled Whispers of the Sitar.

I put audio and images together in MS Clipchamp, giving them a little bit of depth.

Visiting this temple was a unique experience. It aroused my aesthetic curiosity because it was filled with so much art and symbolism. It was striking how much they focused on beauty, though I think I also spotted some scenes of war. The history of this land is mind blowing, and I hope this post has aroused your artistic curiosity as well.

Sewell, Robert, Fernão Nunes, and Domingos Paes. 2000. A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India. Asian Educational Services.

Vijayanagara Empire wikipedia page

The Virupaksha temple on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virupaksha_Temple,_Hampi

Dive into another section:

1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6-8, 9, 10, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4

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