Hampi Vijayanagara

This is the best researched, most informative guide to Hampi Vijayanagara written by experts who have spent over 20 years documenting every aspect of the site.

Hampi was established as the seat of the Vijayanagara empire in the mid-14th century, a time when art and architecture flourished. Today the vast site encompasses 16 square miles and hundreds of remains of the greatest medieval empire in South India, including forts, royal complexes, temples, shrines, pillared halls, mandapas, water structures and stables.

This book examines the temples renowned for their florid ornamentation, intircate carvings, magnificent pavilions, stately pillars and a wealth of iconographic and traditional depictions. 

The guide also includes:

• Useful itineraries for navigating this vast site and making the most of your journey
• Historic context on the Vijayanagara empire
• Illustrations of key temples, ruins and sculptures
• Site plans
• Three-dimensional resconstructions
• Historic accounts of travelers from the 15th and 16th centuries
• Practical information

AUTHORS

John M Fritz received a PhD in Anthropology with a specialty in Archaeology from the University of Chicago. He is currently Consulting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Since 1981, he and George Michell have co-directed an extensive documentation of the Hampi Vijayanagara site. He co-authored Hampi: A Story in Stone with George Michell.

- - -

George Michell obtained his PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, for his dissertation on early-Chalukya temple architecture. Since then his research has ranged from surveys of town planning and Islamic buildings to studies of Hindu temple architecture and sculpture. During the 1980s and 1990s, he and Dr. John M. Fritz co-directed an extensive survey of Hampi-Vijayanagara.

Among his many publications are: The Royal Palaces of India, Hindu Art and Architecture, The Great Temple at Thanjavur, Mughal Architecture and Gardens, Late Temple Architecture of India, 15th to 19th Centuries and, together with Helen Philon, Islamic Architecture of Deccan India.