Temple
Pura at Vijayanagara: A Study of Specialized Urban Districts
Temple
Pura at Vijayanagara: ARI Graduate Fellowship project by Alexandra Mack
Vijayanagara,
or "City of Victory," was the capital of an empire of the same name which
flourished in South India from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The emergence of the empire
was likely the result of political fracturing and upheaval among local Muslim rulers which
allowed Hindu conquerors to establish a new kingdom. The capital was founded around 1336
on the southern bank of the Tungabhadra River in the northern Deccan, in an area that had
religious associations with both the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva. Before the founding of
the city, the site had little political or economic importance, and even during the height
of the empire Vijayanagara itself was not the center of major economic productivity. From
here, the empire expanded to cover much of the Indian peninsula south of the Tungabhadra.
The city was abandoned in 1565 after being defeated in attacks by Muslim states to the
north.
Vijayanagara provides an ideal setting for exploring the interactions between a city
and its constituent parts. 
The city is known historically and has
been extensively documented. Several discrete precincts have been classified by
archaeologists and historians. The primary example of these are the temple pura, districts
which surround the large temple complexes. An individual temple pura included the temple
itself and associated outbuildings, bazaars, shrines, and nearby residential areas, which
together formed a community centered on the temple. Based on the descriptions of European
travelers to the city, these pura appear to have existed semi-independently within the
boundaries of the larger city.
I will be using archaeological evidence to investigate both the physical and social
structure of the temple districts at Vijayanagara, and how these districts operated within
the city. The research to be conducted at ARI entails spatial analysis of the architecture
of the pura. I am using data collected by the Vijayanagara Research Project (VRP) directed
by John Fritz and George Michell from 1980-1996. 
The project
generated a series of maps of the city at 1:400 scale. These maps show the
topography as well as architecture and large, non-portable artifacts such as basins,
mortars, and troughs, as well as artifacts that are a fundamental part of the architecture
or surrounding sheet rock such as lamps, gameboards, and grinding slicks. There is an
accompanying database for each map, describing these surface features.
I have converted all the databases to Microsoft Access, and have been digitizing the maps into ArcView. With this software, I will be able to run comparitive analyses of distributions of artifacts and buildings, as well as compare accessibility of buildings within and between districts. I also plan to return to Vijayanagara to collect surface ceramics in order to gain more detailed identification of activity areas,which may include food preparation, purification, worship, or leisure activities. The distribution of particular activities throughout the districts, and in and around different kinds of buildings, should be reflective of the social structure of the pura and will help answer questions regarding the nature of these districts and how they related to the city as a whole.
This is an archived page created by:Alexandra Mack |  |