ASI unearths Vijayanagara-era Vishnu and Shiva temples at Hampi

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed structural remains of two ancient temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva during excavations at Hampi in Karnataka.

The agency stated that these discoveries provide significant insights into regional planning, settlement patterns, and religious and cultural life during the Vijayanagara Empire.

Archaeologists uncovered a partially subterranean dwikuta (two-shrined) Vishnu temple built in classic Vijayanagara style using massive dressed granite slabs in dry-stone masonry.

Preserved features of the complex include a garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum), sunken entrance corridor, decorative moulded basement, lime flooring, heavy supporting beams, and stone seating platforms.

High-relief dvarapalas flank the entrance axis at the door jambs, while foundational walls, stone lintels, and jambs remain intact despite the missing brick shikhara.

The team recovered several sculptural artefacts, including a headless kneeling winged figure resembling Garuda, relief carvings of Nagadevi and Nagadeva, coiled serpent sculptures, and a standing Vishnu stone image.

Alongside this complex, researchers exposed the foundational remains of a granite Shiva temple featuring a raised, moulded plinth and a central interior chamber.

Pillars across the excavation site also display prominent sculptural motifs, including Varaha, the sacred boar incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

The excavation site sits near the Ganagitti Temple, Hampi’s oldest Jain shrine, which dates back to 1386 AD.

Minister Iruguppa Dandanayaka built this shrine during Vijayanagara ruler Bukkaraya II’s reign, dedicating it to Lord Kunthunatha, the 17th Tirthankara of Jainism.

Jain scriptures note that Kunthunatha was born into Hastinapur’s Ikshvaku dynasty to King Surya and Queen Shridevi, attaining Moksha atop Mount Shikharji at age 95,000.