Photos

This is a long shot of the Vittalaswami Temple Complex
giving a sort of a bird's eye-view of the complex. Built during the first decade of the 16th century,the
Vittalaswami Temple is,according to Prof.A.L.Basham in
his book entitled "The Wonder that was India", undoubtedly the "finest production" of "Vijayanagara style of architure",that "was never surpassed in Hindu India" "For brilliancyof decorative imagination". He opined that "The school (of architecture) which flourished under the Vijayanagara empire and reached its apogee in the 16th century shows both Pandyan and Hoyasala features".According to Fergusson,the Vittalaswami Temple "shows the extreme limit in florid magnificence to which the (Vijayanagara) style (of architecture) advanced".Now, as a kind of a prelude to the presentation of a series of photographs to exemplify the artistic magnificence and grandeur that temple-architecture had attained under the Rayas of Vijayanagara during the 15th and the 16th centuries, I present this photograph to give the members a general idea of the Complex as a whole.In taking this snap,I had taken not a very little amount of risk,as I had taken the snap dangerously and precariously perched atop a 2ft wide cross-beam about 15ft high above the rocky ground of a ruined structure opposite the main entrance to the temple-complex -- a position that involved the risk of serious injury and even death in case I slipped and lost my footing on the beam,more so because I had been completely absorbed in how to get the best shot and therefore totally forgetful of my surroundings.