Overview
Previous Year UPSC-CSE Questions By the end you will be able to draft model answers for the following UPSC questions. Each question carries a collapsible framework showing how to approach it in the exam.
- UPSC Prelims 2007 GS-IWhere is the famous Vijaya Vittala Temple having its 56 carved pillars emitting musical notes located?
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Recall that the Vitthala temple, with its stone chariot and fifty-six musical pillars, is at Hampi, the Vijayanagara capital.
Trap to watch: Belur is a Hoysala site and Srirangam a Chola-Nayaka one; the Vitthala temple of the musical pillars is at Hampi.
Key facts to recall:
- The Vitthala temple is at Hampi.
- It has fifty-six musical pillars and the stone chariot.
- Hampi was the Vijayanagara capital on the Tungabhadra.
Answer signal: Hampi.
- UPSC Prelims 2009 GS-IWhere is the famous Virupaksha temple located?
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Recall that the Virupaksha temple, the living temple of Shiva, is at Hampi, the Vijayanagara capital.
Trap to watch: Chidambaram, Srikalahasti and Bhadrachalam are other southern shrines; the Virupaksha is at Hampi.
Key facts to recall:
- The Virupaksha temple is at Hampi.
- It is the oldest and the living shrine of Hampi.
- Krishnadevaraya added a great hall to it in 1510.
Answer signal: Hampi.
- UPSC Prelims 2019 GS-IBuilding 'Kalyana Mandapas' was a notable feature in the temple construction in the kingdom of
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Recall that the pillared halls, the mandapas, were a notable feature of Vijayanagara temple architecture.
Trap to watch: The Chalukya, Chandela and Rashtrakuta are earlier kingdoms; the kalyana mandapas mark the Vijayanagara temple.
Key facts to recall:
- The mandapa, the pillared hall, was a feature of the Vijayanagara temple.
- Its pillars were carved with horses, beasts and gods.
- Hampi holds the finest of these halls.
Answer signal: Vijayanagara.
The art and architecture of the Vijayanagara Empire, seen at its capital Hampi on the Tungabhadra, was the last great flowering of the temple-building of the south. The Vijayanagara style was rooted in the older Dravidian tradition, a synthesis of the earlier schools, marked by towering gateway towers, the gopurams, and great halls of richly carved pillars, the mandapas. At Hampi stand the living Virupaksha temple, the famous Vitthala temple with its stone chariot and its musical pillars, and the courtly Lotus Mahal and Elephant Stables, in which the Hindu and the Islamic styles meet. The ruins of Hampi are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This part covers the style, the temples, the royal centre, and the exam focus.
The Vijayanagara Style
The Dravidian Style and its Synthesis
What is the significance of the Vijayanagara style: it was the last and one of the grandest flowerings of the Dravidian temple architecture of the south.
It was rooted in the Dravidian tradition. The architecture of Vijayanagara grew out of the old Dravidian style of the southern temple, and drew together the schools that had gone before it, the Chalukya, the Hoysala and the Chola, into a rich synthesis of its own. Its temples were built of the hard granite of the region, carved with a wealth of sculpture.
Its marks were the gopuram and the mandapa. The Vijayanagara temple was known for its towering gopurams, the great tapering gateway towers that rose over the temple walls, and for its pillared halls, the mandapas, whose columns were carved into rearing horses, beasts and gods. The figure below sets out the parts of such a temple.
The Great Temples of Hampi
The Virupaksha and the Vitthala Temples
What is the significance of the temples: the great temples of Hampi are the finest works of the Vijayanagara style and among the most famous shrines of the south.
The Virupaksha is the living temple. The temple of Virupaksha, a form of the god Shiva, is the oldest shrine of Hampi and the only one still in worship, its tall eastern gopuram rising over the river; to it Krishnadevaraya added his great hall, as an earlier part described.
The Vitthala is the most famous of all. The Vitthala temple is the masterpiece of the Vijayanagara style, with its celebrated stone chariot, a shrine of Garuda carved as a temple-car, and its musical pillars, fifty-six slender stone columns that ring with musical notes when struck. The figure below sets out the great temples.
| Monument | What it is |
|---|---|
| Virupaksha temple | The temple of Shiva, the oldest and the living shrine of Hampi. |
| Vitthala temple | The masterpiece, with the stone chariot and the fifty-six musical pillars. |
| Hazara Rama temple | The royal chapel of Devaraya I, carved with the Ramayana friezes. |
| Monolithic Narasimha | The man-lion of Vishnu, carved six and a half metres high from a single rock. |
| Lotus Mahal | The garden pavilion of the queens, in the Indo-Islamic style. |
| Elephant Stables | The Gajashala, eleven domed chambers for the war-elephants. |
The Hazara Rama, the Krishna and the Narasimha
Distinguishing the other great works: beside the two famous temples stand the royal chapel of the Hazara Rama and the colossal images of the god.
The Hazara Rama was the royal chapel. The Hazara Rama temple, the private chapel of the kings within the royal centre, was built by Devaraya I, and its walls carry long friezes carving the whole story of the Ramayana, a marvel of the sculptor's art. It is the work of the earlier king, not of Krishnadevaraya.
The colossal images astonish the eye. The Krishna temple, raised about 1515, and above all the great monolithic Narasimha, the man-lion of Vishnu carved six and a half metres high from a single boulder, show the boldness of the Vijayanagara sculptor. These, with the river and the boulder-strewn hills, make Hampi one of the great sights of India.
The Royal Centre and the World Heritage
The Lotus Mahal, the Stables and the City
What is the significance of the royal centre: in the secular buildings of the capital the Hindu and the Islamic styles meet, in a way found nowhere else.
The courtly buildings join two styles. In the walled royal centre stand the Lotus Mahal, a garden pavilion of the queens whose lobed arches and domes marry the Hindu and the Islamic forms, and the great Elephant Stables, the Gajashala, a range of eleven domed chambers for the war-elephants of the king. Here the Indo-Islamic style of the Deccan entered the architecture of a Hindu empire.
Hampi is a world heritage. The royal centre held also the palaces, the audience halls, the stepped tank and the great platform of the Mahanavami festival; and the whole field of ruins on the Tungabhadra, the Group of Monuments at Hampi, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The figure below sets out the royal centre.
UPSC Relevance and Exam Focus
Where Vijayanagara Architecture Fits in the UPSC-CSE Syllabus
This topic belongs to General Studies Paper I: art and culture and medieval history, and the architecture of Vijayanagara at Hampi is one of the most frequently examined subjects of the medieval south.
The questions most often test the great temples, the Vitthala with its musical pillars and stone chariot, the location of Hampi on the Tungabhadra, and the features of the Vijayanagara style such as the mandapas.
Several linked points recur and are worth holding in working memory:
- The Vitthala temple: At Hampi, with the stone chariot and the fifty-six musical pillars.
- The Virupaksha temple: The living temple of Shiva at Hampi.
- The mandapas: The pillared halls were a notable feature of Vijayanagara temple-building.
- Hampi: On the Tungabhadra river, not the Malaprabha; a UNESCO site of 1986.
- The Hazara Rama: The royal chapel, built by Devaraya I, not by Krishnadevaraya.
A 2007 question asked where the famous Vitthala temple with its fifty-six musical pillars is located, and a 2009 question asked the same of the Virupaksha temple; the answer to both is Hampi, the capital of Vijayanagara.
A 2019 question asked in which kingdom the building of the pillared halls, the mandapas, was a notable feature of temple construction; the answer was Vijayanagara. A common trap pairs Hampi with the wrong river; Hampi stands on the Tungabhadra, not the Malaprabha.
Prelims MCQ practice
Each question below tests one specific concept on the topic. Click to reveal the answer and a full option-wise explanation.
Q1. The famous Vitthala temple, with its stone chariot and fifty-six musical pillars, is located at which one of the following?
- Belur
- Hampi
- Srirangam
- Bhadrachalam
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Hampi
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The Vitthala temple, with its stone chariot and fifty-six musical pillars, is at Hampi, the Vijayanagara capital; Belur is a Hoysala site. Hence option (b).
Q2. The Virupaksha temple, the oldest and still-living shrine of Hampi, is dedicated to which one of the following gods?
- Vishnu
- Shiva
- Brahma
- Surya
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Shiva
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The Virupaksha temple of Hampi is dedicated to Shiva, in the form of Virupaksha, and is still in worship. Hence option (b).
Q3. The pillared halls known as mandapas were a notable feature of the temple architecture of which one of the following kingdoms?
- The Chalukya
- The Rashtrakuta
- Vijayanagara
- The Chandela
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Vijayanagara
Explanation.
Option (c) is correct. The pillared mandapas were a notable feature of the Vijayanagara temple; the Chalukya, Rashtrakuta and Chandela were earlier kingdoms. Hence option (c).
Q4. The Hazara Rama temple at Hampi, carved with friezes of the Ramayana, was built by which one of the following rulers?
- Krishnadevaraya
- Devaraya I
- Harihara I
- Rama Raya
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Devaraya I
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The Hazara Rama temple, the royal chapel with the Ramayana friezes, was built by Devaraya I, not by Krishnadevaraya. Hence option (b).
Q5. With reference to the architecture of Vijayanagara, consider the following statements:
- The Lotus Mahal and the Elephant Stables join Hindu and Islamic forms.
- The monuments of Hampi are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Both 1 and 2
Explanation.
Both statements are correct. The Lotus Mahal and Elephant Stables join Hindu and Islamic forms, and the monuments of Hampi are a UNESCO World Heritage Site of 1986. Hence option (c).
Q6. The capital city of Hampi, with its great temples and palaces, stands on the bank of which one of the following rivers?
- The Malaprabha
- The Tungabhadra
- The Krishna
- The Kaveri
Show answer and explanation
Answer: The Tungabhadra
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. Hampi stands on the Tungabhadra, a tributary of the Krishna, not on the Malaprabha. Hence option (b).
Sources and Further Reading
Editorial Disclaimer
This article is for UPSC preparation. The architecture of Vijayanagara rests on the surviving monuments of Hampi and the standard scholarship on the medieval Deccan.
