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198 Pages·2008·16.77 MB·English

by  Trial User

THE KRISHNA TEMPLE COMPLEX, HAMPI:
AN EXPLORATION OF ITS IDENTITY AS A MEDIEVAL TEMPLE IN THE
CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT

A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
of Cornell University
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts

by
Ashima Krishna
January, 2009
© 2009 Ashima Krishna
ABSTRACT

Hindu temples in India have been in abundance for centuries. However, many
have lost their use over time. They lie vacant and unused on vast tracts of land across
the Indian subcontinent, in a time when financial resources for the provision of
amenities to serve the local community are hard to come by. In the case of Hampi, this
strain is felt not only by the community inhabiting the area, but the tourism sector as
well. Hampi’s immense significance as a unique Medieval-city in the Indian
subcontinent has increased tourist influx into the region, and added pressure on
authorities to provide for amenities and facilities that can sustain the tourism industry.
The site comprises near-intact Medieval structures, ruins in stone and archaeologically
sensitive open land, making provision of tourist facilities extremely difficult. This
raises the possibility of reusing one of the abundant temple structures to cater to some
of these needs, akin to the Virupaksha Temple Complex and the Hampi Bazaar. But
can it be done?
There is a significant absence of research on possibilities of reusing a Hindu
Temple. A major reason for this gap in scholarship has been due to the nature of the
religion of Hinduism and its adherents. Communal and political forces over time have
consistently viewed all Hindu temples as cultural patrimony of the people, despite
legal ownership resting with the Government of India. In addition, a Hindu temple is
complex, similar to the religion. Can the various Vedic rules of construction that are
employed for such a structure be divorced from the temple, even if it loses its
liturgical use by the loss of its idol? Should they?
Physically tampering with the spatial characteristics of a temple would be
falsifying history. However, legal and religious associations of the main temple do
allow for certain uses. The other parts of the temple complex can similarly be put to
uses that are sensitive to the existing historic fabric of the temple complex. However
this kind of a phenomenon is highly dependent on the regional belief and thought.
Other temples do not have the same location or the same circumstances as the
Krishna Temple, and therefore reactions to such an endeavor may vary according to
the surrounding community and their thought, their belief system. The Krishna
Temple is one example out of many. It has prime location, its community has a need
for space, it has immense historical value, and it caters to a large Hindu sect, making it
an ideal candidate for reuse. This reuse project is a small step in the (right) direction.
Only future will determine if it is a success or not.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

My interest in all things historic developed while growing up in the city of
Lucknow in Northern India. However it was during my pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree
in Architecture that I was introduced to conservation and historic preservation.
On the road to my Masters degree in Historic Preservation planning I worked
with three different Conservation Architects in different cities in India; Romi Khosla
Design Studios (New Delhi) in 2004, ANB Consultants (Lucknow) in 2005-2006 and
Abha Narain Lambah Associates (Mumbai) in 2007. These firms got me involved in
projects varying from landscape, conservation, interiors, urban development and
adaptive reuse to commercial architecture. However my principal interests remain
preservation and conservation of the built heritage and how it interfaces with issues of
communities and planning. I hope to continue these into more detailed research.

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For the four Krishnas in my life, who were my pillars of support throughout

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis could not have been written without Dr. Michael Tomlan who not
only served as my Advisor but also supported, encouraged and challenged me
throughout my academic program. He and my other committee member, Jeffrey
Chusid guided me through the thesis process, never accepting less than my best
efforts. I thank them both. I would also like to thank Professors Kaja McGowan and
Sherene Baugher for weighing in with their views and expertise during our informal
discussions.
Beyond the academic spectrum, I would also like to thank the various people
who have been directly or indirectly the source of invaluable help and support. The
Friends of Hampi, namely Surendra Kumar and Viru Paksha were mines of
information pertaining to the site. Dr. S.V.P Halakatti, Superintending Archeologist
with the Bangalore Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India provided valuable
insight into the administrative system and how it pertains to Hampi. I am also grateful
to Conservation Architects Sathya Prakash Varanashi and Pankaj Joshi, whose in-
depth talks over cups of coffee helped clear a lot of my thought process.
In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Anila Verghese, Dr. George Michell, Dr.
John Fritz, Conservation Architect Abha Narain Lambah, Dr. Nalini Thakur and
Conservation Architect Sarath Chandra for pointing out the ground realities and
helping my research to have potential for implementation. I am also thankful to Dr.
Kathy Morrison, Dr. Kavita Singh and Dr. Saloni Mathur for being kind enough to
share their unpublished research papers with me, very early in my research process.
And last but not the least, I would like to thank all my friends and family who
bore the brunt of my thesis frenzy, repeated mood swings and, frequent silences.
THANK YOU ALL.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biographical Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Introduction 1

1. Exploring Hampi, the location for Krishna Temple 10
1.1 Origins of Hampi/Vijayanagara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2 Architectural Styles at Hampi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.3 Hampi’s Planning and Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2. Contemporary Issues at Hampi 29
2.1 Environmental Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2 Architectural and Archaeological Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.3 History of Archaeological activity at Hampi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4 Administrative and Legal Issues at international, national, state
and local level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

3. Understanding Hinduism & its role in Hampi/Vijayanagara’s history 41
3.1 What is Hinduism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.2 Hinduism in Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

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3.3 A demographic study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.4 Hampi’s religiosity and the role of the Hindu Temple . . . . . . . . . . . 52

4. What is the Hindu Temple 60
4.1 Origins of the Hindu Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.2 Hindu Temple Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.3 The Metaphysical Nature of the Hindu Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4.4 Worship in the Hindu Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.5 Consecration of the Hindu Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.6 Re-consecration of the Hindu Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.7 Hindu Temple Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

5. The Krishna Temple 83
5.1 Historical Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
5.2 Religious Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
5.3 Architectural Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
5.4 Conservation and Archaeological Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

6. Reusing the Krishna Temple – fantasy or an actual possibility? 116
6.1 Precedents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.2 The Krishna Temple: Unraveling its layers of complexity . . . . . . . . 130
6.3 Possibilities for Contemporary Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Conclusions 158
Appendix A : Hinduism and Hindu Temples abroad 167
Appendix B : American Precedents 174
Bibliography 177

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Figure 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Figure 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Figure 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Figure 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Figure 7 (A, B, C, D). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Figure 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Figure 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Figure 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Figure 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Figure 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Figure 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Figure 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Figure 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Figure 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Figure 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Figure 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Figure 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Figure 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Figure 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Figure 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Figure 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

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