Temples on Hemakuta Hill

The story of Temples on Hemakuta Hill

Temples on Hemakuta Hill are the small cluster of shrines you reach inside the Virupaksha Temple area at Hampi, and the striking thing about them is how many there are: more than 35 temples on this hill. Britannica-style visitor pages describe this as a complex of Hindu temples, shrines, and other monuments, with most of the temples dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The group belongs to the pre-Vijayanagara and Vijayanagara periods, with many of the structures dating from the 9th-14th centuries. Several published descriptions say the hill was once a quieter sacred zone before the later, larger temple building at Hampi, and that these shrines give a glimpse of an earlier stage of temple construction here.

A few specific inscriptions help anchor the place. One records that Vira Kampiladeva, son of Mummadi Singeya Nayaka, built the Sivalaya and installed three Lingas. Two inscriptions near the Prasanna Anjaneya temple, dated 1398 AD, mention Virupaksha Panditha and his brother constructing a temple of Virupaksha and digging a tank. Another records a lamp pillar in the temple of Jadeya Sankaradeva, set up by Bukkave, the queen of Harihara II, in 1397 AD.

Look closely for the compact shrines and the inscribed stones; the hilltop flattens into a small plateau after the climb.