Vijayanagara was a kingdom founded in the Deccan by two brothers in about A.D. 1336, till it was finally destroyed in A.D. 1565 at the battle of Talikota by the Bahamani Sultans. The Rayas of Vijayanagara were great patrons of Hindu culture and of Sanskrit literature. They were also great builders who originated a distinct school of architecture and painting. And during the heyday of the kingdom, its great wealth, splendour, and grandeur evoked the admiration of all foreign visitors who visited its capital city, Hampi Abdur Razzak wrote: "The city is such that the eye has not seen nor ear heard of any place resembling it upon the earth." This artistic grandeur is well brought out by the author in his concise but authoritative Introduction to this book and the large number of superb plates it contains. In the words of the author.
"An attempt has been made to focus the attention of art-historians to an important art- centre of the mediaeval period. Hampi, the erstwhile capital of the Vijayanagara empire, was a leading city in India both as a seat of political and religious-cum-artistic activities which lasted well over 200 years. All that is best in the Vijayanagara art is more or less represented in the ruins of Hampi."
After an explanatory and historical Introduction, the author has further dealt, in separate sections, with religious sculpture, secular portrait sculpture, memorial stones, secular sculpture on social aspects, ceiling paintings, religious monuments, secular buildings, miscellaneous monuments like mantaps, gateways, water-tanks, etc. A Glossary and Select Bibliography conclude the book.
This richly illustrated book will not only greatly interest the student of Indian art and culture, but also delight those general readers interested in Indian architecture, sculpture and painting. This is a book all will be proud to possess.
Dr. SINDIGI RAJASEKHARA was born in 1944 and obtained his M.A. degree (First Class) from the Karnatak University in 1965. In the same year he was awarded a Diploma in Epigraphy and received his doctorate from the same Karnatak University in 1976 for his important study of the temples at Aihole.
Today, Dr. Rajasekhara holds the post of Lecturer, Department of History and Archacology in the Karnatak University at Dharwad, his fields of special interest being Art History in general, Karnatak History, and Ancient Indian Studies. Dr. Rajasekhara has many discoveries to his credit among which may be mentioned his discovery of two minor Rock Edicts of Asoka at Mittur in 1977, and in the following year, he discovered about a dozen Hindu caves of the 5th-6th centuries, situated in the Goa territory. He has also many publications to his credit and over thirty authoritative articles in Journals of repute, Among his scholarly books, mention must be made of Holalagundi Paintings and Early Chalukya Art at Alhole which is under publication. He is also the Associate Editor of Annual Reports of the Archaeological Survey of Mysore, published in three volumes in 1976 and 1977.
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