{"id":23715,"date":"2026-06-04T12:56:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T07:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=23715"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:14:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T09:44:41","slug":"virupaksha-temple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/virupaksha-temple\/","title":{"rendered":"Virupaksha Temple"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Virupaksha Temple Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) recently removed the walls built inside the main gopuram of Virupaksha Temple, where a mantapa was converted into an office.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Virupaksha Temple<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Virupaksha, also known as the <\/span><b>Pampapathi temple,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Virupaksha, a form of <\/span><b>Lord Shiva.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is located in <\/span><b>Hampi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, within the Vijayanagara district of <\/span><b>Karnataka<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Situated on the <\/span><b>southern bank of the Tungabhadra<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> River, it is <\/span><b>part of the Group of Monuments at Hampi, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">designated as a <\/span><b>UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> since 1986.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Considered the most renowned and significant temple in Hampi, Virupaksha Temple has been operational without interruption since its <\/span><b>establishment in the 7th century AD,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> making it <\/span><b>one of the oldest functioning temples in India.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Development<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initially a modest shrine, it was later <\/span><b>expanded during the Chalukyas and Hoysala periods.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The temple experienced <\/span><b>considerable growth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and enhancement during the <\/span><b>Vijayanagara Empire (14th-16th centuries)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, evolving into a prominent religious and cultural hub.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rulers of Vijayanagara, especially <\/span><b>King Deva Raya II and King Krishnadevaraya, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">played a crucial role in the <\/span><b>temple&#8217;s expansion, contributing <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">structures such as the<\/span><b> eastern gopuram and the central pillared hall.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Virupaksha Temple <\/b><b>Architecture<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The temple is built in the <\/span><b>Dravidian architectural style,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> featuring towering <\/span><b>gopurams, detailed carvings, pillared halls<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and expansive <\/span><b>courtyards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The design of the temple includes <\/span><b>repeating patterns,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> showcasing the architectural and<\/span><b> mathematical expertise<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the era.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><b> triangular form<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the temple and the manner in which patterns are divided and repeated are particularly remarkable.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The temple complex includes a <\/span><b>sanctum sanctorum, multiple pillared halls<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (the most elaborate being a hall with 100 pillars), antechambers, and<\/span><b> grand gopurams <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(gateway towers).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The temple has <\/span><b>three prominent gopurams<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with the<\/span><b> eastern gopuram<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> being the <\/span><b>largest<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, reaching a height of 160 feet and consisting of nine tiers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>gopurams <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are<\/span><b> adorned with beautiful sculptures <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of various Hindu deities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The temple\u2019s design incorporates <\/span><b>principles of physics,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> such as the Rectilinear Light Theory and the pinhole camera effect.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Notably, the temple features an <\/span><b>inverted pinhole image of its tower on the inner wall<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a remarkable example of ancient engineering.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b><strong>:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/city\/hubballi\/asi-removes-additional-walls-inside-hampis-virupaksha-temple-gopuram\/articleshow\/131482999.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>TOI<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virupaksha Temple is a Hindu temple located in Hampi, within the Vijayanagara district of Karnataka.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":106698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,22,23,7959],"class_list":{"0":"post-23715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-prelims-pointers","9":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","10":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","11":"tag-virupaksha-temple","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23715"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106736,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23715\/revisions\/106736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}