The Women of Ancient Hampi
The Women of Ancient Hampi
Hampi is the perfect coming together of unhurried modernity and historical enchantment. The cafés and curio stalls melt away as you enter the Vitthala complex’ five-tiered gopuram (gateway). The colonnades, on either side, are intricately carved with images of the women of Hampi decked out in royal finery. The musical pillars of the Sangeetha Mandapam complex are decorated with carvings of female minstrels. Not far from the Vitthala temple is the Mahanavami Dibba where, aeons ago, royal families and their subjects gathered for parades and other socio-cultural performances. The carvings here portray women taming wild horses, spear-wielding female hunter-soldiers, and royal