Krishna Temple In Hampi

- Decoding The Emotions On The Wall

By Tharangini

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The emotional attachment, love story and eternal infatuation with Hampi started a while ago and is still going on pretty strong. The deep sense of bonding and passion persists because Hampi still holds the power to ignite the curiosity, charm me and stop me in my tracks pretty often. I am sure others who have been wooed by Hampi will share similar sentiments.  

The intriguing stucco figuirines in the Krishna temple tower

This story is about the Krishna temple in Hampi. The eastern side 'gopura' or temple tower in Krishna temple has been shrouded in scaffolding for a few years now. It was an early morning as the sunrise silhouetted the west face of the eastern side gopura. Young Langoors were playing  around in the scaffolding even as their mothers tried to urge them to move along as we walked inside to soak in the enigmatic energy from the sculptures inside.  

The panel with Krishnadevaraya and his army after the victory against the Utkala Kingdom (Modern day Odisha )

It was on the way out that a few eerie faces peering out from between the scaffolding, with looks that gave me goose bumps, caught me off-guard. I stopped and stared and the eerie faces smiled right back at me and I realised Hampi had done it again.  Now everyone is familiar with the west face of the gopura containing fine stucco figures of warriors, horses and elephants representing the  war scene connected with Krishnadevaraya's Odisha campaign over Prataparudra Gajapati .  But framed by the scaffolding the emphasis on the emotions on the soldiers' faces seemed to tell a different story altogether.

The faces on the soldiers that just cannot be ignored.

A few more faces. even with detailed teeth, nostrils and even earlobes with holes,
there is an undecipherable expression.

Was this really a victory scene or a tribute to the lost souls of the fallen soldiers. Featured yet featureless, expressive yet with a blank expression the ghostly faces held me in their gaze. They seemed to rise up with no definite shape from the rows of soldiers below who themselves seemed to be caught in a melee. The bottom row showed some fallen soldiers while some of them were staring behind.

Fallen soldiers, soldiers who just seemed to float out and a part of a horse's leg all adding up to the mystery.

Krishnadevaraya looking serious and focused on very smiling horse in front of a
cramped panel full of soldiers.

Why were they staring behind if they were marching ahead in victory? The king himself seemed to look serious and focused, while his horse had a very happy look to it. I wondered what were they trying to tell. Was there a lot more to these pseudo blank expressions than a victory march. 

 I tried to look for clues in the other figurines on the gopura from an image taken before the renovation work, scanning every bit piece by piece and a whole new story jumped out at me.  A bit of erotic sculpture in the top left panel (our left), something I had never noticed before, plain as day for those who have spent time observing and discreet enough for those rushing through made me wonder where is the connection in these stories. What was the significance of having one erotic sculpture among soldiers, kings and gods?  Fully aware that Virupaksha temple, which is also in Hampi, is no stranger to erotic art, but this one on the inside wall of the gopura in Krishna temple draped a huge question mark all over my head.  The corresponding right panel had nothing to offer to solve this mystery either. The panel is now blank with no clues of what might have been and I felt like I had just read through an entire mystery novel only to find the last pages ripped off.

Erotic art in the left panel and missing arts on corresponding right panels left a lot untold.

The soldiers have been staring out for centuries, the erotic art has been there for equally long, but it took the framing of the scaffolding to make these faces hold my attention their hostage.  Though it might have a reverse effect on others. Very few look up to observe the obscured gopura these days with all the renovation work going on. Here is hoping that this story will help garner more attention to the secrets hiding behind the scaffolding not just here but in other monuments as well. As for me, now that my curiosity has been ignited, Hampi is victoriously beckoning me again with a hope to decode the emotions on the wall.

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