Virupaksha Temple, Hampi

Virupaksha Temple is the main working temple of Hampi and the focus of pilgrimage at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, dedicated to Shiva as Virupaksha. Worship here is said to go back more than a thousand years: a modest 7th-century shrine grew into a large complex as the Vijayanagara kings added halls and towers.

Legend says Parvati, born in Pampa (the old name of Hampi), did penance on Hemakuta Hill to win Shiva, who married her here, and weddings in the temple are still thought especially blessed. The entrance gopuram, nine storeys and about 50 m high, has deities on every level, and three more towers guard the inner courts. The Ranga Mandapa has 38 pillars in five aisles carved with warriors on yalis, and a painted ceiling of scenes from the epics and Puranas. Inside, an inverted image of the main tower appears on one wall.