Discuss how Vijayanagar empire became the cultural capital of the south?

Answer:

The Vijayanagara empire (1336-1565) presented itself as the protector of southern Hindu tradition, and under its rulers, above all Krishnadeva Raya, its capital became the greatest centre of temple building, literature, music and art in the peninsula.

Temple architecture and art

• The distinctive Vijayanagara style added towering gopurams, kalyana mandapas and richly carved pillared halls.
• The Vitthala and Hazara Rama temples at Hampi are its finest expressions.
• Monolithic sculpture such as the Ugra Narasimha and elaborate relief narrative flourished.
• The rulers renovated and endowed older shrines at Tirupati, Srisailam and Kanchipuram.

Literature and learning

• Krishnadeva Raya's Telugu Amuktamalyada and his Sanskrit works made him a poet-king.
• His court sustained the ashtadiggajas, the eight great Telugu poets led by Allasani Peddana.
• Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil letters were all patronised together.
• Vidyaranya's writings gave the empire its ideological and religious foundation.

Music, religion and cosmopolitan life

• Purandara Dasa, the father of Carnatic music, and the Haridasa movement flourished under its patronage.
• Vaishnava, Shaiva, Jain and even Muslim communities lived and worshipped in the capital.
• Foreign travellers such as Paes and Abdur Razzaq described the splendour of its festivals, especially Mahanavami.

Vijayanagara thus became the cultural capital of the south by combining vast wealth with a self-conscious mission to preserve and enrich Hindu tradition. As Nilakanta Sastri observed, its rulers made Hampi the meeting place of the peninsula's languages, faiths and arts, and its legacy shaped South Indian culture long after 1565.