The Virupaksha Temple is located in #Hampi in the Ballari district of #Karnataka, India. It is part of the Group of #Monuments at Hampi, designated as a #UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple is dedicated to #LordVirupaksha, a form of Shiva. The temple's history is uninterrupted from about the 7th century. The Virupaksha-Pampa sanctuary existed well before the Vijayanagara capital was located here. Inscriptions referring to Shiva date back to the 9th and 10th centuries. What started as a small shrine grew into a large complex under the Vijayanagara rulers. Evidence indicates there were additions made to the temple in the late Chalukyan and Hoysala periods, though most of the temple buildings are attributed to the Vijayanagar period. The huge temple building was built by Lakkana Dandesha, a chieftain under the ruler Deva Raya II of the Vijayanagara Empire. Under the Vijayanagara rulers, in the middle of the 14th century, there began a flowering of native art and culture. When the rulers were defeated by Muslim invaders in the 16th century, most of the wonderful decorative structures and creations were systematically destroyed. The religious sect of Virupaksha-Pampa did not end with the destruction of the city in 1565. Worship there has persisted throughout the years. At the beginning of the 19th century there were major renovations and additions, which included ceiling paintings and the towers of the north and east gopura. #hampi #hampifocus #gopuram #Karnataka #travelkarnataka #lordshiva #virupakshatemple #hampidiaries #shivatemple #mahadeva #templesofkarnataka🙏🙏 #indiantemple #templesofindia #incrediblekarnataka #virupaksha #karnatakafocus #indianarchitecture #archaeology #unesco #unescoworldheritage https://www.instagram.com/p/CmsOfm1Bl8g/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
