Building ‘Lotus Mahal’ and Mahanavmi Dibba was a notable f...
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Building ‘Lotus Mahal’ and Mahanavmi Dibba was a notable f...
- King's palace is an important part of the Vijayanagara kingdom. The “king’s palace” is the largest of the enclosures but has not yielded definitive evidence of being a royal residence. It has two of the most impressive platforms, usually called the “audience hall” and the “mahanavami dibba”.
- The entire complex is surrounded by high double walls with a street running between them.
- The audience hall is a high platform with slots for wooden pillars at close and regular intervals. It had a staircase going up to the second floor, which rested on these pillars. The pillars being closely spaced would have left little free space, and thus it is not clear what the hall was used for.
- Located on one of the highest points in the city, the “mahanavami dibba” is a massive platform rising from a base of about 11,000 sq. ft to a height of 40 ft.
- There is evidence that it supported a wooden structure. The base of the platform is covered with relief carvings.
- Rituals associated with the structure probably coincided with Mahanavami (literally, the great ninth day) of the ten-day Hindu festival during the autumn months of September and October, known variously as Dussehra (northern India), Durga Puja (in Bengal) and Navaratri or Mahanavami (in peninsular India).
- The Vijayanagara kings displayed their prestige, power, and suzerainty on this occasion. The ceremonies performed on the occasion included worship of the image, worship of the state horse, and the sacrifice of buffaloes and other animals. Dances, wrestling matches, and processions of caparisoned horses, elephants and chariots and soldiers, as well as ritual presentations before the king and his guests by the chief nayakas and subordinate kings marked the occasion.
- On the last day of the festival, the king inspected his army and the armies of the nayakas in a grand ceremony in an open field. On this occasion, the nayakas brought rich gifts for the king as well as the stipulated tribute.
- One of the most beautiful buildings in the royal centre of Vijayanagara Kingdom is the Lotus Mahal, so named by British travelers in the nineteenth century. While the name is certainly romantic, historians are not quite sure what the building was used for. It is also called the Kamal Mahal or Chitragani Mahal. The curves of the palace are given an Islamic touch while the multi-layered roof design is moreover related to Indo style of buildings. It is designed as a palace for royal ladies of those times to mingle around and enjoy recreational activities. The Mahal also served as a meeting point for the king and his ministers.
Hence option (a) is the correct answer.
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