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Portrait Sculptures
Portraits of kings are historically very valuable and give an idea of the physical form, majesty, and demeanor of the ruler and even the details of his appearel and ornaments.
king mallikarjuna king veeranarasimha krishnadevaraya& his wives krishnadevaraya
achutadevaraya achutadeva& his wife king sadasivaraya
sriranaga I venakatapati outer wall panel
rakshasi tangadi

WARS

Vijayanagara was a war-state and its political organization was dominated by its military needs. This state maintained a large standing army consisting of an elephant corps, camel corps, cavalry and infantry. Kumara Kampanna's conquest of Madhura (1371), Lakkana Dandanayaka's expedition against Illam (1442), conquest of Kalinga(1516), fall of Raichoor(1520), the climacteric battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (1565), Topur civil-war(1616) and 14 Bahamani wars were the turning points in the political fortune of the kingdom.

Religious Architecture & Sculpture
facade pillers kala mardhana mahishasura mardhana gopuram
stone ratha lakshminarasimha monolith king received prasada from priest
The kings were intensively pious and manifested their piety in constructing extensive religious buildings. Their special contribution is the erection of Mantapas and Gopuras in temples. The scluptures of the Vijayanagara School are masterpieces of art. " The life of Cholas sclupture is power, and of Badami Chalukyas religion, Hoysala sculpture abounds in jewellery and Vijayanagaras sculptures breaths life." The Mantapas are of the multi-pillared types, having a facade row of remarkably sculptured columns carrying almost full-size monolithic figure sculptures of rearing horses with warrior-riders. "For brilliancy of decorative imagination, the Vijayanagara style of architecture was never surpassed in Hindu India".