10.3 Vijayanagara murals

With the decline of power of the Chola dynasty in the thirteenth century, the Vijayanagara Dynasty captured and brought under its control the region from Hampi to Trichy with Hampi serving as its capital.

Many paintings survive in a number of temples. The paintings at Tiruparakunram, near Trichy, done in the fourteenth century represent the early phase of the Vijayanagara style. In Hampi, the Virupaksha temple has paintings on the ceiling of its

mandapanarrating events from dynastic history and episodes from the Ramayanaand the Mahabharata.

In Lepakshi, near Hindupur, in present Andhra Pradesh, there are glorious examples of Vijayanagara paintings on the walls of the Shiva temple.