Choose the correct statements about the Virupaksha temple at Hampi: (…

Choose the correct statements about the Virupaksha temple at Hampi:

(A) The hall in front of the main shrine was built by Harihara and Bukka Raya to mark their accession.
(B) It was decorated with delicately carved pillars.
(C) The halls in the temple were used for programmes of music, dance, drama.
(D) The temple was built over centuries.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → (B), (C) and (D) only

(A) The hall in front of the main shrine was built by Harihara and Bukka Raya to mark their accession. Incorrect. The hall in front of the main shrine was built by Krishnadeva Raya to mark his accession. Harihara and Bukka were the brothers who founded the Vijayanagara Empire in 1336.

(B) It was decorated with delicately carved pillars. Correct. Krishnadeva Raya’s hall was decorated with delicately carved pillars.

(C) The halls in the temple were used for programmes of music, dance, drama. Correct. Some halls were spaces where the images of gods were placed to witness special programmes of music, dance, drama; others were used for the marriages of deities.

(D) The temple was built over centuries. Correct. The earliest shrine dates to the ninth-tenth centuries, and it was substantially enlarged with the establishment of the Vijayanagara Empire.

NCERT (2026-27): “5.2. Gopurams and mandapas … The Virupaksha temple was built over centuries. While inscriptions suggest that the earliest shrine dated to the ninth-tenth centuries, it was substantially enlarged with the establishment of the Vijayanagara Empire. The hall in front of the main shrine was built by Krishnadeva Raya to mark his accession. This was decorated with delicately carved pillars. He is also credited with the construction of the eastern gopuram. These additions meant that the central shrine came to occupy a relatively small part of the complex. The halls in the temple were used for a variety of purposes. Some were spaces in which the images of gods were placed to witness special programmes of music, dance, drama, etc.…”