The most striking feature about the location of Vijayanagara is the natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra which flows in a north-easterly direction. The surrounding landscape is characterized by stunning granite hills that seem to form a girdle around the city. A number of streams flow down to the river from these rocky outcrops. In almost all cases embankments were built along these streams to create reservoirs of varying sizes. As this is one of the aridest zones of the peninsula, elaborate arrangements had to be made to store rainwater and conduct it to the city.

Which was not the water resource of Vijaynagar?

Naglapuram

The most striking feature about the location of Vijayanagara is the natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra which flows in a north-easterly direction.

The most important such tank was built in the early years of the fifteenth century and is now called Kamalapuram tank. Water from this tank not only irrigated fields nearby but was also conducted through a channel to the “royal centre”.

One of the most prominent waterworks to be seen among the ruins is the Hiriya canal. This canal drew water from a dam across the Tungabhadra and irrigated the cultivated valley that separated the “sacred centre” from the “urban core”.