Things you must know about Hazara Rama Temple on this day of Rama Navami
Rama Navami !! This is one of the most important festivals that are celebrated by Hindus on the occasion of the birthday of Lord Rama. Lord Rama is considered as the 7th Avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is on this day, the Lord Vishnu took the Human Form of Shri Rama in the Land of Ayodhya. According to the Hindu calendar, this festival falls every year in the Shukla Paksha on the 9th day of the month of Chaitra.
We all know that Lord Rama is considered as the Hero of the famous Indian Epic Ramayana. We would have heard many stories about Shri Rama and would also have watched many movies depicting the Life of Shri Rama. When it comes to Divine temples, we have thousands of temples (be it small or Big) throughout India that are dedicated to Lord Rama. Each and every temple has the main Deity of Lord Rama in various forms.
But just imagine how nice it would be if we have a Rama Temple that narrates us the entire story of Ramayana in One Go?? Yes, we do have such wonder Temple in Our Culture Land, India.
The Hazara Rama Temple is one of the important temples dedicated to Lord Rama and is located in Hampi, Karnataka. It is a beautiful temple built within a rectangular complex at the heart of the Royal Center. This temple was built in the early part of the 15th Century by the King Devaraya II of Vijayanagara Empire. Though not a huge temple, it has its own peculiarities. It had once functioned as the private temple for the King and his Royal Family of Vijayanagara. According to the history, it is believed that this Rama temple was built at the site of Vaali’s killing in the hands of Lord Rama.
The first thing that attracts anyone who visits the temple is the wonderful carvings that are engraved on the external walls. The entire story of Ramayana is carved in three rows onto the external walls of the temple. The exceptional feature of these walls is that they are carved from both inside and outside. The outer side of the wall includes the sculptures of some animals like horses, elephants, camels and human beings depicting the daily life and the festival scenes of those days.
The inner side is dedicated to the stories from the Epic of Ramayana. The carvings depict the episodes of Raja Dasharata when he performs yajnas and the birth of Shri Rama, Rama as a child, Rama as a king along with the images of Goddess Sita. The temple got its unique name as Hazara Rama (A thousand Rama) Temple owing to the recurrence of Lord Rama in these Ramayana Panels on its walls.
The temple also has a sprawling lawn on its Northern side and there are 2 gateways that give access to the main temple compound. Inside the hall or the main Prahara of the temple, we have the finely carved Basalt pillars depicting the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. We can also notice an empty pedestal with three holes which signifies that there might be the idols of Lord Rama, Lakshmana and Goddess Sita before its destruction 🙁
On the whole, this temple is a perfect example of the skills and craftsmanship of the Vijayanagara sculptors and this temple is one of the major tourist spots of the ‘Ruins of Hampi’. Also, this temple will be decorated in a grand manner during Dussera and Rama Navami.
