Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c9.s6.11

v1.c9.s6.11

The first Hindu monarch to be crowned at Penugoṇḍa in the orthodox fashion was Raṅga Rāya II, the second son of Tirumala.² The lawful Emperor, Sadāsiva Rāya, was first imprisoned and then murdered by one of the sons of Tirumala.³ The construction of the lofty eastern gōpuram of the ancient temple of Virūpāksha by Tirumala, a nephew of Raṅga Rāya II, seemed to atone for the treason committed by the members of the new dynasty.⁴ Tirumala "did many acts of charity and maintained the worship of Virūpāksha.... He made an extensive and cool garden by the side of the Tuṅgabhadrā in Kishkindhā (Vijayanagar), and there built the temple of Srīranganātha resembling Srīraṅgam on the banks of the Kāvēri".⁵ The new rulers acknowledged their deep love for the old capital by constructing works of merit within its precincts; but they showed that they could suit themselves to the changing times by fixing their government at the new centre of Penugoṇḍa. Thus the very same fortress which had welcomed the Hoysalas, when they fled before the onrush of the Muhammadans, now received with equal warmth their rightful heirs, the Emperors of Vijayanagara, who also fled before the onslaught of the same enemy.