An Early Medieval Śaiva Pilgrimage Landscape: The Persistence of Pampa and Bhairava in the Hemakuta Hill Sacred Space, 800–1325 CE

Abstract

The early medieval Pampa tirtha (pilgrimage), in the Hampi area, Bellary District, Karnataka, South India, is largely presented in research as a relatively homogenous, albeit sacred space. This paper describes a nuanced understanding of the Pampa tirtha through the lens of spatial organization and pilgrim movement. The natural and built landscape features of the area were digitized through Esri’s ArcMap to historically situate extant stone monuments. Devotee movement through the pilgrimage space was then modelled on time-sensitive maps of architectural and natural features. Pathways of movement across the site were subsequently explored in the immersive panoramic imagery captured in Google Street View. By combining these digital tools, a historicized analysis of the character and qualities of place, born from the organization of the site, are identifiable. The results demonstrate how devotees moved through a network of distinct nodes of shrines, temples, and gateways. Each node possessed a unique relationship to microtopographic features of the hill, and to the earliest deities of the site that originally anchored and oriented the sacred space: Pampa and Bhairava. The pilgrimage space that developed between these two deities was tied together through a path of movement, running south to north. Trends of re-ordering the Pampa tirtha spatial network also reveal patron and artisan mechanisms to privilege and prioritize the 12th-century addition of the god Virupaksha into the sacred space.