The History Of Bangalore After Talikota: The Sack of Vijayanagara
The defeat at the Battle of Talikota was only the beginning of the end. Ramjee Chandran chronicles the "ooru alivu"—the systematic erasure—of one of the world’s greatest metropolises. As the battlefield lay thick with the carnage of fallen empires, the Vijayanagara royals, led by Tirumala, executed a desperate exodus, loading 1,550 elephants with a treasury of gold and jewels to flee toward Penukonda.
We explore the two-stage destruction of the capital: first, the chaotic plunder by local robber tribes and "jungle people" who descended on the forsaken city, followed by the six-month organised dismantling by Sultanate forces using fire and crowbars to level the city's symbolic heart. Amidst this comprehensive ruin, we examine the strange anomaly of the Virupaksha temple, which remained largely untouched while the surrounding city was reclaimed by the jungle and wild animals. This episode captures the visceral moment a seat of imperial power became an empty shell, forever shifting the political gravity of the Deccan.
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The theme music for the show was composed by German-Indian Koln based percussionist, Ramesh Shotham. Ramjee Chandran's photos by Asha Thadani.
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