Vijayanagara: Authority and Meaning of a South Indian Imperial Capital

The meaning of the imperial capital can be understood as a necessary component of the system that constitutes the authority of its rulers. Urban form relates rulers' behavior to principles of order and to the forces that create this order. Architectural and urban morphology at Vijayanagara, the capital of the most important Hindu empire of medieval south India, embodied several meaningful aspects of royal behavior. Here are considered material elements that expressed the kings' activities as warrior and hunter, as promoter of prosperity and redistributor of wealth, and as maintainer of cosmic order. Three aspects of the city - the structure of the urban plan, the organization of movement, and the mythological associations of the site - asserted that the king embodied the power of Ramachandra, the divine hero-king.