Malyavanta Raghunatha Temple
A still-active Rama temple built into a granite hillside identified in the Ramayana as Malyavanta Parvata, where Rama and Lakshmana are said to have sheltered through the monsoon while Sugriva's army searched for Sita.
The Hampi region has long been identified by tradition with Kishkindha, the forest kingdom of the monkey-king Sugriva described in the Ramayana, and Malyavanta hill — rising just east of the main ruins — is named as the spot where Rama and Lakshmana waited out the monsoon season while Sugriva’s army searched for the abducted Sita. The temple built into the hillside enshrines Raghunatha, a form of Rama, with the sanctum partly carved directly into the natural granite boulders rather than built as a freestanding structure.
Unlike the ASI-protected monuments that dominate Hampi’s core — preserved as ruins, with worship long since ended — the Malyavanta Raghunatha temple has remained in continuous active use, giving visitors a rare sense of the sacred landscape as a living rather than archaeological site. Its hilltop setting also offers sweeping views across paddy fields and the boulder-strewn terrain toward the main temple complexes.
Getting there: The temple is about 3 km southeast of Hampi Bazaar on the Kamalapura road. The post office is in Kamalapura village.
The site itself
Where to get your stamp cancelled
This may not be next to the site itself — some post offices serve several nearby landmarks.
- Post office
- Kamalapura Post Office
- Pincode
- 583221
- Address
- Kamalapura Post Office, Kamalapura, Hosapete Taluk, Vijayanagara District, Karnataka
Sources
- Project maintainer transcription of the physical Philately Passport booklet (district/landmark/post office list)
- Kamalapura post office record — Postoffices.co.in