Virupaksha Temple
A still-active Shiva temple at the heart of ruined Hampi, in continuous worship since long before the Vijayanagara Empire was built around it — the spiritual anchor of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Unlike most of Hampi’s monuments, the Virupaksha Temple was never abandoned. Dedicated to Shiva as Virupaksha, it predates the Vijayanagara Empire by centuries and has remained in continuous worship even after the empire’s capital was sacked in 1565 — the empire, in a sense, was built around this temple rather than the other way around. Its nine-tiered eastern gopuram, visible for miles across the boulder-strewn landscape, is the most photographed silhouette in Hampi, and the temple’s resident elephant, Lakshmi, was for decades one of the site’s best-known residents.
The temple sits at the western end of Hampi Bazaar, once a market street where horse and gem traders from as far as Persia are recorded to have done business — today lined with the ruins of merchant pavilions leading straight up to the temple gopuram.
Getting there: Hampi is reached via Hosapete (Hospet), the nearest railhead and bus hub, about 13 km away. The post office is inside Hampi Bazaar, a short walk from the temple’s eastern gopuram.
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
- Hampi Post Office
- Pincode
- 583239
- Address
- Hampi Post Office, Hampi Bazaar, Hosapete Taluk, Vijayanagara District, Karnataka
Sources
- Project maintainer transcription of the physical Philately Passport booklet (district/landmark/post office list)
- Hampi pincode/post office record — Pincode.net.in
- Karnataka Philately Passport — Deccan Herald