Portion of Salu-mantapa at Hampi collapses

Hampi (Vijayanagara): A portion of the Salu-mantapa near Hampi’s famous Virupaksha temple collapsed on Tuesday night.

Hampi and surrounding areas have been receiving heavy rains for the last few days and officials believe that one of the mantapas might have collapsed due to rains. Officials also say that at least three to four such mantapas near the Virupaksha temple are on the verge of falling as they are in a dilapidated condition.

While guides and locals claim that four mantapas collapsed on Tuesday, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) claim that only one mantapa has crumbled.

ASI has taken renovation work on the Salu-mantapa near the temple, however, they are currently renovating the mantapas on the left side of the lane, while the mantapa that collapsed on Tuesday night is on the right side.

ASI Hampi Circle Inspector Nihal Das said, “only one, not three or four, mantap collapsed on Tuesday. It is true that several mantapas on the lane are on the verge of collapse. ASI has taken up restoration work in a phased manner. We can not take up restoration work of all the mantapas at a time, ASI does not have so much budget or skilled human resources.”

He said efforts are being made to protect the historical monuments as they are.

Vijayanagara Smaraka Samskruthi Samrakshana Sena President Vishvanath Malagi said while ASI has been restoring the Mantapas near the temples, it would have been wise if the officials had taken up the work restoring those monuments which are in very bad condition.

“It is highly impossible to restore fallen monuments to their earlier stage. If this trend continues then the future generation will not be able to witness the past glory of the Vijayanagar kingdom. The department (ASI) has to seriously think about their plan of action and restore those monuments on a priority basis,” he said.

Another guide said it has been more than a year since a portion of the wall collapsed at Shiva temple. “The ASI officials have not been able to restore that monument even till today. The department has not been able to even remove the debris and mark the stones for future restoration. If this continues then we will end up losing all the important monuments at Hampi,” he said.