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The history of Vijayanagara has always been a fascinating subject to ...

The history of Vijayanagara has always been a fascinating subject to ...

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temples was founded on monetized coin based economy and we havereferences <strong>to</strong> monetary transactions in the songs <strong>of</strong> Purandarad s .<strong>The</strong> work <strong>of</strong> Jean Pau Rubies’ sheds light on the categories <strong>of</strong> thoughtand culture which were used by European writers and travelers who visitedSouth India during the sixteenth century. While caste as a category <strong>of</strong> socialanalysis had not become prominent in the writings <strong>of</strong> sixteenth centuryEuropean travelers they did dwell upon social hierarchy and its preservedspiritual foundations. In the case <strong>of</strong> Purandarad s we learn that he did notregard caste as a barrier for salvation though he <strong>to</strong>o recognized deep divisionsand cleavages in medieval society.Regarding the religious traditions at <strong>Vijayanagara</strong>, Anila Vergheseand Champakalakshmi have contributed through their works ReligiousTraditions at <strong>Vijayanagara</strong> as revealed through the Inscriptions andReligion, Tradition and Ideology- Pre Colonial South India respectively.Anila Verghese in her book looks at some <strong>of</strong> the important religious cults in<strong>Vijayanagara</strong>, like the Pampa Cult, the Rama cult, the Vithala cult and otherlocal Vaishnava cults like those <strong>of</strong> Tiruvengalanatha, Ranganatha andKrishna using copious inscriptions pertaining <strong>to</strong> the period.Champakalakshmi in her book, addresses the issues like religion and itssocial base, the development <strong>of</strong> religious communities, religion as anideology for state legitimization, temple as an institutional base for themovement, the transformation <strong>of</strong>in<strong>to</strong> a personalized experience <strong>of</strong>godhead and divinity when songs in praise <strong>of</strong> the ishtad vath were8

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