Vijayanagara : Splendour in Ruins

Contents: Preface: Vijayanagara: Splendour in Ruins/John Gollings. Acknowledgements/George Michell. Landscapes in Vijayanagara. I. Introduction: 1. Vijayanagara in history and memory/Anila Verghese. 2. Vijayanagara revealed/George Michell. II. The site and its monuments/George Michell: 3. Sacred centre. 4. Royal centre. 5. Urban Core. 6. Suburban centres. III. The site and photographers: 7. Greenlaw and his successors/Sophie Gordon. 8. Greenlaw\'s Calotype Process/Mike Ware. IV. Documentation: i. Catalogue of photographs. ii. Supplementary photographs. iii. Catalogue of photographs, drawings and water colours from other collections. iv. Glossary of Indian names and terms. v. Select bibliography. vi. Index of photographers. vii. Index of monuments. viii. Index.

"The remarkably accomplished Alexander Greenlaw, probably the first photographer to reach Vijayanagara in South India in 1855, is known principally through his monumental paper negatives of this great imperial Hindu city. Greenlaw, an army officer, explored the vast territory, capturing the temples, shrines, palaces and pleasure pavilions with his camera, as well as recording the dramatic landscape that surrounds the ruins of this once majestic capital. While Greenlaw\'s response to the architecture within its spectacular natural setting is the principal focus of this book, the work of subsequent photographers at the site is also explored. Presenting the work of William Pigou, Edmund David Lyon, Nicholas and Co. and others, the role of photography in documenting and preserving the site is examined through a comparative approach that seeks to present a comprehensive overview of commercial, archaeological and other documentary activities at Vijayanagara in the nineteenth century. This volume highlights that extraordinary achievement of a small group of talented individuals through a stimulating combination of text and images, which together offer a fresh vision of this magnificent site." (jacket)