Place · Indo-Islamic royal pavilion · India
Lotus Mahal, Hampi
Also known as Kamal Mahal, Chithrangi Mahal
The Lotus Mahal in the Zenana Enclosure of the Royal Centre at Hampi — a two-storey symmetrical pavilion whose plan is an open eight-petalled lotus and whose arcades combine Vijayanagara stepped-pyramid roofs with Deccan Sultanate pointed arches. The capital's finest Indo-Islamic hybrid building; thought to have served as a council hall or private pavilion for the women of the royal household. The upper storey carried a water-cooled roof plenum through terracotta pipes — the earliest surviving instance of a passive-evaporative cooling system in a Deccan palace.
- Date
- 1500–1565
- Periods
- Vijayanagara
- Function
- Authority & administration
- Patron dynasty
- Vijayanagara
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 15.338, 76.472
Connections (1)
- Site withinHampi / Vijayanagara
The Lotus Mahal sits inside the Zenana Enclosure of the Royal Centre at Hampi — the walled quarter of the royal household. Its Indo-Islamic form — eight-petalled lotus plan with Deccan Sultanate pointed arches on a Vijayanagara stepped-pyramid podium — makes it the capital's finest hybrid building.