Bengaluru: Hampi, the cradle of the Vijaynagar empire, could teach a lesson or two in water management, according to Mr Mohan Rao, a landscape architect, who has worked with the Archaelogical Survey of India ( ASI) to study its reservoir systems.
“The region with over half a million residents, meticulously planned and managed its water resources, without depending on a river for its supply,” he said, speaking at an event on Hampi organised by Yukti, the Circle for Knowledge at the BNM Institute of Technology, in Banashankari recently.
Ms Vijayalakshmi Vijayakumar, founder of Heritage Parampara, who was present during his talk, said Mr Rao explained that the Vijaynagar empire was adept at rain water harvesting and maintained small water bodies to collect it although the region didn’t receive very much rain. “It had to collect water both for agricultural and domestic use. It also made sure to build houses on waste land , leaving the fertile for agriculture,” she added.
Heritage Parampara is a not -for -profit trust, which has created Yukti the Circle for Knowledge, that is actively participating in the implementation of the integrated management plan for Hampi, set to roll out in 2021.
Another speaker at the event, Meera Natampally, an architect, noted that the digital reconstruction of the missing parts of the Hampi monuments would help throw light on its social life and other aspects .
Ms Mamata N Rao, a senior faculty at NID, Bengaluru, who has researched the social life and attire of the people of the Vijayanagar empire, said complete reconstruction of the Hampi monuments was not possible because some of the available historical evidence was only from textual narratives, which had no visual illustrations.
