Bhima's Gate
A massive fortified gateway with a right-angled 'bent entrance', named after the Pandava hero Bhima.
Open
6:00 am – 6:00 pm
Entry
Free entry
Best time to go
Morning
Time to spend here
About 35 minutes
Crowds
Usually quiet
On the south-eastern edge of the urban core, off the main circuit and rarely busy. Combine it with the nearby Ganigitti Jain Temple.
Listen to the story
About this place
Bhima's Gate is one of the best-preserved fortified gateways of the old city, built to control the eastern approach into the urban core. It is a classic 'bent entrance': the passage turns through sharp right angles so that attackers and war-elephants could never charge straight through, and defenders above could trap them between the walls. Carved panels near the doorway show scenes from the Mahabharata, including the mighty Bhima, which gave the gate its name — one panel depicts the episode of Bhima and the flower Draupadi desired. Massive stone slabs, guardrooms and surviving stretches of rampart make it a vivid lesson in Vijayanagara military engineering.
Where it is
Close by
Photo credits
- Bhima's Gate: Bhima's Gate at Hampi, Rupesh Sarkar, 2 · Rupeshsarkar · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Bhima's Gate: Bhima's Gateway, Hampi · Shriram Swaminathan · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bhima's Gate: BHIMA'S GATE-Dr.Murali Mohan Gurram (1) · Dr Murali Mohan Gurram · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bhima's Gate: BHIMA'S GATE-Dr.Murali Mohan Gurram (3) · Dr Murali Mohan Gurram · CC BY-SA 3.0
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