Mahanavami Dibba
A 12 m granite ceremonial platform in the Royal Enclosure, carved with processions of elephants, horses and dancers.
Open
6:00 am – 6:00 pm
Entry
Free entry
Best time to go
Morning
Time to spend here
About 35 minutes
Crowds
Can get busy
Inside the Royal Enclosure alongside the Stepped Tank; there is little shade, so mornings and evenings are best.
Listen to the story
About this place
The Mahanavami Dibba, or Dasara Dibba, is a colossal three-tiered granite platform about 12 metres high at the heart of the Royal Enclosure. Built by Krishnadevaraya after his Udayagiri campaign, it was the ceremonial grandstand from which the kings watched the nine nights of Mahanavami (Dasara) — military parades, wrestling, dances and processions vividly recorded by the Portuguese travellers Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz. Its receding tiers are covered in bas-relief friezes of hunters, musicians, horses, camels and elephants, a stone chronicle of Vijayanagara court life. Stairways at the front and rear climb to the flat viewing top.
Where it is
Close by
Photo credits
- Mahanavami Dibba: Mahanavami dibba, Main view · Balraj D · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Mahanavami Dibba: Mahanavami Dibba · Soham Banerjee · CC BY 2.0
- Mahanavami Dibba: Public Bath in Mahanavami Dibba · Shakirmeah · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mahanavami Dibba: THRONE PLATFORM(Mahanavami Dibba)-Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram (2) · Dr Murali Mohan Gurram · CC BY-SA 3.0
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