Reading Notes: "Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha" Comic

Characters

• Hakka
• Bukka
• Shiva
• Sati - Shiva's wife
• Daksha - Sati's father
• Pampa - Sati's rebirth as a river goddess
• Vali - king of Kishkindha, monkey, gains half the strength of every opponent he fights
• Jambavan - bear king
• Surya - sun god
• Sugriva - Surya's son, Vali's brother
• Mayavi - demon

Setting

• Hampi - ancient town on Tungabahdra river
• Kishkindha - monkey kingdom
• Rishyamukha Hill - hill in Hampi region
• Vijayanagara - city/empire created by Bukka and Hakka

Plot

• Hampi is attacked where Hakka and Bukka must defend themselves
• Hakka and Bukka go hunting and see a very brave rabbit which is a sign that they will become kings
• Mysterious old man tells Hakka and Bukka the story of Hampi
• Sati's father, Daksha, does not want Sati to be married to Shiva and Sati is aware of this
• Sati sacrifices herself to spite her father
• Shiva is angry and summons a warrior named Veerbhadra to kill Daksha
• Gods are scared of Veerbhadra
• Vishnu calms Veerbhadra with lotuses and Veerbhadra gives him the Sudarshana Chakra in return
• Sudarshana Chakra is a very powerful weapon created by Vishvakarma
• Different stories depending on where you look as to how the Sudarshana Chakra was created
• Some say Vishvakarma wanted his daughter to be able to hug the sun, and he collected stardust to make three inventions, including the Sudarshana Chakra
• Some say Vishnu killed Hayagriva on Chakravana Mountain (constructed by Vishvakarma) and stole the Sudarshana Chakra from Hayagriva
• Sudarshana Chakra is a disk weapon that has 108 edges
• Sati becomes the River Goddess Pampa
• Shiva falls into the river and is saved by Pampa
• Pampa and Shiva marry and gold is rained down creating Hemakuta
• Old man now tells about Kishkindha
• Vali is king of Kishkindha
• Anjana, who was cursed to live as a monkey, gives birth to Hanuman who Vali wishes to kill
• In this comic, Hanuman is the child of Shiva
• Anjana gives Hanuman to Jambavan for protection
• Hanuman ties a lion and elephant together by the tails and is cursed to forget his powers
• Surya teaches Hanuman the Vedas and Shastras
• Hanuman then agrees to protect Sugriva
• Vali wants to kill Sugriva
• Mayavi wants to fight Vali
• Vali agrees, follows Mayavi into a hole, and Sugriva sees blood coming out of the hole and closes it, returning to Kishkindha as king
• Turns out that Vali was not actually dead
• Vali chases Sugriva and Hanuman out of Kishkinda to Rishyamukha Hill where they hide away in a cave that Vali cannot get to
• While in the cave, Sugriva and Hanuman see Lakshmana and Rama searching for Sita and decide to talk to Lakshmana and Rama
• Rama and Lakshmana help Sugriva take down Vali, and Sugriva becomes king of Kishkindha
• In return, Sugriva and Hanuman help search for Sita
• Sugriva, Hanuman, and Jambavan at southern tip of India and learn of Sita's location in Lanka
• Jambavan reminds Hanuman of his powers that he was cursed to forget
• Hanuman jumps to Lanka and finds Sita
• Sita is rescued by Rama
• Rama helps Hanuman receive a reward for helping save Sita by having Hanuman pray to Shiva to ask for a favor
• Shiva has Veerbhadra give Hanuman an idol that grows into a temple
• Temple is named Uddana Veerbhadra Temple
• Old man leaves Hakka and Bukka and they decide to start an empire
• Track down old man, whose name was Vidyaranya, and name city Vijayanagara
• Vijayanagara was the second largest city in the world as of 1500
• Very established trading center with Europeans and other Asian/Middle Eastern countries
• Empire spanned entirety of Southern India

Image of temples in Vijayanagara from Wikimedia

Bibliography

"Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha" published by Amar Chitra Katha

"Vijayanagara" from Wikipedia

"Sudarshana Chakra" from Wikipedia