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.
Before you go
Car to the gate
No long walk in
Toilets 280 m away
Straight-line distance
Drinking water 580 m away
Straight-line distance
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.
How to get there
- By road to the entrance
Go by car, bike or auto to Mahanavami Dibba
Google Maps takes you by road to the nearest point to the place.
Walking paths and times are from Google Maps. The way in can change on festival days: follow the signs and ASI staff.
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