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When the Sangamas established the kingdom of Vijayanagara,
they were confronted with a question of great significance and which had a great
bearing on their style of architecture and its subsequent development. The question
related to what medium or material to be used for building their temples. In Karnataka
before Vijayanagara times, the Hoysalas had developed to the fullest extent the
later Chalukya style of Architecture, giving it a distinct stamp of their own.
The Hoysalas used "SCHIST" a soft stone, as the medium of their constructions.
But then, in the middle of the 14th century, the Sangamas decided to go in for
granite as the building material for their temples. They decided to use hard granite
instead of the then popular soft Schist for three reasons. Schist quarries were
situated in the heartland of the erstwhile Hoysala kingdom, where opposition to
the Sangamas still prevailed. Whereas granite was available on the site in plenty,
it was also a very economic medium as compared to Schist. So, they would rather
spend the money saved on their campaigns and for defense purposes. Lastly, a rich
architectural tradition in granite was already available in Tamil country, which
was readily made use of by the rulers.
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