STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES OF INDIA
KARNATAKA - Info / Snippets
* 15 Feb 2026
Virupaksha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka - pinhole camera effect
Virupaksha Temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as
the Group of Monuments at Hampi. Dedicated to Lord Virupaksha, a form
of Shiva, the temple has roots dating back to the 7th century, evolving
through Chalukyan, Hoysala, and most prominently Vijayanagara empires.
Image Source: youtube.com
The pinhole camera effect occurs through a tiny hole in the temple’s
wall, which acts as a natural aperture. According to scientific
principles, when light passes through a small opening, it projects an
inverted image of the object outside onto the opposite surface inside,
just like a camera obscura. Tourists visiting the temple are often
surprised to find a clear, upside-down image of the towering gopuram
reflected on the opposite wall in this dimly lit space. The phenomenon
is clearly visible because the chamber is mostly dark, allowing the
bright image formed by the small hole to stand out.
The temple’s architecture was designed in such a way that this optical
phenomenon wasn’t accidental but a deliberate inclusion of early
knowledge of light and physics. The distance between the aperture or the
pinhole and the image surface is crucial, and it follows the principle
that the aperture size should be about 1/100th of this distance to
create a clear inverted image.
Source: 600 year old pinhole camera in Indian temple: How ancient
architects built it centuries before modern optics, Entertainment
Times, TOI, 10 Jul 2025
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