The temple dedicated to Lord Rama was erected by king Devaraya 1 in the early 15th century and boasts of many fine bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Ramayana and Mahanavami festival. This temple is believed to have been the private place of worship of the Royal family.
This land is believed to be Kishkinda, the kingdom of the monkey kings, Bali and Sugriva. When

Rama and Laxman were moving southwards in search of Sita they met Sugriva and Hanuman, and Sugriva took Rama's help to defeat Bali. It is believed that it was here that Rama crowned Sugriva king of Kishkinda.

As the name indicates, this temple is famous for its many Ramayana panels. This is the only temple in Hampi where the exterior walls have boldly chiselled bas-reliefs. These bas-reliefs are narrative in nature. The Ramayana epic is carved in detail. Incidents in the story like Dasaratha performing a sacrifice to beget sons, the birth of Rama, Sita swayamvara, his exile into the forest, the abduction of Sita and the ultimate fight between Rama and Ravana are all carved in a vivid manner. In these panels, the story of Rama and through it the triumph of good over evil is brought out. The genesis of Hampi dates back to the age Ramayana when it was the monkey kingdom Kishkindha

Five continuous sculpture friezes cover the outside of the enclosure wall. The panels show (from bottom) processions of elephants, horses, attendants, soldiers, musicians, wrestlers and soldiers in procession witnessed by a few seated royal figures circumambulating the temple. These panels represent symbolically the power of the rulers and the might of their fighting forces paraded annually at the time of the Dusshera festival. The Hazara Rama temple within the ruins is a fabulous piece of ancient architecture of the Vijayanagara's sculptors .