Hampi

Hampi, in present-day Karnataka, is the site of the once-magnificent capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, one of South India’s greatest kingdoms. The area around Hampi, along the Tungabhadra River, had earlier sacred associations and small settlements, but its major rise began in the 14th century, when brothers Harihara and Bukka founded Vijayanagara and chose this rocky, naturally fortified landscape as their capital.

Over the next two centuries, especially under rulers like Krishnadevaraya (early 16th century), Hampi became a huge, prosperous metropolis—described by foreign travellers as larger and richer than many European cities. Palaces, bazaars, water tanks, fort walls, temples such as Virupaksha and Vittala, and massive gateways filled the granitic hills. It was both a political centre and a great hub of commerce, art, music and religion, attracting traders from Persia, Portugal and beyond.

In 1565, the united armies of the Deccan sultanates defeated Vijayanagara at the Battle of Talikota. Soon after, Hampi was extensively looted and destroyed; the royal quarters and many buildings were burned, and the capital was abandoned. Only a few temples, like Virupaksha, continued functioning. Rediscovered and studied by archaeologists in the 19th–20th centuries, Hampi is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, preserving the grand ruins of a lost empire.