Hampi

UNESCO describes Hampi as the last capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, which reached its height under Krishna Deva Raya between 1509 and 1530. Wealth from trade in cotton and spices funded an extraordinary city, and travellers including Abdul Razzaq, Domingo Paes and Niccolo de' Conti left admiring accounts of its markets and palaces.

In 1565 the empire was defeated at the Battle of Talikota by a confederation of Deccan sultanates; the city was plundered for six months and then abandoned. The remains, covering more than 4,100 hectares with over 1,600 surviving structures, were inscribed by UNESCO as the Group of Monuments at Hampi in 1986. The architecture blends Dravidian temple building with Indo-Islamic influences, visible in secular buildings such as the Lotus Mahal and the Elephant Stables.

Hampi is still a pilgrimage site: devotees bathe at the river ghats and worship at Virupaksha Temple, whose annual chariot festival celebrates the marriage of Virupaksha and the goddess Pampa. Villages around the ruins farm sugarcane, bananas and rice, and many families depend on tourism through guesthouses, cafes and guiding. Maha Shivaratri draws large crowds to the temple.