Hampi Vijayanagara Empire Ruins Bellary Karnataka

Hampi, the ruined capital of the Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1565), located in Ballari district of Karnataka on the banks of the Tungabhadra river among extraordinary boulder-strewn granite landscape, is one of the most magnificent archaeological sites in Asia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, preserving over 1,600 temple, palace, market, and military structures spread over 25 square kilometers of terraced terrain. The Vijayanagara Empire was the largest and most powerful Hindu kingdom in medieval India at its peak under Krishnadevaraya (1509-1529), with a capital city that contemporary Portuguese and Persian travelers described as the second largest city in the world after Beijing, with over half a million residents, sixty temples, and markets trading in gold, precious stones, and silk from across the trading world. The Vittala Temple complex with its musical pillars (resonant granite columns that produce different notes when struck) and the stone chariot with rotating stone wheels is the most celebrated structure, alongside the Hazara Rama Temple with its narrative panel reliefs depicting the Ramayana, and the Lotus Mahal palace in the royal enclosure. The city was destroyed and looted by the Deccan Sultanate coalition in the Battle of Talikota (1565), after which it was abandoned and never rebuilt. The local Virupaksha temple at the base of the Hemakuta hill has been continuously in active worship since the Vijayanagara period.