The site

Hampi, in Karnataka, India, was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Persian and Portuguese travellers described a fortified, prosperous city of temples, farms, and markets beside the Tungabhadra River, reckoned around 1500 to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing. A coalition of sultanates conquered and destroyed it in 1565, though the Virupaksha Temple keeps the site a living religious centre.

Field notes

civilizations

Vijayanagara

types

Temple · City

occupied

1,336 CE — 1,565 CE

country

India

elevation

467 m above sea level