Hampi

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in east-central Karnataka in South India. It was the centre of the Hindu Vijayanagar Empire capital in the 14th century.

Chronicles left by Persian and European travellers particularly the Portuguese state Hampi was a prosperous, wealthy and grand city near the Tungabhadra River. Hampi-Vijayanagar was the world's second-largest medieval-era city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at that time, attracting traders from Persia and Portugal.

Located in Karnataka near the modern-era city of Hospet and it has been described by UNESCO as an austere. Hampi predates the Vijayanagar Empire, there is evidence of Ashokan epigraphy, and it is mentioned in the Ramayana and the Puranas of Hinduism as Pampa Devi Tirtha Kshetra.

Hampi continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, an active Adi Shankara-linked monastery and various monuments belonging to the old city.