18 Facts About Hampi

Chronicles left by Persian and European travellers, particularly the Portuguese, say that Hampi was a prosperous, wealthy and grand city near the Tungabhadra River, with numerous temples, farms and trading markets.

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.

Hampi is situated on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the eastern part of central Karnataka near the state border with Andhra Pradesh.

Synonym Hampi—traditionally known as Pampa-kshetra, Kishkindha-kshetra or Bhaskara-kshetra—is derived from Pampa, another name of the goddess Parvati in Hindu theology.

Hampi's parents learn of her desire and discourage her, but she pursues her desire.

Related searches

Hampi became the second royal residence; one of the Hoysala kings was known as Hampeya-Odeya or "lord of Hampi".

The buildings predominantly followed South Indian Hindu arts and architecture dating to the Aihole-Pattadakal styles, but the Hampi builders used elements of Indian architecture in the Lotus Mahal, the public bath and the elephant stables.

The ruins of Hampi were surveyed in 1800 by Scottish Colonel Colin Mackenzie, first Surveyor General of India.

Hampi site remained largely ignored until the mid-19th century, when Alexander Greenlaw visited and photographed the site in 1856.

Hampi created an archive of 60 calotype photographs of temples and royal structures that were standing in 1856.

Hampi is located in hilly terrain formed by granite boulders The Hampi monuments comprising the UNESCO world heritage site are a subset of the wider-spread Vijayanagara ruins.

Hampi monuments include aqueducts to carry water to tanks and other parts of the city, as well as drains and channels to remove water overflow.

Several major temples in Hampi have an embedded kitchen and 100-or-more-pillared feeding halls.

Hampi had a dedicated public Bhojana shala where numerous thali were carved in series in a rock on both sides of a water channel.

Hampi site has over 1,600 surviving ruins—mostly Hindu—spread over a wide area.

Reliefs of Jain temples at Hampi includes Hemkut Jain temples, Ratnantraykut, Parsvanath Charan and Ganagitti Jain temples.

Hampi site includes a Muslim quarter with Islamic tombs, two mosques and a cemetery.

Hampi wrote, "the citie of Bezeneger is not altogether destroyed, yet the houses stand still, but emptie, and there is dwelling in them nothing, as is reported, but Tygres and other wild beasts".