Hampi

This article is about a world heritage site. For the city, see Hampi (town).

Groups of Monuments at Hampi
UNESCO World Heritage Site
LocationHampi (town), Vijayanagara district, Karnataka, India[1]
IncludesVirupaksha Temple
CriteriaCultural: i, iii, iv
Reference241
Inscription1986 (10th Session)
Endangered1999–2006
Area4,187.24 ha
Buffer zone19,453.62 ha
WebsiteArchaeological Survey of India – Hampi
Coordinates15°20′04″N 76°27′44″E / 15.33444°N 76.46222°E / 15.33444; 76.46222
Hampi is located in Karnataka
Hampi
Location of Hampi
Hampi is located in India
Hampi
Hampi (India)

Hampi or Hampe (Kannada: [hɐmpe]), also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Hampi (City), Ballari district now Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India.[2] Hampi predates the Vijayanagara Empire; it is mentioned in the Ramayana and the Puranas of Hinduism as Pampa Devi Tirtha Kshetra.[3][4] Hampi continues as a religious centre, with the Virupaksha Temple, an active Adi Shankara-linked monastery and various monuments belonging to the old city.[5][6]

Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565 (as Vijayanagara), when it was abandoned.[3] It was a fortified city. 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. By 1500 CE, Hampi-Vijayanagara was the world's second-largest city, after Beijing, and probably India's richest at that time, attracting traders from Persia and Portugal.[7][8] The Vijayanagara Empire was defeated by a coalition of Muslim sultanates; its capital was conquered, pillaged and destroyed by Sultanate armies in 1565, after which Hampi remained in ruins.[3][5][9]

Located in Karnataka near the small modern town of Hampi with the city of Hosapete 13 kilometres (8.1 miles) away, Hampi's ruins are spread over 4,100 hectares (16 sq mi) and it has been described by UNESCO as an "austere, grandiose site" of more than 1,600 surviving remains of the last great Hindu kingdom in South India that includes "forts, riverside features, royal and sacred complexes, temples, shrines, pillared halls, mandapas, memorial structures, water structures and others".[10]

  1. ^ Buradikatti, Kumar (19 November 2020). "Ballari set to lose Hampi and more". The Hindu.
  2. ^ "Group of Monuments at Hampi". World Heritage. Retrieved 20 December 2006.
  3. ^ a b c Anila Verghese 2002, pp. 1–18
  4. ^ John M. Fritz; George Michell; Clare Arni (2001). New Light on Hampi: Recent Research at Vijayanagara. Marg Publications. pp. 1–7. ISBN 978-81-85026-53-4.
  5. ^ a b Fritz & Michell 2016, pp. 11–23, backpage
  6. ^ Joan-Pau Rubiés (2002). Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance: South India Through European Eyes, 1250–1625. Cambridge University Press. pp. 234–236. ISBN 978-0-521-52613-5.
  7. ^ Michael C. Howard (2011). Transnationalism and Society: An Introduction. McFarland. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-0-7864-8625-0.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gier2014p11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Lycett, Mark T.; Morrison, Kathleen D. (2013). "The Fall of Vijayanagara Reconsidered: Political Destruction and Historical Construction in South Indian History 1". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 56 (3): 433–470. doi:10.1163/15685209-12341314.
  10. ^ Group of Monuments at Hampi, UNESCO