CARVED IN STONE

THE ONE-TIME CAPITAL OF AN ANCIENT HINDU KINGDOM, HAMPI WAS ABANDONED IN THE 16TH CENTURY, AND TODAY THE RUINS HAVE BECOME A SITE OF PILGRIMAGE

- FRANCESCO LASTRUCCI

Continuously active since the seventh century, lively Virupaksha Temple is one of the signature landmarks of Hampi. Covering around 9,900 acres in the Indian state of Karnataka, the city was the last capital of the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara, a flourishing empire whose temples and palaces would have seduced any visitor at its peak between the 14th and 16th centuries.

Conquered by a group of sultanates known as the Deccan Confederation in 1565, the city was plundered for months before being abandoned.

Today, Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising hundreds of monuments scattered across the landscape. It’s still an important place of pilgrimage and devotion, with worshippers decorating trees and bringing offerings to the gods.

Hampi is best admired from the small temple on top of Matanga Hill, where a young priest performs a puja (prayer) at sunset.

This was a sacred place long before it became the capital of an empire, in part due to its eye-catching landscapes, defined by hills dotted with massive granite boulders.

Shaped into sinuous forms by the elements and lining the banks of the Tungabhadra River, boulders like this were used to build the ancient city.

Abandoned temples follow the river; their stones camouflaged among the rocks, as if shaped by the same natural forces. Wildlife has reclaimed the structures, with macaques and langurs socialising in them at twilight.

Of the more than 500 temples in the area, one of the largest and most intricate is the Achyuta Raya Temple, built in 1534 and dedicated to a form of the god Vishnu.