Hampi is a town in the

Vijayanagara district Vijayanagara district is a district in the Indian state of Karnataka, located in the Kalyana Karnataka region. This district was carved out of Bellary district officially on 2 October 2021 to become the 31st district of the state with Hosapete ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

.Ballari:Hospet:Hampi
Official Website of Ballari District, Government of Karnataka Located along the Tungabhadra River in the east and center part of the state, Hampi is near the city of

Hosapete Hospet also known as Vijayanagara is the largest city and district headquarters of the Vijayanagara district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River and is 13 km from Hampi. The present day Ha ...

. It is famous for hosting the Hampi Group of Monuments, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Hampi is mentioned in Ashokan epigraphy and texts such as the ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

'' and the

Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

s of Hinduism as Pampaa Devi Tirtha Kshetra. Hampi was a part of Vijayanara, the capital of the Hindu

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

in the 14th-century. It became a center of economic and administrative activity of the Deccan region kingdom founded in opposition to Islamic Sultanates in South India. After over two centuries of rule, the Empire was defeated and destroyed by a coalition of Sultanates. Hampi was in ruins and abandoned. Since the 19th-century, its ruins became an important site for archaeologists and historians.

Geography

Hampi is situated on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, midst rocky hills. It is from

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, from

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and from

Belgaum Belgaum (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous ...

. The closest railway station is in the city of

(Hospet), 13 km away.

Economic activity

The principal economic activity in and around the town include agriculture, tourism and industrial activity related to iron ore, manganese and other minerals mining. The average rainfall around Hampi town is about 660 mm. The major crops grown are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, groundnut, sunflower, sugarcane and cotton. Part of the Hampi farmlands are irrigated and there is a large dam nearby.

Tourism

Hampi hosts, in part, a group of monuments that

has declared a world heritage site. In and after the 1960s, the town became an attraction for motorbikers and a site for offbeat tourism when its infrastructure was in poor state. Groups of tourists would gather on its hills and midst its ruins, to hold parties and spiritual retreats, and these have been called "Hampi Hippies" and Hampi as the "lost city" in some publications. The annual Hampi Utsava or "''Vijaya Festival''" has been celebrated since the reign of Vijayanagara. It is organized by the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

as ''Nada Habba'' (Festival). more than 1 million people visit this place.

Climate

References

* S.Srinivasachar, T.S.Satyan, ''Hampi : The fabled capital of the Vijayanagara Empire'', (Directorate of Archaeology and Museums), Govt. of Karnataka, 1995

External links