The fabled city of the Vijayanagar kings, covering an area of around 20 sq km (8 sq miles), sprawls across a spectacular barren and boulder-strewn landscape.

The Sacred Centre , on the southern bank of the Tungabhadra river, is dominated by the impressive Virupaksha Temple . It is dedicated to a form of Shiva (Virupaksha), known here as Pampapati (the “Lord of Pampa”), and commemorates his wedding to Pampa, the goddesss of the Tungabhadra. In front is the colonnaded Bazaar Street  that dates mainly from the 16th to the mid-17th centuries, when it teemed with pilgrims and travellers in search of exotic wares. A path beside the river leads past the Kodandarama Temple , with its figures of Rama, Sita and Lakshman carved on to a boulder inside the sanctuary. The bathing ghats here are considered to be the holiest at the site.

Beyond lies the Temple of Achyuta Raya , one of the major Hindu complexes at Hampi, dating from 1534 and dedicated to Tiruvengalanatha, the form of Vishnu that is venerated at Tirupati. Its perfect plan of two concentric enclosures, each entered by a towering gopura to the north, is clearly visible from the summit of Matanga Hill . The riverside path continues to the Vitthala Temple, from where a road proceeds to the village of Kamalapuram , where the Archaeological Museum  is located. En route is a gateway with a damaged façade of windows and battlements.

The road that runs south from Hampi village, through the Sacred Centre, leads up Hemakuta Hill , scattered with numerous pre- and early Vijayanagar shrines, many with small pyramidal towers. A large image of the elephant god, Ganesha, carved on a boulder, marks the top of the ridge. Further south is the Krishna Temple , erected in the early 16th century during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya. It is entered through a massive, though partly ruined gopura. The colonnaded street to the east now runs through fields of sugarcane, while the square tank nearby still stores water. As it continues south, the road travels past the tremendous Narasimha Stone Monolith, a representation of Vishnu’s man-lion incarnation.

Fortified walls enclose the Royal Centre . At the latter’s core is the superb Hazara Rama Temple , built by Deva Raya I, a Vijayanagar king of the 15th century. Its outer walls are covered with friezes that depict ceremonies of the Mahanavami festival. Reliefs of episodes from the Ramayana can be seen here. Around the temple are excavated remains of palaces, baths and a hundred-columned audience hall, while to its north are the Elephant Stables and the Lotus Mahal .