Hospet is the gateway to South India’s glorious past, the ‘Vijayanagara Empire’. The remains of the city of Vijayanagara, more popularly known as Hampi, are situated near Hospet.

Established in the 12th century AD, Vijayanagara Empire once covered the entire South India and rated amongst the mightiest and wealthiest empires of its era. When Vijayanagara Empire held sway, Hampi was an epicenter of a flourishing indigenous culture, boasting a landscape dotted with magnificent palaces, sacred temples, massive fortifications, baths, markets, pavilions, and stables for royal elephants. This was a place that once brimmed with abundant wealth and international traders… a time when even gold & diamonds were sold on waysides here! All of these were gradually reduced to…

Hospet is the gateway to South India’s glorious past, the ‘Vijayanagara Empire’. The remains of the city of Vijayanagara, more popularly known as Hampi, are situated near Hospet.

Established in the 12th century AD, Vijayanagara Empire once covered the entire South India and rated amongst the mightiest and wealthiest empires of its era. When Vijayanagara Empire held sway, Hampi was an epicenter of a flourishing indigenous culture, boasting a landscape dotted with magnificent palaces, sacred temples, massive fortifications, baths, markets, pavilions, and stables for royal elephants. This was a place that once brimmed with abundant wealth and international traders… a time when even gold & diamonds were sold on waysides here! All of these were gradually reduced to rubble as the Empire fell to the Muslim invaders of North India after the disastrous Battle of Talikota (in 1565). The aftermath was about six months of continuous merciless looting & plundering - perhaps most ruthless of its kind - that left city of Vijayanagara in shambles. What now stands is ‘Hampi’, the original centre of Vijayanagara city. It is declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.