Virupaksha Temple, Hampi

Hampi is one of the most extraordinary places in India — and possibly on Earth. The ruined capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, which at its 15th-century peak was the world's second-largest city after Beijing, spreads across 26 square kilometres of surreal boulder-strewn landscape alongside the Tungabhadra River. In 1565 CE, a coalition of Muslim sultanates sacked the city and left it in ruins. What remains is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of immense scale: temples, royal enclosures, elephant stables, stepped tanks, and market streets, all slowly being reclaimed by the landscape.

The Virupaksha Temple is the beating heart of Hampi — the only major structure that survived the 1565 sack as a functioning temple rather than being destroyed. The 50-metre gopuram (entrance tower) dominates the western end of the main bazaar street. Inside, the temple has the timeworn intimacy of a genuinely ancient working shrine: incense-blackened walls, stone floors polished by millennia of bare feet, and a resident elephant (Lakshmi) who blesses visitors in exchange for bananas.

Beyond the Virupaksha, Hampi demands at least two full days. Rent a bicycle or hire a driver and explore the Royal Enclosure (the throne platform, hazara rama temple), the Vittala Temple with its famous stone chariot and musical pillars (1 km east of Virupaksha, separate ticket), and the river crossing to Hippie Island (Virupapur Gaddi) where guesthouses cluster on the opposite bank. Hampi is best at sunrise and sunset — the boulders and ruins glow extraordinary orange.