Hampi is a small village in north Karnataka. It was once called the Vijayanagara Empire which was one of the well known cities during the 15th century. The Muslim rulers conquered and defeated them to ruins. Most of the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire had built lot of temples and structures which have been preserved by UNESCO and taken Hampi as a World Heritage Center.
The most interesting and best tourists place in Karnataka is Hampi and its ruins. Hospet is the small town closer to Hampi which is the nearest railway station. Once one reaches Hospet it takes only 20 minutes to half hour to reach Hampi with the help of local buses which runs every half an hour. The city of Hampi is divided into two parts; the Sacred Center and the Royal Center. These clusters are separated 3 kms apart.
The Sacred Center as the name suggests is full of temples and religious monuments. The Royal Center is a cluster with the royal palaces, stables, enclosures for the queens, private areas of the royal family, prayer places for the royals and more.
The construction of Vijayanagar city originally began by seven fortifications, of which large number of batons and gateways were erected. The seventh and the innermost fort is enclosed in the main city and preserved. The main structures of the Hampi are religious, civil and military in nature. The Jain temples on Hemankuta hill, few shrines in the Virupaksha Complex which dates back to 9th century are the amongst the most visited ones.
