Hampi (Hampe) is a village in northern Karnataka, India. It was one of She richest and largest cities in the world during its prime. It is located within the ruins of the city of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as the Group of Monuments at Hampi. The empire boasted of a massive army comprising close to a million units. In around 1500 AD Hampi had about 500,000 inhabitants (supporting 0.1% of the global population during 1440-1540), making il the second largest city in the world after Peking-Beijing and almost thrice the size of Paris.

To the south of Hampi is this massive rock-cut idol of Ugra Narasimha, the fierce aspect of Vishnu, 6.7 m high. Originally the idol bore a smaller image of Lakshmi on one knee; this had fallen off. probably due to vandalism. The Lakshmi statue is now in the museum at Kamalapuram. Narasimha is depicted seated on the coils of Shesha Naga (mythical serpent). Shesha is shown here in a form with seven heads, the heads arching over Narasimha to form a canopy.

Photo: M. Kamath