CITY OF VICTORY: HAMPI VIJAYANAGARA Illustrated Talk by Dr George Michell

About the Talk

Vijayanagara Hampi was capital of the greatest Hindu kingdom of Southern India between the 14th and 16th centuries. Contemporary Persian and Portuguese travellers testify to the power of its emperors and the splendour of their court, the grand scale of the city and its imposing buildings, and the wealth of its markets where diamonds could be purchased. To this day, the remains of Vijayanagara in central Karnataka give the best possible idea of the magnificence of this great capital. Covering an area of more than 30 square kilometres, the ruins are set in an astonishingly rugged landscape of granite boulders through which flows the sacred Tungabhadra River.

            In 1986, Hampi was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which included it on its list of antiquities of global significance. The city’s extraordinary religious and courtly ruins that include more than a thousand structures, continue to draw pilgrims, artists, scholars and visitors from around the world. In his illustrated talk, Michell will give the historical background to Vijayanagara as well as discussing the principal monuments with their vivid sculptural decoration. 

About the Speaker

The London based, architectural historian Dr George Michell trained as an architect in Melbourne and then continued with a doctoral thesis on the Badami Chalukya temples for the School of Oriental African Studies at the University of London. Beginning in 1980, Michell spent over 20 years mapping Hampi in collaboration with the American archaeologist John M. Fritz. Together they have authored City of Victory (Mumbai 2026), illustrated with splendid images by the Australian photographer John Gollings.