Discovering Hampi, Vijayanagara

Join us for an illustrated talk on Vijayanagara, the spectacular 14th-16th-century city known today as Hampi. The historical city is nestled alongside a sacred river and rugged granite gorge and is identified with the Sanskrit epic, Ramayana. The ruins present the history of a complete imperial city, with fortifications and defensive gateways, remains of palaces and pleasure pavilions, reservoirs and aqueducts, watchtowers and elephant stables, together with a profusion of shrines with carvings. Once remote and little visited, Hampi Vijayanagara is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has become one of India’s premier tourist destinations.

In the 1980s, the American archaeologist John M. Fritz and Australian architect George Michell set up camp in the middle of the Vijayanagara site; together with a team of international students, they produced thousands of drawings, maps, and photographs over a twenty-year period. The Vijayanagara Research Project’s archival collection is now held in The British Library and is accessible to all researchers.

George Michell will give an illustrated talk introduced by Malini Roy, Head of Visual Arts at The British Library.

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