Hampi Bazaar

About this place

Also called Virupaksha Bazaar, this was the main commercial spine of medieval Hampi: a broad, paved avenue about 750 metres long and 30 metres wide, flanked on both sides by rows of single- and double-storey stone mantapas that once housed jewellers, cloth merchants and spice traders. Portuguese traveller Domingo Paes marveled at pearls and gems sold here during the empire's zenith. The street begins at the eastern gopuram of Virupaksha Temple and climbs gently toward Matanga Hill, ending near the monolithic Nandi (Yeduru Basavanna) and a two-storey photo gallery of 19th-century Hampi views. Many pavilions survive as open colonnades; the western stretch still hosts small shops, while the eastern ruins are quieter. An ASI information plaque near the temple records the street's dimensions and history.