Today, the Mahanavami Dibba in Hampi looks quiet.
Stone steps. Carved platforms. Open sky.
But around 500 years ago, this area would have looked completely different.
For nine days, Vijayanagar celebrated Mahanavami with one of the grandest public spectacles in the empire.
Imagine the scene.
Tall temporary pavilions covered with rich cloth.
Nobles and foreign visitors watching from decorated platforms.
Professional wrestlers competing in the arena.
Musicians and dancers performing before the royal court.
As evening arrived, thousands of oil lamps lit up the palace grounds.
Then came fireworks, rockets and burning displays that must have looked extraordinary against Hampi’s dark granite hills.
One of the most striking descriptions is of young women from the royal household entering the arena carrying golden lamps. They wore so much jewellery that attendants sometimes had to support their arms as they walked.
And the celebrations did not end with the ninth day.
After the festival, the king rode outside the city for a huge review of the imperial army.
Historical accounts describe the surrounding plains and hills filled with soldiers, cavalry and war elephants.
It is difficult to connect that image with the Hampi we see today.
Standing on the Mahanavami Dibba now, all we hear may be the wind, birds and visitors walking nearby.
But once, this same place was filled with music, drums, lamps, horses, elephants and thousands of people.
That is what I enjoy most about Hampi.
The ruins are quiet.
The stories behind them are not.
If you could witness just one day of Mahanavami in Vijayanagar, what would you want to see first?
Hampi Beyond the Ruins continues…
Hampi Beyond the Ruins #1: The Hare That Challenged the Hound
Hampi Beyond the Ruins #2: The Bazaar Where Diamonds 
Were Sold in the Open
Hampi Beyond the Ruins #3: Hampi’s Forgotten Water Technology 
Hampi Beyond the Ruins #4: 15,000–20,000 People Building One Reservoir
Hampi Beyond the Ruins #5: Hampi’s Women Were Guards, Accountants and Wrestlers
