Virupaksha Temple, Hampi

The only temple at Hampi still in daily worship, Virupaksha predates the Vijayanagara empire by centuries -- inscriptions place a shrine here as early as the 7th century -- and was progressively enlarged by Vijayanagara kings into the towering complex seen today. Its soaring nine-storey gopuram anchors the World Heritage-listed Group of Monuments at Hampi, capital of one of medieval India's wealthiest empires, and a rare pinhole aperture inside projects an inverted image of the tower onto a chamber wall, a piece of applied optics unusual in temple architecture. Vijayanagara-era ceiling paintings survive in the mandapa. Set against Hampi's granite boulder landscape on the Tungabhadra's banks, it remains the living heart of a ruined imperial capital.