Indoor air pollution from cooking and heating is one of the largest environmental health risks in the world. Most of the world's poorest people still rely on solid fuels such as crop waste, animal dung, wood and charcoal, which burn in open fires or basic stoves without proper ventilation. The smoke fills the home with fine particles and toxic gases, especially affecting women and young children who spend the most time near the fire. Research tracking households over many years links this exposure to pneumonia, heart and lung disease, and stroke. Estimates attribute almost three million premature deaths every year to household air pollution, a figure that rivals some of the biggest causes of death worldwide. The problem is less about technology being unavailable than about affordability and access, since cleaner options like gas, electric stoves and improved cookstoves exist but remain out of reach for many families.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.