Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that begins on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar and lasts eight nights. It commemorates the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE, when the Maccabees recovered Jerusalem and the Second Temple. Each night, families light a nine-branched menorah: one candle on the first night, two on the second, and so on until all eight burn, using an extra shamash candle to light the others. Traditions include prayers, Hanukkah songs, playing dreidel and eating fried foods such as latkes and sufganiyot. Hanukkah is the only Jewish holiday that starts in one Hebrew month and ends in another, Kislev and Tevet.

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.