Ghoomar is a folk dance from Rajasthan in which dancers twirl in a wide circle, their flowing skirts lifting outward. It began with the Bhil tribe, who performed it to worship the goddess Saraswati, and Rajput communities later embraced it. Its name comes from ghoomna, the verb for twirling. Traditionally performed by women with veils, it is danced at weddings and festivals, and a newly married bride is expected to dance it when she enters her new home. Performances can last for hours, and the style shifts by region, with faster beats and garba-like steps near Gujarat and slower rhythms in the Braj area.

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.