Are You Experienced is the 1967 debut album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix was first a struggling backing guitarist on the R&B circuit, and he signed with manager Chas Chandler, who brought him to London and assembled the band. The album was recorded between late October 1966 and early April 1967 across three London studios. It reached number two in the UK, while the US version added hits such as Purple Haze, Hey Joe and The Wind Cries Mary, which were released as singles in Britain but left off the UK album. Its innovative songwriting and electric guitar playing set a new direction for psychedelic and rock music.

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.