Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, built mainly from percussion instruments. Metallophones played with mallets carry the melody, while a set of hand-drums called kendang keeps the beat. Other instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, a bowed rebab and vocalists, with sindhen for women and gerong for men. Gamelan is performed at religious rituals, ceremonies, dance-dramas, shadow puppet theatre and festivals, and it is considered central to Indonesian identity. UNESCO inscribed gamelan on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2021, recognising its role in community life, wellbeing and education.

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.