Bihu dance is a folk dance of Assam, in northeast India, tied to the Bihu festival. It is performed in groups of young men and women with brisk steps and rapid hand movements, in costumes built around red, which stands for joy and vigour. The men play instruments such as the drum while the dancers slowly walk into the space before the pace builds. Its origins are unknown, but scholars link it to ancient fertility cults, and it was traditionally danced in fields, groves, forests and riverbanks, often beneath a fig tree, by many of Assam's ethnic groups.

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.