A thick layer of smog covered New Delhi on Monday after Diwali firecrackers added to already dangerous pollution. The air quality index topped 350 in several parts of the capital, which counts as severe, and visibility fell as a gray haze settled over streets and high-rises. India's Supreme Court had restricted fireworks to approved 'green firecrackers' in short windows on Saturday and Sunday, but many people lit conventional ones, and even green crackers still release fine particles. Winter pollution is worst in the city of more than 30 million because cooler air traps smoke from fireworks and from crop-residue fires in neighboring states such as Punjab.

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.