Abhimanyu is a character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the son of Arjuna and Subhadra. The Adi Parva tells that the gods asked Varchas, son of the moon god Soma, to be born on earth as Abhimanyu; Soma agreed only if his son returned to him at sixteen. While the Pandavas were in exile, Abhimanyu was raised in Dvaraka and trained by Balarama, Krishna and Pradyumna. Arjuna taught him how to break into the Chakravyuha, a wheel-shaped military formation; a later folk telling adds that he heard this in his mother's womb but never learned how to get out. He married Uttara, princess of Matsya. On the thirteenth day of the Kurukshetra War, with Arjuna drawn away, Drona arranged the Chakravyuha. Abhimanyu burst through it and defeated many great warriors, but Jayadratha held back the Pandavas following him. Left alone, he was attacked by several maharathis at once, against the codes of war. They destroyed his chariot and weapons, and he fought on with a chariot wheel until he was killed, aged sixteen. His son Parikshit, born after his death, saved the Kuru line.

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.