The adéńlá is the most important royal regalia of Yoruba kings in southwest Nigeria, topped with a carved royal bird called Okin. The headdress connects the king to Oduduwa, the mythical founder of the Yoruba. Its veil of beaded strings hides the wearer's identity and shields subjects from the power that radiates from the king's face. The crown also represents the king's inner head, the seat of a life force called ase, and it is said that no one, not even the king, may look inside it.

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.