Messiah is an English-language oratorio that George Frideric Handel composed in 1741, using a libretto compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter. It premiered in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and reached London a year later, but its early reception was modest. Unlike an opera it has no characters and no dialogue; it is a sequence of reflections on Jesus as the Messiah, moving from Old Testament prophecies to the Nativity, the Passion and the resurrection, and ending with the Hallelujah chorus. Over time it became one of the most performed choral works in Western music.

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.