Yakshagana is a traditional stage form from the coastal districts of Karnataka and parts of Kerala that combines dance, music, dialogue, costume and face paint. A performance is led by a singer and narrator, the bhagawatha, who tells the story while the actors dance it out, and a separate orchestra plays the music. Much of the music, dance and dialogue is improvised, and actors sometimes break into philosophical debates without leaving character. Traditionally a show ran from dusk until dawn, and its stories come from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, Bhagavata texts and other Indic traditions. It has been compared to Western opera, and its style is often described as a kind of method acting.

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.