Hampi-Hospet-Koppal — Where an Empire's Artisans Still Work

A Region Still Shaped by an Empire

Hampi, Hospet and Koppal sit at the heart of what was once the capital region of the Vijayanagara Empire, one of the largest and wealthiest kingdoms in Indian history, flourishing from the 14th to the 17th century before its dramatic fall in 1565. Hampi's ruins — now a UNESCO World Heritage Site — draw visitors for their scale and stone carving, but the empire's patronage extended well beyond temple architecture. Artisans were invited from across India to work in the capital, and some of that legacy survives today in living, working form rather than ruins: Kinhal village still produces the painted wooden craft its artisans once made for Vijayanagara's temples and chariots, and Huvina Hadagali's jasmine trade traces to flowers once floated down the Tungabhadra River to supply the empire's temples and palaces.

Sandur's Lambani embroidery tells a different, later chapter of the same region's history — the Banjara community migrated here from Rajasthan with the Mughal army in the 16th century, after Vijayanagara had already fallen, and built an entirely separate craft tradition that has since become one of Karnataka's most internationally recognised textile arts, featured at London Fashion Week. Together, the three GI products of this region trace a longer and more layered history than the ruins alone tell.

Quick Overview

Kinhal Toys — A Closer Look

Craft Born of a Royal Land Grant

Kinhal's artisans, known as chitragars ("those who draw and paint"), trace their craft to the 14th–17th century Vijayanagara Empire, whose kings are said to have invited skilled craftspeople from across India to work in their capital at Hampi. Recognising the talent of Kinhal's artisans, the Vijayanagara kings awarded the village as an inam — a royal land grant — securing their patronage directly. The famed murals at Hampi's Pampapatheswara (Virupaksha) temple and Andhra Pradesh's Lepakshi temple, along with carvings on Hampi's stone chariot, are believed to be Kinhal artisans' work. After Vijayanagara's fall in 1565, the craft found new patrons in the Nawab of Koppal, the local Desai family of Kinhal, and later the Nawab Salar Jung of Hyderabad — each ensuring, in their own way, that the tradition survived the empire that first sustained it.

How It's Made

Kinhal craft uses a distinctive, entirely manual process found nowhere else in India. Figures are carved from Ponki Mara (also called Polki Marra), a soft, lightweight local wood, then joined using a paste made from tamarind seeds and pebbles. A body coating called kitta — made from soaked, dried and powdered jute rags mixed with sawdust and tamarind-seed paste — is applied over the joined wood, and a second paste of powdered pebble and liquid gum is used to emboss raised ornamental detail before painting. Artists use both natural and synthetic colours, and a traditional technique called Lajawara, made by melting metal, produces the craft's distinctive gold and silver tones. The finished pieces mostly depict Hindu deities, mythological scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and animals.

A Craft Still Fighting to Survive

Of 67 chitragar families historically recorded in Kinhal, only around 25 remain actively engaged in the craft today — a decline tied to shrinking demand for the large 3–4 foot dolls the craft was traditionally known for, as smaller modern homes create demand for 6–12 inch pieces instead, and limited economic viability discourages younger family members from continuing it. The craft has received national recognition despite this — Karnataka has featured Kinnal craft in its Republic Day tableau on multiple occasions, including 2013 and again in January 2022, and organisations including the Sandeep & Gitanjali Maini Foundation and a dedicated Koppal Toy Cluster initiative now support the remaining artisan families directly.

Kinhal Toys — FAQs

Sandur Lambani Embroidery — A Closer Look

A Migrating Community's Living Art

The Lambanis — also called Banjaras or Lamanis — are a semi-nomadic community whose origins trace to Rajasthan's Marwar region. They migrated to Karnataka with the Mughal army in the 16th century, well after the Vijayanagara Empire's fall, and settled in and around Sandur in what's now Ballari district, where they continued and refined an embroidery tradition carried with them across generations. According to community tradition, women once wore heavily mirrored garments partly to catch and scare away wild animals while travelling through forested land — a practical origin for what became an elaborate art form.

A Technique Distinct From Its Better-Known Cousin

Sandur Lambani embroidery is often mistaken for Kutch embroidery because both use mirror work extensively, but the two are technically distinct: Lambani work is unique in its use of cowrie shells and coins alongside mirrors, combined with pattern darning, cross-stitching, overlaid stitching, beadwork, quilting stitches and appliqué patchwork — around 30 to 40 distinct stitch types in total, with names like Valeya, Bakhiya and Suryakanti Maaki. It's typically worked onto locally dyed cotton khadi or handloom-woven base fabric, and applied to bags, wallets, cushion covers, sarees and home décor.

From Local Craft to Global Recognition

The push for GI recognition, granted in 2010, was driven substantially by Sandur Kushal Kala Kendra, a local organisation working directly with Lambani craftswomen. The GI applies to six of Ballari district's seven taluks, and around 300 craftswomen have directly benefited from the recognition since. The craft's international profile had, in some respects, already arrived before the GI tag did — Lambani embroidery received UNESCO-CCI's Seal of Excellence for Handicraft Products in South Asia in both 2004 and 2012, and was featured at London Fashion Week in 2016, giving Sandur's artisans a genuinely international stage most GI-tagged Indian crafts never reach.

Sandur Lambani Embroidery — FAQs

Hadagali Mallige — A Closer Look

A Name That Tells Its Own History

Huvina Hadagali's full name comes from three Kannada words — huvina (relating to flower), hadaga (boat) and halli (village) — together meaning "the village of flower boats." Local tradition holds that during the height of the Vijayanagara Empire, flowers grown here were floated down the Tungabhadra River to supply the capital's temples and palaces, and the town's old wells and long-standing jasmine cultivation are cited as surviving evidence of that trade. The region is still known locally as Mallige Nadu or Malligeya Tavaru — "the land of jasmine" — and cultivation is recorded here since at least the 15th century, the period of Vijayanagara's height.

One of Three Sister Jasmines

Hadagali Mallige, locally called Vasane Mallige ("fragrant jasmine"), is one of three Karnataka jasmine varieties that received GI protection together in 2007, alongside Mysore Mallige and Udupi Mallige — each recognised for genuinely distinct characteristics tied to its specific growing region. Hadagali's sandy red soil is credited with giving its flowers a particularly strong fragrance and a comparatively mild volatile oil content, which historically made it prized for decorative and religious use rather than perfumery. Note on this page: sources differ on Hadagali Mallige's precise botanical classification — some list it as Jasminum auriculatum, others as Jasminum azoricum — a discrepancy not resolved by the sources checked for this page.

A Livelihood for the Region

Jasmine farming remains a significant income source for families across Huvina Hadagali taluk, contributing a substantial share of household income during peak flowering seasons according to recent agricultural research. Farmers in the region cite market price volatility, pest pressure and limited access to modern cultivation techniques as ongoing challenges, with cooperative societies playing a growing role in stabilising incomes and providing training.

Hadagali Mallige — FAQs