India, Hampi - On Hemakuta Hill stands Moola Virupaksha, a 7th-century shrine marking where Shiva meditated after Sati's death. Reborn as Pampa (Tungabhadra river), she reunited with Shiva, their romance commemorated by a temple tank. Pampa evolved into Hampi, the heart of Vijayanagara.
In the 14th century, amidst global climate shifts and failing empires, Harihara and Bukka Raya established a kingdom at Hampi, Karnataka. They strategically used the Tungabhadra river and hills for defense but faced the challenge of cultivating the dry, rocky land. To secure food, they grew crops on a river island, diverting water via check dams, canals, and a 19 km aqueduct.
Dominic J Davison-Jenkins called this a "spectacular feat of technology." A granite bridge, Bukka's Bridge, supported the aqueduct where the land dipped. Dated to the late 14th century, this investment was a calculated risk to control water during famines.
By 1420, Vijayanagara attracted global travelers. Nicolo Conti described it as a vast city with 90,000 men fit for war. The kingdom's reliable water supply enabled military and economic power during South India's famines. The Kamalapuram lake, built in the early 1400s, captured rainwater and river water, feeding armies, citizens, crops, and the royal enclosure. Domingo Paes described it as beautiful as Rome, with groves, conduits, and lakes.
Krishna Deva Raya expanded irrigation, using a stone channel to deliver water to a large tank for silt settlement. The aqueduct, shaped by ingenuity, geography, ambition, and will, now lies abandoned. Water's significance evolved from sustenance to ostentatious display, evident in the Queen's Bath and a stepwell. However, the Kamalapuram tank's breaches led to human sacrifices. Water symbolized life, death, wealth, and power.
The city was attacked and decimated after Krishna Deva Raya's death in 1529, eventually forgotten. The temple still stands, overlooking a diminished river due to a dam that submerged ancient infrastructure.