You can read Akilan's 'Vetri Thirunagar'. You will know what the ruins of Hampi stood for and fell for. (This was available in Higginbothams in Chennai Central. Better try to finish it b4 you land in Hampi.)
And Sri Venugopalan's 'Thiruvarangan Ula' and 'Madura Vijayam' (To be read in that order). It deals with what Vijayanagar meant to Tamil Nadu.
For actual history, try 'A Forgotten Empire' by Robert Sewell. Its available as a free eBook in Project Gutenberg site. Though the book is a bit outdated in some details, quite a good one for starters.
And first visit the 'Archaeological Museum' in Kamalapuram/Hampi b4 venturing out into Hampi. You can also buy the Hampi guide book by Archaeological Survey of India there. It's a very good, detailed catalog of Hampi monuments.
Hi Karthik, The photos and organization of website are absolutely wonderful. Congrats ! May be we can develop this website to contain all of our travellogue photos. I will send my collection if it is OK with you.
Hampi : I'd like to add "Naan Krishna devarayan" (By Ra.Ki. Rangarajan) book to the excellent collection you have quoted. Not a great story but it is interesting to read (once :-))
Gokul, I'm honoured to have your photos on my website. You can mail all of them to this id. Attachment limit per mail is 1 MB.
BTW, Can somebody tell me the location of the following places (directions and distances from nearest towns) visited in Second Yaathirai, so that I can locate them on a map. (Better if you can give me the latitude and longitude, but that is asking too much rite? ;)
I too liked 'Naan Krishna Deva Rayan'. Though no major plot, as you said, the form itself is very different and refreshing, seeing Vijayanagar through the eyes of KrishnaDevaRaya. But what I didn't like was that KrishnaDevaRaya echoes some of the modern 'rational' thoughts like Sati-is-barbaric, human-sacrifice-is-barbaric which I don't think would have been the case.