The Sri Krishna Temple was built by Krishnadevaraya in 1513 A.D. to commemorate his victory over Prataparudra Gajapati, the ruler of Orissa. During the battle he seized an image of child Krishna and brought it to Vijayanagara as war trophy. He then built this temple to consecrate the image. This temple is situated to the north of the image of Lakshmi-Narasimha in Hampi.

An inscription describing the conquest and the consecration of this temple on 16 February 1515 by Krishnadevaraya is found on a slab in front of this temple. Built in the centre of a courtyard, the temple possesses a sanctum, an antechamber, an ardhamandapa, a circumambulatory passage, a pillared hall with three entrances and an open pillared mandap, in addition to a number of other shrines for the attendant deities. The sanctum is at present empty. One of the pillars in the ardhamandapa is noteworthy as all the ten incarnations of Vishnu, including the rare one of Kalki, are carved on it. Kalki is depicted as a seated figure with a horse`s head. A large open prakara with high walls contains the Swami and Amman shrines as well as several sub-shrines.

Only a part of the superstructure of the east gopuram exists, but its west face contains fine stucco figures of warriors with shields, spirited horses and elephants. This perhaps represents a war scene connected with Krishnadeva Raya`s Orissa campaign.

The inner sides of the entrance exhibit beautifully sculptured Apsaras standing on mythical animals and holding scrolls filled with panels showing the ten incarnations of the lord. Like all major temple complexes, Krishnapura, a suburb, is developed around this temple. The bazaar in front is now a lush paddy field.

The nearest railhead to Hampi is Hospet. It is also accessible from Aihole, Badami, Bangalore, Bellary, Guntakal, Hubli, Hassan, Hyderabad and Mysore.

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