Virupaksha Bazaar or market is the largest of the many bazaars of Vijayanagara. Each major Temple complex had its own bazaar around which a township developed. This is the only bazaar around which a township of a sort still exists. This bazaar is flanked by the main gopura of Virupaksha temple called Bishtappa's gopura on the one end and the monolithic Nandi at the other end. The 9 storied, 53 meters high gopura adds elegance to the 732 meters long and 28 meters wide Virupaksha Bazaar.

"You have a broad and beautiful street, full of rows of fine houses and mantapas, in this street live many merchants and there you will find all sorts of rubies, and diamonds, and emeralds, and pearls and seed pearls and clothes, and every other sort of thing there is on earth and that you wish to buy" exclaimed Domingo Paes, a Portuguese traveler who visited Hampi during the reign of Emperor Krishnadevaraya.