Is it a myth that Muslim rulers in India destroyed thousands of temples?

The Hampi ruins

All the pictures are from my phone gallery.

Had a trip to Hampi, an ancient ruined city on the banks of the river Tungabhadra last week.

A stomach churning experience to see the height of barbaric hatred with which the Muslim kings destroyed the city.

Hampi VijayaNagara was the capital city of the Vijayanagara empire. Historians like Nicolo Conti of Italy had recorded that it was a city next to Rome in opulence. Legend has it that the market street in front of the Virupaksha temple had shops which dealt in precious stones and jewels.

The battle of Talikota as described in the above plaque was one of the bloodiest battles in Indian history. The three Muslim kings Adil Shah , Ibrahim Shah and Nizam Shah of Bijapur, Golconda and Ahmed Nagar formed a coalition force and went to battle with Aliya Ramaraya, the regent of Vijaynagar. Aliya Ramaraya was beheaded and thus the glorious Vijaynagar empire came to end. As a symbol of victory, the whole city was destroyed, each and every temple was razed, the idols were destroyed by the attackers.

There are dozens of such sites in India which stand as mute witnesses of barbaric religious fanaticism of Muslim invaders.