At about 200km from Bangalore, in central Karnataka, is the town and district of Chitradurga. Picturesque fort and hillocks with huge boulders adorn this small town which has grown significantly since i last visited. Friday night (or Saturday at 1:30am) i was chatting with RJ, and at 7am on Saturday morning i was on my way, on impeccable NH-4, to Chitradurga. A total change-of-plan trip.
Legends has Chitradurga featured in epic Mahabharata, where a man-eating giant named Hidimbasura lived here. When the Pandavas were in this place in the course of their exile, Bhima fought Hidambasura with the huge boulders around as arsenal, and Hidambasura was slain in the duel.
The marvelous fort is known as Elu sutthina kote (which means fort with seven circumambulation) as it comprises a series of seven enclosure walls. The fort, built in parts by Palegar Nayakas, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, has many temples, gateways, posterior entrances, a totally ruined palace, granaries, oil pits, numerous secret entrances and water tanks. The fort has entrance through many huge stone doors, and is build like the path of a serpent, in a wavy fashion.
It takes about two to three hours hike around to see all the prominent structures including the legendary Obavvana Kindi where Onake Obavva, a housewife and spouse of a sentry, single-handedly warded off attack by Hyder Ali’s men by bludgeoning them to death. The exact spot, as shown in the image beside, is a narrow entrance, where the rocks form a natural barrier making it possible for only one person to pass at a time. The fort is now protected by ASI. The fort makes a good place for rock climbing and trekking to spots like Tuppada kola, a tank used to store ghee and oil atop a huge rock.
Chitradurga has few other tourist spots like Vani Vilasa sagara dam, Jogi matti zoo, and Muruga rajendra matha. Among these Chandravalli is a place definitely worth visiting. There is a nice lake and few caves here.
With a guide one can go see around stone structures, and small temples in the mysterious caves at Chandravalli. With a lantern in hand the guide walks you along the rocky caves, inside which you can see carvings, rooms, bathing tanks and other structures created since 3 B.C. when Buddhist monks settled here. The caves has been built and maintained by many emperors who ruled this place. Rooms has secret hideouts, multiple entry and exits. The caves stink with bats, and is pitch dark. If one gets lost, it is almost impossible to get out alive. At certain parts in here, you cannot see people standing next to you within a feet apart if the lantern is turned off. The guide shows you only certain parts of the caves, and supposedly there is a secret pathway from this place to the fort in Bangalore (one you see near k.r.market). The secret path was built by Tipu Sultan when he ruled this place after Hyder Ali.
One of the lesser known treasures in Karnataka, Chitradurga is definitely a place worth visiting for a one day if you happen to be around this place anytime. Driving from Bangalore takes about 3.5 hours in a car, and would take about 5 hours in numerous buses available to this place from Bangalore. The route from Bangalore to Chitradurga along NH-4
is: Bangalore -> Tumkur -> Sira -> Hiryur -> Chitradurga. The highway goes all the way to Pune. Best time to visit: When you feel like taking a break, though avoiding summer is advisable. :)
wow!! better than a travel brochure :D Good post!
Thanks Reems :)
That was a good trip! :) for us, i mean! :)
Loved the first photo of the fort.. Excellent placing!
Thanks Sakhi..
The first pic belongs to some Deepak, not mine :)
@San – Pretty neat pics dude! I think with a Rebel XSi it will be even better – what ya say? ;)
Did you get a chance to pass through Obavvana Kindi? It looks scary! Nice travelogue and I would plan to visit Chitradurga when I plan my Blore trip – looks and sounds very cool!
Btw, did you skip your French class? :-0
You can visit chitradurga in a day!That sounds nice!
@RJ
Yup yup :D
i didn’t.. you need to crawl your way out.. hmm.. you’ve tons of other places to visit around here as well..
@Bhavna
Yup, it wont take more than a day..
Looks like a good trip… I’ve never been there! I’m almost convinced now…
I have been to Chitradurga I don know how many times.. It was just 70 KMs from Davangere (I did my Engg there) and our escape from the daily routine used to be the Bike ride to fort, hike till the top, have couple of beers and come back… :) This brought some memories
@Nikhil
:)
@Oxy
That’s good to hear.. thanks for visiting!
It seems like a very beautiful place. The first pic is breathtaking. I really like to visit such places and keep imagining how people would have lived there. :)
Thanks for sharing.
@Amit
Thanks for your visit!
lovely pics :) neat review,i am remembering tat song –kannada naadina veerara maniya ..onake obavva :)
one day-chitradurga is a revelation !
@meg
Yup, worth a visit… thanks for your comments
now ,whats with the thanks !
i am visibly upset..
This is the first time someone is upset for wishing them thanks!
u gave me a fake thanks san 1
Woww.. the fort and the place looks awesome!! not heard of it before….
@Aaarti
now you’ve heard :)
Thanks for visiting.
i’ve lived in bangalore all the while and not been there… must go sometime… btw, nice collection of pics… :)
@harshasrisri
ya.. place worth a visit..
Really a well written blog, i am really excited to make the Chitradurga trip.. Thanks!
Hey Sandeep…. Good Job, brings back lots of memories from childhood……Thanks
sir
i have gone through chitradurga fort , it IS ASTONISHING TO SEE, THE ROCK FORT, REALLY IT IS OF FRENCH ENGNERING SKILL ,I SAW HUGE GRINDING STO0NES FOUR IN NUMBER IT IS THE BEST TECHNEOLOGY OF 18 TH CENTURY TIPPU APPOINTED FRENCH ENGINEERS TO CONSTRUCT THE HUGE GRNDING STONES, IN ORDER TO MANUFACTURE GUN POWDER FOR HIS ARMORY. EVEN ROCKET TECNEOLOGY DEVELOPED HERE ONLY, 20 YEARS BACK WE NOTICED IN THE THIRD ROUND OF FORTIFICATION 100 S OF 3 CMS SQUARE QURTZ STONE THIN ARTIFACTS LAY AROUND HERE, SURELY TIPPUS ROCKET TECHNEOLOGY DEVELOPED HERE AND TIPPU RE-NAMED AS FORUKABAD AND WANTED TO BE SHIFT HIS CAPITAL FROM SRIRANGA PATNAM TO CHITRADURGA(FORUKABAD)
Nice Information …
Please visit for information in kannada…”www.chitharadurga.com”
Dear friends i seen the chandravalli caves, tank, monkeys and peacocks are so nice and this place is very good for morning walking ………..!!
Very well explained.. gr8 help!! Thanks :)
Thanks a lot for the valuable info :)
My visit to the place….
http://theloapers.blogspot.com/2011/08/37-chitradurga-vanivilas-sagar.html
I’m from Chitradurga and have never had the idea that I could write about this fort. Hell, I don’t have a single pic either. your article is very good.