Raveesh Kumar: Chitradurga

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Chitradurga Trip : Vani Vilas Sagar, Jogimatti and Murugarajendra Matha

Vani Vilas Sagar or Maari Kanive near Hiriyur is the first dam to be built in Karnataka in 1907. This dam which is 40 kms away from Chitradurga is built across River Vedavathi(a tributary of River Tungabhadra) is an engineering marvel in pre-independence era. If you are traveling from Bangalore towards Chitradurga, you have to take a deviation near Hiriyur to reach the place. Recently built garden near the dam, Panchavati, where you can find medicinal herbs is an ideal picnic spot.

Vani Vilas Sagar Dam

Jogimatti, a hill station is 10 km away from Chitradurga town. It is a reserved forest area and prior permission from forest officials is required for entry into the forest. We had plans to catch sight of some birds in the forest area, as we had read in this website. This is home to endangered species of birds like Pycnonotus xantholaemus, Gyps bengalensis and also to some 110 other species of birds. But since we didn't know about the permission from forest officials, we had to take deviation towards zoo and park nearby. Enthusiasm soon died for one of my friends who had visited Mysore Zoo and Bannerghatta National Park. Anyway, peacocks, cheetahs, deers, tortoise are there to greet you. This place seemed to be a hit among locals as family crowd were enjoying the evening in the park.

Peacock in Jogimatti zoo

Murugarajendra Brihanmatha in Chitradurga town is one place where you can find lush greenery all around in a rocky town. Matha has a garden and zoo in its premises. Emu bird from Australia is an attraction here.

Murugarajendra Matha, Chitradurga

When in Chitradurga, you feel as if wind mills are ubiquitous here. You can see it everywhere. Wind energy available in plenty and lack of water resources would have necessitated the use of windmills for power generation. Chitradurga trip was a memorable one. Especially, Chitradurga fort which was amazing. Still, I felt that we have not explored the fort fully. My friend, Guru will surely agree with me.

Wind mills

Water gushing out of Vani Vilas Sagar Dam

Statue of Madakari Nayaka

Emu bird in Murugarajendra Matha's zoo

Cheetahs in Jogimatti zoo

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Chitradurga Trip : Chitradurga Fort and Chandravalli Caves

Friday, February 27, 2009

Chitradurga Trip : Chitradurga Fort Chandravalli Caves

Chitradurga, a historical town is 200 kms away from Bangalore. Around 5 hours, would be the journey duration to reach the place. With NH4 covering most of the route, it is a pleasant drive. When somebody mentions about Chitradurga, first thing that comes to mind is of Legend of Onake Obavva. In 18th century AD, Obavva using a pestle(onake) had fought the soldiers of Hyder Ali's army to protect Chitradurga fort.

Naagarahaavu or King Cobra

Chitradurga Fort inside the town, is the prime attraction and is declared a national monument by Archaeological Survey of India. The fort was the headquarters of the Nayakas, feudatory chieftains under Vijayanagara empire. Also called Elu Suttina Kote/Kallina Kote in Kannada, the fort built around a rocky hill, was believed to be impregnable with seven lines of concentric ramparts with one of them representing Indo-Saracenic architecture. 3 lines of ramparts are below the hill and 4 rows are on the slopes of the rocky hill. Inside the fort, there are 14 temples. Some of the temples have Shikharas in Chalukyan style.

Indo-Saracenic Entrance in the fort

Chitradurga or Chittaradurga name is apt for the place, since some of the rocks here form shapes of animals/things like that of frog, elephant, ship etc.(Chitra/Chittara in Kannada means picture). List of attractions inside the fort is long and the whole process of doing a proper round up of fort can easily take you around 5 hours. Here is a small list of what you can visit - Ekanatheshwari Temple, Hidimbeshwara Temple, Jodu Batheri & Jhanda Batheri (flag posts), mint & office of paleygaras, Muruga Matha, Gaali Gopuras, Thuppada Kola (pond of ghee),

Gaali Gopuras

palace complex, Onake Obbavva Kindi, Barns & ponds, Sampige Siddheshwara Temple, Gopalaswamy Temple, Bombe Mantapa, Akka Thangiyara Kola and so on. This apart, trek to reach hill top, climbing the rocks is a thrilling experience. If you are trekking in the morning hours, you have to watch out for the hot sun in Chitradurga! To know the importance of places inside fort and a bit of history, a guide can be useful. He charges around Rs.250 for servicing a group. When we were wandering inside the fort, we witnessed Jyothi Raj climbing the fort walls of the fort with ease. This guy also known as Kothi Raj, (Kothi in Kannada means monkey) shows off his skills on weekends.

Birds view from hill top

Chandravalli is another attraction in Chitradurga. 2 kms away from the town, this pre-historic site, which is semilunar in shape is located between 3 hills, Chitradurga, Cholagudda and Kirubanakallu. Excavations here have shown that this place was inhabited since Iron age. Surrounded by hills with a lake in the middle, makes it a beautiful location.

Chandravalli Lake

Nearby are the Chandravalli Caves, also called Ankali Math. These were once inhabited by the Saints of Ankali Math from Belgaum. These are underground caves where one gets around 80 feet down from ground level. Better to reach out to this place with a guide as you can easily get lost inside the caves, which has a different exit route. Completely dark at any time of the day, one has to carry a source of light like torch/candle while exploring the place.

One of the entrances in Chandravalli Caves

Caves though dark have outlets for ventilation and comprises of anything a math could have like a place of worship with Shiva linga, visitor room, rooms for Sadhus, carvings in the wall to keep belongings, carvings and paintings on the walls(with natural colours made of herbs). This is a must visit place if you are in Chitradurga. We spent some 3 hours exploring the place. More places to visit in Chitradurga in next post.