And here is another last-minute trip that went well. I found this place interesting and that’s when I booked tickets without any second thought. Chitradurga is a district around 123 km away from Bangalore. Trains and bus are going to and from regularly from here. The one I booked was on Saturday night which drops you at the station by 1.30 at the midnight. Since I don’t want to travel by bus and wanted to visit the famous Chitradurga Fort early morning, I opted for this train. However, what was a little bit scary was the railway station itself. No passengers were waiting around and it was under renovation. There was one common waiting hall where I stayed till morning. The officers inquired about me and they were kind of surprised that I am travelling alone. They asked me to stay back and lock the room from inside for my safety. I took a good rest at the station. Although I am not advising travelling on this train especially if you are alone.
Early morning by 5 I got ready and came outside. There were no signs of vehicles on road. I decided to walk to the fort or at least till the time I can get an auto or bus. Halfway I found the bus stand but it seems no buses go to the fort. I ate my breakfast near the bus stand and started walking till I reach one junction from where a lot of autos were available. They take 30 rupees to drop you at the fort. Since anyway I came walking I thought ill cover that distance by walk only. It was just 1.5 km more to go.
I reached the Chitradurga fort around 6.40 am. People were already there. The entry fee is 20 rupees which we can pay online. Because I am alone, the security guards were reluctant to send me alone because they were scared that things might go wrong in such a big place. Later after requesting a lot, they asked me to join the group of old people who came to visit the place with a guide. The guide is available at the fort entrance and usually takes Rs. 200 for surprising you with the amazing stories about the fort. I followed the group for a while but later started exploring the fort on my own trying to relate whatever comes across. I also had to listen twice to the security guards around for roaming alone in the fort.
The Chitradurga Fort is also locally known as "Kallina Kote" or Stone Fortress. This fort was built in the 15th century and served as the headquarters of Nayakas’ family during Vijayanagara times. The fort has 4 main entrance gates, 19 main gates, 35 smaller entrances and 35 secret inlets. You can definitely imagine the area the fort would have covered with these numbers.
The fort was built in such a smart way which made the entry of enemies difficult. You will find the proofs of the same around all the corners of the fort. For example, the entrance to the fort has sharp right angles which help in slowing down the enemies as they cannot foresee the way ahead.
There are 14 temples inside the fort. Some of the famous ones are Ucchangamma Siddheshwara, Hidembeshwara, Eknatheshwari, Phalguneshwara, Gopalarishna, Murugamata, and so on.
Besides the deepasthambh, there is a 40 feet high swing stand which the queen of the fort used to swing and have a look around the beauty of the place.
There are two water tanks for rainwater harvesting which you can see inside the fort. It is said that the fort has an excellent water harvesting system which was enough to provide inhabitants of the fort to survive for 12 years without rain.
The fort is famous for a heroic act of a lady known as Obavva, who because her soldier husband went for having lunch, killed several attackers trying to enter the fort from the cave opening using Onake or Pestle (long rod used to grind rice). This historical cave opening where this happened is now called Obavvana Kindi.
There is a small water body you come across which has running drinking water and according to the local guide this water flow never dries up. Not even in the summer. The water was really clean and cold.
This temple of Hidembeshwara is associated with the legend of Mahabharta times. It is believed Bheema met his wife Hidimba Devi at this place.
While coming back I was fortunate enough to witness Kothi Raja, the monkey man who climbs and jumps from the mountains without support. He sometimes performs his act on the fort walls to showcase his talents.
The grinding stones of gun powder, oil tanks, remains of the royal palace, gymnasium, military quarters, watchtowers, etc are some of the other highlights of this fort. The fort also houses a lot of reptiles, birds and animals. Especially you will see a lot of squirrels squeaking around. The fort has seen days from Chalukyas to the British Raj and thus have a lot of history associated with it. The diversity of the architecture within a single fort also portrays it.
It took me around 2.5 hours to explore the entire fort. I believe there would be still more left to explore. I came outside and I asked the auto-rickshaw driver to take me to the other three places I had in my mind - Ankali Matt, Chandravalli Cave and Adumalleshwara Temple. He told me he will take Rs. 1000 and hearing that amount I just walked away. I walked back to the main circle and started looking for another auto. Since there is no access to all these tourist places by bus the only option that remains is autos. I found an auto driver after waiting for 10 min. I told him the same list of places too. He said Rs. 500 and I was surprised looking at the difference. I still bargained and settled down for Rs. 400. For my luck or bad luck, he didn’t know any language other than Kannada. Still, we managed our journey together.
The first place he took me was to the Adumalleshwara Temple. You will find a lot of windmills as you enter the town and it is undoubtedly a sight to be admired.
When we reached the main gate of the temple or the Adumalleshwara Zoo where the temple is present, the security guard told the driver to come back in half an hour after I requested entry for me. This was the second place I was denied entry because I came alone. The entry fee was Rs. 10 and the ticket was Rs. 30. I was not interested in the zoo but in the temple. It is a small zoo which also has a mini-park. They don’t have a variety of animals but there were two leopards enough to thrill me.
The second place we went to is Chandravalli Cave. After half an hour of discussion on why they shouldn’t let me go and me convincing them how I travelled such a distance just to visit the place, finally, a police guard accompanied me to the cave. I had to get a guide to go inside as by no means they would allow me to go alone inside the cave. And I guess it was necessary too because otherwise, a new person would not be able to make a way out of that dark cave. It was a thrilling experience. It was compete dark and without a torch, you can’t see anything inside. You will find a lot of bats hanging around the cave. The guide lighted agarbatti to shoe them away. It is a little scary in there.
As you enter the cave, there are steps you have to be careful about as it is constructed in a way that each of the steps is different. It was built especially as a way of defence since any unfamiliar person or enemy trying to enter the cave would not be able to gauge the depth and will certainly make a mistake while getting down. The cave houses a Shiva Linga, beautiful paintings and carvings on the hall, meditation room, library, pooja room, bedroom, bathroom and everything that was needed for the stay. I was surprised to see that there was enough air inside and even in the hot morning I could still feel the air though the cave is almost 80 feet below. Some places you have to duck and go. While some places have enough height to cross. The cave has many secret routes to escape in case of attack.
When you come outside the cave you will see the giant rock shaped like a snake and when you watch it from another side it looks like an eagle.
Also, there is Hawa Mahal at the backside of the cave and as I entered its premises I could really feel the bridge. It is structured in a way that it provides cool air. It was like an air conditioner of the old era. Again speechless at the talent.
The guide took Rs. 200 but I think it was worth knowing a little bit of history while walking through the cave. It was damn fascinating to see how the ancient people have built things paying attention to the smallest details and predicting future events. It portraits the intellectual minds we had in our country.
The guide suggested me to go to Sri Murugarajendra Mutt to see the museum since there were no other places to visit nearby. Alongside the Mutt, there was a big museum which had a collection of old things. The entry fee was Rs. 30. The museum was good and well-maintained. There were different kinds of materials and you can clearly see the development that has been happened through the changing artefacts. For example, the museum housed the first kind of currency coins we used to the coins and paper notes we use now. Similarly, they had collections of watches, cameras, furniture, mirrors, vessels, jewellery and many such items. It is a great place for history lovers.
And at last, I asked the driver to drop me at the KSRTC bus stand. He took Rs. 150 additional from the originally decided fare. But yeah that was fine I guess. I had my food from the same restaurant I had my breakfast and as I was eating I decided to travel back to Bangalore by bus itself rather than waiting for the train at night in which seat was still not confirmed. I looked at the KSRTC website and booked the bus for 3.30 pm. When I came to the bus stand I saw state buses to Bangalore are running very frequently. The bus stand has good connectivity to all the major places of nearby states. Since I already had book tickets I waited for my bus to arrive. I started on time and I reached around 8 pm in Bangalore. Thus this half-day trip to Chitradurga finally ended. Even in the short span of the travel, I gathered so many historical pieces that really made the history sound so interesting. I am sure even if I go to these places multiple times, there will be something or other about it that will never fail to surprise me. I know it is a long blog but I will say it is just the trailer. Picture toh abhi baaki hai mere dost
Tips for Travel:
Make sure you reach Chitradurga Fort early morning so that you finish exploring the fort by afternoon before the sun gets unbearable.
The bus connectivity to all the major tourist spots is very poor so either plan the trip with your own vehicle or in the group so that travel costs get shared.
It’s better to opt for a guide while visiting the fort or especially the cave. You will get a lot more information then you can find from the internet or any other source.