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.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.
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hitradurga 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),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!
hitradurga 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),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!Last but not least, the main attraction of the Chitradurga is Kothi(Monkey) Raju, real life Spiderman. Don't miss the show of Kothi Raju.
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.
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.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).
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