It is very often that we
plan to go on a holiday or take some time out and end up going to work instead.
We always
make extensive plans to
visit Exciting and exotic locales and never
end up getting there. But there are times when you get lucky and you end up
relaxing and enjoying in some wonderful locale you never imagined you would
ever be to or even known such a place existed. Well it happened to me.
I had to
represent my client for a court hearing in Chitradurga. Now till that very moment I never even knew
such a place existed. Where was this place? After a few enquiries I come to
know this is a small town in central Karnataka. My client had a relative in
Shimoga who said it was just a 3-hour drive from there. So from Bangalore we boarded a
train to Shimoga. After resting and breakfast we hired taxi and left for
Chitradurga. 3 grueling hours of rallying in rough terrain and rattled bones
later we reach Chitradurga.
The very first
thing you notice as you approach this town is the hilly terrain. You will see
huge round
boulders all clustered together in a mountainous formation. It
looked like if some one was to give it a light shove and it would all come
tumbling down. In fact this town is also called ‘Kallina Kote’ or place of
stones this town is surrounded by these huge boulders one can immediately feel
the heat raising from the rocks. One cannot also help but notice that this town
is protected like a fortress by these huge boulders. As you drive into town you
can see the ramparts of a very old fort built on top of a huge hill. There is a
lot of history to this town and the fort. This part of the land was ruled by
the feudal dynasty of Nayyaks of Vijayanagar under the control of the local
chieftain Madhakari Nayyak. History has it that one warrior princess called
Obawa fought a valiant battle against the invading Hyder Ali from this fort.
This town and its historic fort were known for its strategic positioning from a
military point of view.
As you near the
entrance of this fort you know time had somehow stood still here. The big
gateway, the paved paths and lined houses that are really ages old will
transport you to a few centuries back. Once you are inside you realize that
this fort is not your conventional fort you see dotted in the length and breath
of our country. This whole fort is a small hill of huge rocks that it’s aptly
called as the fort of seven rounds of ramparts. These seven walls have been
built alongside huge rock formations that that it would have been really
impregnable. As you walk towards to different parts of the fort you would feel
like you were climbing a hill. Once on top you really get a picturesque view of
the town. All along the way there are many temples and cave shrine built to
many gods and goddesses. There are also many caves or gaping holes in the rock
that you could go into one and come out at some other point in the fort. There
are a couple of natural springs, which were used as bathing ghats by the
Royalty. There are also the ruins of the royal treasury, which is quite a sight.
By the time you finish the tour of the fort you would feel like you had been
through a long hike that you had been a part of history. You are also left with
a strange feeling that you still have not seen the entire fort at all and make
you want to visit again.
There are also a
few other places you can visit around this town like the ancient place called
Harihar where there is a temple of Harihareswar Built in 1223 and the Vanivilas
Sagar dam built on the Vedavati River. So what was supposed to be a strictly an
official visit turned out to be a thoroughly relaxing, enjoyable wonderful
experience in this little historical town.