Gummanayakana Fort, (Bagepalli) Chikkaballapur District

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Gummanayakana Fort is located 125 kms from Mekhri Circle*, Bengaluru near Bagepalli in Chikaballapur District (Karnataka)

*(I have chosen this as the starting point central location but your travel time will vary depending on which part of Bangalore you stay, the traffic and your speed of travel) 👇

This is definitely one of the older forts around Bangalore dated 1300s however, I will have to ascertain the information from historians and update it after verification.

It had been ruled by many palegars (chieftains) but today it stands dilapidated with many of its once-magnificent structures in ruins. It is a hill fort with tiers and has a large entrance at the foot of the hill.

Interestingly, the exploration begins much before you hit the fort. 

As you approach the fort, you see scattered remnants of ancient structures but what stands out is this Kalyani (aka pushkarni). Such structures are closely associated with Hindu temples for cleansing and ritual purposes  👇



As you enter the fort, you will see many structures (alas, in ruins ) that have Islamic and Hindu architecture. You will come across many store carvings and they are worth pausing and studying. 👇






 




The walls, while massive, are not as imposing or daunting as compared to some of the other forts covered in this blog. While the fort has its bastions and other standard fort architecture, it appears to have limited options for firing through slits in the fort walls (as compared to say, Bhasmangi or Channarayanadurga) 














In many places, the steep granite formations act as a natural barrier 👇


Some of the rock formations at this place are worthy of photography. I still wonder if they served a purpose or not. 👇


A Story in Ruins 

The next few photographs will cover some of the structures that stand in ruins but tell the story of a bygone era. Many of them are so dilapidated that I cannot envision what the original structure was like.  

Am I being too critical? Perhaps yes. This is because 

  • I have not factored the long history of its existence hence a lot of ruin is inevitable
  • There is very little to be found about its history on the net. Once I meet the historians in the know, I will update this blog 









Stone Carvings 

This is what I found fascinating i.e. the stone carvings. Now, not only do they have the carvings of the Hindu deities, there are other carvings that are..well.. inexplicable 👇













Lajja Gauri
The picture below fascinated me. While it looks sexual in nature, I was convinced that it was something else. Later at the Indian Council of Historical Research, it was explained to me that it is a representation of a fertility cult known as Lajja Gauries   

More to be studied about them 👇




A  view from the summit 👇


The climb is easy and the entire perimeter can be covered within a day.

Miscellaneous information

  • Nearest Petrol Bunk & Puncture Shop: Bagepalli Town (30 km away)
  • Nearest Hotel: Plenty of Eateries on Bellary Road. Bagepalli town has limited eating options. 
  • Nearest Police Station: Bagepalli Town
  • Local Hotels for Stay: Chikkaballapur, Bagepalli 


Pros:

a)  a) Easy to approach with ample parking place at the foot of the hill.
b)  Safe: I have been there only once and have not encountered any hostility or faced any shady characters. 
c)  No commercialization.
  

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/8xW1x3EhLbtjErjy5 

Comments

  1. Unknown23 June 2021 at 20:08

    Well written ,presented professionally with indepth right information.

    ReplyDelete

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