Madhugiri Fort - Part-1

Madhugiri fort nestled between a steep rocky terrain and it’s famous for its mammoth rock which raises 3930 feet elevation, According to some sources it is the second largest monolith in the Asia’s after considering Svandurga. Madhugiri is an octagonal fortress built on hillock which is easily observed by driving from the main road; the fort outer wall is just next to the bus stand and main entrance also just few steps from Bus-stand. The outer most walls covering a substantial area of the town.

I and my bro Anirudh began our trip by 9 in the morning, the day was sunny the first two hours journey were easy, but then the road turned bad for next 30 minutes. So after few hours restless bike ride we reached to Madhugiri town. I got some information from my friend Shrikanth about this place. After finding the parking for bike, we started to hike uphill.

It built by Immadi Chikkappa Gowda in 1601, the hill fort has eye-catching circular bastions, multiple gateways and its boundary walls extend from foothill to summit. The fort has 6 main circular and also has 8 semi circular bastions which are 30-50 feet high. Anthara Bagilu, Diddi Bagilu and Mysore Bagilu are the entry points to go uphill. You can climb the hill from the north or east of the main gateways. It has ruins of temples, watch towers, a fortress, ponds and granaries.

Hiking uphill a few minutes we scrambled up some rock to the right of the routes, after spending some time on watchtower in second gateway I saw one gap between huge boulder and I went first inside the small gap between huge rocks. After passing through the narrows which are awesome between two rocks scrambling over huge boulders I reached upper east part. There also I find few watchtowers and some fantastic rock formations.

Later we successfully reached third gateway following some short cuts. I could see how beautiful the sight was from third stage, a big lake, and watch towers in top of sharp rocks, and also I explored four huge halls in underground with no entrance. 

Each hall constructed on strong base with circumference of  6 meters wide, 15 meters long and 12 meters high with supporting of 6-8 huge pillars inside (30-35 feet) and one of the largest buildings on this fort which exists now who doesn't know why it’s located hidden without any doors for what use. Inside the hall walls and Columns finished neatly but most of the visitors missing to visit this hidden gem because no one can easily spot this mysteries place easily. We took some risk and on a small gap with stones help safely reached the bottom and took some good snaps.

Apart from its impressive exterior, there are quite a few attractions within the fort. One of the most impressive features of this fort is its indigenous water supply and preserve system of the fort is a proof of hydrological engineering skill. Throughout the climb to the top, one can see many huge tanks used for storing Rain water. It can be called as earlier form of Rainwater Harvesting. Since the fort is situated on high rock, it was not possible to supply water manually. Hence Here Gowda’s men built giant water reservoirs. But now it’s damaged badly, we can guess their ideology from remaining broken peaces here.

Rock Agama 

To be continued...