This fort was on our list during Raichur-Yadgir tour but we ran out of time on that day. Today we just finished a tour of Shirguppa district of Bellary district and entered Sindhanur district to see two forts- Mukkunda and Roudkunda.
It was close to 4-30 PM when we reached Mukkunda village, the fort was visible since it stand on a rocky hillock. Its a tiny fort, one of the smallest I've seen. As drive through the village I notice two ancient temples.. could be Vijayanagara time construction.
That's the fort gateway. This is an indication of presence of a wall around hillock.
As seen from the inside, the passage is hidden from view.
We asked few people if they could show us their fort. All would tell how to go but none were willing to come. Somehow two boys- Rohit and Virupakshi -agreed to lead us. The path was filthy and stinky, the worst I'd ever experienced. Anyway, we have trained ourselves to ignore unpleasantness.
Part of the fort wall has collapsed here exposing the interior.
These rocks have steep faces, almost vertical.
The 30' climb to the top was really tricky. Without the boys help we might have struggled.
Looking to the east. This is the fort summit, a oval shaped plateau.
Looking towards west. A small shelter at the end might have been sentry barrack.
Virupakshi the boy in blue shirt slithered through a narrow gap in the rocks and reached the lower level and then clambered back to the top level.
Part of Mukkunda village.
Having seen the fort, we climbed down. this is the full length view of the fort. Lying about carelessly are several ancient sculptures. We felt bad to see the Shiva Linga and a column with inscription (see inset).
Closer look at the inscription.
This is the inside of the gateway, I don't remember seeing this sleeping man on our way in. The boys found it funny that I was shooting a sleeping man :-)
We tanked our hosts and rushed towards Roudkunda, about 20 kms from here. I did not want to miss climbing Roudkunda hill for the second time.
..continued from Mudgal fort - part 1. If you have not read part 1, do read it and then come back here.
We move the eastern side to the western side. We had to cross the ravine to reach the ruins of the place and a large bastion. We rested a while here and had Seetaphal ~ custard apples our guides had picked carefully. Seetaphal plants are scattered all over the fort but we are not supposed to pick the fruits because the plants are leased out to a contractor. However, our guides could spot ripe ones and helped themselves :-)
That's the bastion. these structures are built of demolished Hindu temples and buildings. I say that because we found some stones which are clearly identified as temple architecture. We had seen similar happenings in Manvi fort too. Now, if you notice the wall next to the flight of steps in the picture above, you can see one of the blocks is extra long, it bears a Kannada inscription (see below picture, inset right). Veeresh showed us a small slab with images of Lord Hanuman, it was no ordinary sculpture. It was a sculpture of seven individual Hanuman grouped together into one (see below picture, inset left) - something I've not seen anywhere else. Unfortunately I couldn't get a decent picture of it.. I should have held a cloth above it to create a uniform shadow.
That's Nauras Burj and part of Mudgal town in the background.
That's the half moon turret in the back ground. Mudgal fort is simply a beautiful place, the rock formations are amazing. In the ravine below I could spot few rock formations which are clearly shelters. I told our guides I wanted to explore them.. might find a rock painting or two.
Clearly it is a natural shelter which can used in rainy season. We had to clamber up a steep face to reach the mouth of the cave. Its not an ideal home but offers good shelter.
Here something wonderful happened. Shah Rukh struck a boulder with a smaller stone and it rang like a metal bell. Wow, we found a musical stone!! It was a long time wish to hear a musical stone, today was the day! If not for our guides we wouldn't have known it. It was not one stone, but two.
Watch this short video to see hear the stones with Malatesh in action.
My guess turned out true; we found few rock paintings here, however they were small and faded.
One or two drawings depicted human beings, the rest we could not make out.
Veeresh took us to another shelter. We had to bend down to the knees to pass through the mouth. It was cool inside, a prefect summer home. However, during rainy season streams will be flowing through this cave. One of the rocks had a sculpture of Lord Hanuman.
Having seen our interest in musical stones, Veeresh us about another rock formation called Nagaari Bande. Though Sun was blazing down and we were tired and hungry I did not want to miss seeing and hearing few more musical stones. Mohan mama and Ravi decided to stay put. We had to go the southern end of the fort now. On the way I happened to notice this boulder resting on three smaller rocks; it could be weighing close to 25 tonnes. How on earth did those rocks got placed there? Is it a natural formation or man-made?
So that's Nagaari Bande, musical rocks pointed. Rocks are balanced delicately.
These rocks rang louder and a wider range of tunes. Also the player had to squeeze in the narrow gap to get into position. Thats Veeresh at the top and Shah Rukh at the bottom testing the notes while I and Malatesh took pictures.
The cave had a better effect in terms of acoustics because of the enclosed space. Here it is open and wind can effect the sound. Nagari Bande has place for audience too :-)
Nagaari Bande is a canvas for artists too. We could see a bunch of interesting drawings on rock; I believe these are modern petroglyphs. Starting bottom left, going clockwise; a board game; Panja, a Muslim symbol; an axe; hexagram and a man. Bottom-right drawing was found a short distance from Nagaari Bande.
This monolith has an interesting shape. To me it looks like a model of a fort. Close to the bottom left corner of the picture is a small oval shaped pit. This pit reminds me of the pit seen at Onake Kindi near Anegundi. We guessed the purpose of the pit is to grind ingredients to make paint for rock art. See inset for a closer look at the pit.
Another image of Lord Hanuman; with this we have seen 9 images of Hanuman at Bala Hisar.
It was close to 2 PM now, alarm bells were ringing in our tummies. We missed seeing the northern gate, there's a cannon on one of the turrets. We could see it from Nauras Burj, unfortunately time was a constraint. Do watch the video for a quick preview of Mudgal fort. We took the path through the ravine because it would be a shorter way down. We found Mama and Ravi resting in the shade. The path passed through a mini Jaali-gida jungle.
Back at the cab I got a good wash, helped me cool off a bit. We thanked our guides, exchanged phone numbers and said bye. We found a Lingayath Khanawali close to the town square, food was good. There wasn't much of crowd because of Christmas holiday. Oh just remembered something; quoting a para from Raichur district website. There is an old Roman Catholic Church at this place. It is said that it stands on the foundation of one, which had been built by Jesuits before 1557 during the reign of Ibrahim Adil Shah who had granted inam land for its support. The original very old church was pulled down and another was built in its place later.
We got directions for Lingsugur, the road was good and the ride was smooth. Our next destination- Jaladurga.
Our journey for the day starts at Raichur. First stop was at Kavital to see Trymbakeshwara temple. Second stop was Maski to see Samrat Ashoka's rock edict. Next was Mudgal fort. It was 11AM when we arrived on the outskirts.. the fort was visible with still 2 kms to go.
Mudgal fort as seen from 1 km (top)
As we entered the town we were surprised.. the fort was built both on plain land and a hill. That's the eastern entrance of Mudgal fort. On our left is the moat and the hill. On the right was a patch of area which might have been part of the moat.
This is the plan of Mudgal fort; northern part is on plain land and the southern part is built on a granite hillock with a deep ravine running along the south-eastern edge. We started our tour at point A.
Entry to the fort is secured by a complex gateway with a zigzag path. That's the first gate; Malatesh is inspecting the wooden door with iron spikes which are somehow preserved so well. We could also see couple of iron chains fixed into the door-frame (see inset).
Inner gateway flanked by tall watch towers.
Unlike other forts Mudgal fort's gateway welcomes visitors in style. With richly decorated columns and arches the gateway feels like a temple. Sadly the gateway is in a bad condition, the platform floors are covered in a thick layer of dirt. This gateway houses at least two inscriptions; the slab leaning on the column has one.
The second inscription; text seems Kannada is accompanied by Vishnu's Shanka and Chakra. The inscription slab is a part of the wall between two columns.
We are still in the gateway, once you pass the arch you are inside the fort.
Looking back towards the arch. This seems to be added by Muslim kings.
Some where near the inscriptions Malatesh had befriended a local boy- Shah Rukh -who agreed to show us the fort. We decided to explore hill part of the fort. We took our cab as close as possible and parked in the government school compound. Shah Rukh's friend Veeresh joined our group; now we were six of us. From there it was a short walk to the base of the hill, it was a steep climb to the entrance. The high rise walls to the right forms the tower called as Nauras Burj.
At this point I would to quote a para about Mudgal fort from Raichur district website: The Bala Hisar or citadel is built at the top of the hillock and commands a good view of the interior of the fort as well as of the surround country. The view gives a good idea of the extent of the fort and of the large garrison, which could be accommodated therein. There are several natural depressions in the rock above, which were utilized for storing water. Bastions and walls are built at different points for the defence of the buildings of the Bala Hisar. In the middle also, there is a large bastion, round in form. The hill near this bastion rises in the form of a spur and is detached from the lower parts of the hill by a ravine. There are some natural caverns below the Nauras Burj. The fort is defended towards the south-west by a range of hills. In the western part of the fort is a large cistern called the Hikrani Baoli – about 140 yards in length and 40 to 50 yards in breadth.
Now we are in the citadel ~ Bala Hisar, very close to Nauras Burj. Burj means tower. The tower is built over a random stack of boulders. Notice the large circular shallow pit? We have no clue about the purpose of that pit.
Shah Rukh and Veeresh with Nauras Burj in background
The entrance to the tower is a 4' gap between two massive boulders, a flight of steps have been built through it. The tower top is a flat area and a small platform at the center which elevates another 20'. Truly the tower offers a commanding view of the fort and the surrounding areas.
View to the east: In the center of this picture, where the wall ends at a boulder- that's where we climbed the wall to enter the citadel. This wall is a partition between the northern and southern halves of this fort.
View to the west: In the top-left of the picture is a large bastion and ruins of a palace.
Between the ruins and the rock formation (in the middle) is a ravine.which goes down all the way to the base of this hill. I felt this ravine might have been a prehistoric settlement.
The natural gateway of Nauras Burj.
Malatesh imitates a king seated on his throne.
We move to the eastern side of the fort. We pass by several interesting rock formations. Rocks here have a unique texture, short parallel lines cover the surface. Veersh said that Mudgal granite is very expensive. In fact I remember seeing few quarries close to the town.
Part of the rampart walls climbing the eastern slope of the hill.Part of Mudgal town is within the fort walls. The eastern and northern walls are protected by a moat.
The wall runs along the edge of the plateau. Ahead of us is a huge turret...
..semi-circular in plan. I named it half moon turret. Surely it looks like a command post.
We stopped at Kavital while driving from Raichur to Maski, it was about 7 AM when we entered the village. Kavital was one of the places mentioned under places-of-interest on Raichur district website. Here's the description of the temple we are about to visit.
Kavital, in Manvi taluk, is a large village, situated on the Raichur-Lingsugur road, about 40 miles from Raichur and 18 miles from Lingsugur. There is a hillock to the south-west of the village which has several natural caverns. Along the slopes of the hill, artifacts, iron slag and pieces of ancient pottery were found. To the west of the village is an ash-mound on the top of which, in later times, a temple has been built. The ash-mound marks the site of an old smelting factory. There is an interesting medieval temple in the village, called Tryambakeshwara temple, which has three shrines, two of which contain lingas. There are two Kannada inscriptions in the temple and a beautiful image of Mahishasuramardini in one of the two niches in its western wall. All the three shrines are of a uniform size, each being 9 feet deep and 8 feet broad, and each one has an ante-chamber. Also of a uniform size of 7 feet X 8 feet, connected with the main hall.
The exterior of the temple is plain, but the masonry work is very impressive. The shikharas of the shrines, which are of the Dravidian style, have been built up to about two-thirds of their height in dressed stone, while the remaining portion had been completed in brick and lime. The walls of the temple are built of huge blocks of pink granite, some of which are as big as 15 feet in length, 3 feet in breadth and about 2 feet in thickness. The plinth is covered with earth; but on the northern and western sides, some portion of it, are exposed and these show a frieze representing elephant-fights and other scenes.
The temple is close to the village square, surroundings were clean and tidy.
That's the Trikutachala temple of Kavital; small temple with plain exteriors.
It was a pleasant surprise to see three Lingas on one pedestal. This is the east facing Garbhagudi, The other two Garbhagudis face north and south, both have Shivalingas. Morning rituals has just got over, the poojari welcomed us. We took pictures of the deity with his permission.
Little Basavanna sitting in front of the Garbhagudi.
The poojari told us that three Lingas on one pedestal is a rare occurrence, very few in entire India.
This is one of the two inscriptions. With limited lighting, I could shoot few decent pictures.
This is the temples Sabhamantapa, the meeting place.
A glimpse of the elephants mentioned in the description above. Take a close look at the bottom-left image, when you close the left half you'll see a bull and when you close the right half you'll see an elephant. At the temple entrance is a damaged elephant, its partner too is missing.
Here's a short video-
It was time for breakfast and we were hungry. We found a small family run eatery in the village square. Fresh idli and puri were on the menu. We had a solid breakfast! We did not have the time to visit the temple built on the ash-mound. Anyway, I discovered few other interesting places to see on Raichur-Lingsugur stretch. Watagal is a rocky hill which looks like a tadpole in bird's eye view. It has a small clearing at the top with an ancient in the center. About a kilometer to the west of Kalmala village is a large stone alignment which might have been used as a calendar in prehistoric times. Also close by is a fort at Kotekal village. So much to see :-)
We drive to Maski to see emperor Ashoka's edict and then head to Mudgal.
