Jai Karnataka!
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| Arishina-Kunkuma flies high over Yadgiri |
The two cannons at Yadgiri fort's highest point. This straight barrel cannon seems like Adil Shahi make. Similar cannon can be seen at Raichur fort summit.
The taper barrel cannon seems much newer; some how it reminds me of canons in European battle ships.
Halfway down turret stairway, on the left is a rock bed with strange looking etchings ~ petroglyphs. Malatesh and Ravi are discussing them... wonder if they found something funny there?
I could count three complex spirals; two spirals are etched in continuous lines and one spiral in dotted line. While the larger two spirals are of 15" diameter, the smaller is about 8" diameter. Accompanying each of the spirals are rectangular outlines of proportional sizes. Also on the rock bed is one dead hole used for grind food. Close by are two square holes- no guesses why they are made.
At the end of this rock bed is a small rock shelter which I suspect was used by a Jain ascetic who practiced penance here. Yadgir fort has a very long and varied history.
It was around 10-30 now, no breakfast. All of us were hungry. Luckily we had some homemade eatables- oondi and avalakki -in our bags. We found a shady spot close to Ramlingeshwara temple and refueled. The break was good, we felt rested and energized. We'll be descending the hill on the eastern face. More ruined structures and water tanks.
We got a glimpse of the interior of what might have been a residence of a military officer. This architecture can be seen at Bidar and Bijapur too.
Rough-cut slabs laid out to make a stairway. This way climbing in wet weather would be safe. beyond the steps are ruins of a palace and a mosque.
To our right were more ruins of living quarters and a turret.
Perhaps, this is the largest water tank of Yadgir fort. The reservoir walls were 20' high at places.
One last look at the flag bastion. I'm standing on the terrace of a structure which might have been military barracks. Note the array of mounds, each of them had light holes in them.
The lone turret. I think there were two cannons in there.
I was trying to imagine this filled with water. It would have enough water for a dozen elephants to bathe! A small partition in the middle will retain water on the shallow side.
Ruins of palace-mosque complex. An inscription in black granite was found embedded in one of the walls (see inset).
More water tanks. Looks like builders had planned to capture every bit of water flowing down this hill. The idea is to be self-sufficient for years in stretch in case of long term sieges.
Looking up at the palace ruins. The three arch structure seems like a summer house.
A 15' cannon to protect the northern walls and the gateway complex.
Truly an amazing fort, one of the largest I've ever seen. We had explored less than half of it.
We were exhausted by the time we reached our car. We had a good wash in running water. We drove towards the main road and stopped at a junction to buy some fruits and also ask for directions for other spots- Wagengera fort, Shahpur fort, Shorapur and Vanadurga. I walked into a cloth shop and met its owner, a young man named Rakesh Jain. He was friendly and a good host. he offered us tea and we weren't in a mind to refuse. We spoke of our interest in historical places and our plans. Some how I asked directions for Wadgera instead of Wagengera. Rakesh did mention his doubts about anything historical at Wadgera but I insisted. Anyway, we spoke of other things too and learned that Rakesh was a student of a college in Dharwad. We exchanged numbers and bid bye to our friendly host.
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| North-west face of Yadgir fort |
We drove out of Yadgir, took Shahpur road and went over the bridge across river Bhima. Immediately after the bridge we turned left to Wadgera. Road was terrible and got worst with every kilometer. After a 20 minute ride I realized my mistake; we should be asking for Wagengera. It was too late to turn back and just then we reached a junction with lot of people waiting for buses. One of the folks suggested us a short cut to Yadgir-Shahpur road. In the time we wasted, we would have reached Shahpur! We consoled ourself- everything happens for good.
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