Treks and travels

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Treks and travels

Climbing Kavaleduraga

Posted: 01 Oct 2016 11:07 PM PDT

I always like to visit western ghats during monsoon. While waterfalls is my favourite place during monsoon, this time I also climbed Kavaledurga. The views on the top may not be great due to mist in monsoon, but the rain coupled with greenery gives a nice feeling.


According to Wikipedia "Kavaledurga also called Bhuvanagiri was a stronghold of the Nayakas of Keladi who were the feudatories under the Vijayaanagara rulers and later became independent after the fall of the Vijayanagara kingdom. Venkatappa Nayaka (A.D. 1582-1629) fortified the place here. Built a palace and made it an Agrahara with a Mahattina Matha. A Sringeri Matha. A treasury, a granary, stables for elephants and horses and ponds. The fort at Kavaledurga has three lines of walls, which are constructed of huge granite blocks following the natural contour of the hillock. Each fortification has a gateway flanked by guard- rooms on either side In between the fortifications there are temples, a ruined palace site and basement of structures."


Kavaledurga is about 16 km from Thirthahalli. A detour from Thirthahalli Agumbe road passes through small villages before reaching Kavaledurga. From the parking lot, only the hills and fields are seen but fort does not make its appearance. We paid the parking fees to the guard stationed there and proceeded further. The guard was a nice person who provided information about the fort. 


We crossed the paddy fields to enter into the forest. The stone paved path was very wide and clear. we walked up at leisurely pace taking lot of snaps. A dog decided to accompany us. It has happened many times and I always wonder the behaviour of these canines. 


The grandeur of the fort was visible as we crossed the first gate. Though most of the fort was in ruins, still it provided enough evidence about its great history.


The fourth gate of the fort led us to Kashi Viswanath temple, one of the structure that is still intact in the fort. It provides a view of the temple architecture during Keladi times. 



Perched on a rock in front of Kashi Viswanath temple is Lakshmi Narayana temple. The views from the top are great!! One need to be careful while climbing the rocky section.


Just before the fifth gate is the statue of Nandi.


A sculpture at the fifth gate of Kavaledurga.


The fifth gate opens into the Palace. It is completely in ruins with only few pillars standing along with plinth but enough to visualise the layout of the palace.


At the back of the palace is the stepped well. Still looking beautiful.


The tank that might have been used to store water or prepare food.


The path from the palace takes to the top of the hill. It is a great spot for sunset. The karahi backwater is also visible. Due to the mist we could only get a glance of backwater.



Climbing down was difficult as the stones laid on the path was extremely slippery. It was quite a task to get down. Once down, we entered into the lone shop where we had hot Bajjis which tasted great for our hungry tongues. The rains also added to the taste.