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28th February 2009, 02:19
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| 'Xing'ing around ! - Gurramkonda, Vontimitta, Siddhavatam, Brahmamgarimatam. Another 'Blast from the past' from my archives. This trip is quite recent though, from November 08. The main purpose of the trip was to attend my relative's wedding in AP. Since we were driving into the interiors, we thought of visiting some lesser known places which are somewhat off the beaten track. Route taken: Bangalore > Hoskote > Chintamani > Madanapalle > Gurramkonda > Rayachoti > Cuddapah > Vontimitta > Siddhavatam > Brahmamgarimatam. Main places visited: Gurramkonda Gurramkonda (Gurram-Konda means Horse-hill) is a hill-fort located in Chittoor district on the Cuddapah (Kadapa) - Bangalore highway, around 32kms from Madanapalle. The fort stands on top of a 500ft hill with three almost perpendicular sides. The fort was originally a mud & rock construction, under the control of the Vijayanagara (Hampi) kingdom. Later it passed through the hands of the Golconda sultans who strengthened the fortifications with rock walls, later the fort was taken over by the Marathas, the Cuddapah Nawabs, Hyder Ali & Tipu Sultan and was eventually by the British. According to local legend, the hill-fort was called 'Gurramkonda' since there was a statue of a horse on top of the hill, which was believed to be the guardian of the fort. The fort was impregnable so long as the horse remained there. When the Marathas laid siege on the hill, they tried every trick in the book to conquer the fort but could not do so. When they learnt about the legend of the horse statue, a Maratha chief managed to scale the hill one night and carry away the horse. Thus the spell was broken and on the next attack, the fort fell to the Marathas. Apart from a couple of temples on the hill, the main places to see are the fort ramparts, the Ranginimahal palace and the tomb of Mir Raza Ali Khan, who was Tipu Sultan's maternal uncle. As a kid, I used to visit Kadapa quite often and every time we passed through Gurramkonda I would stare at the 'Ranginimahal' palace which is visible from the main road. I was quite fascinated by the quaint old structure, but never actually got the opportunity to stop and take a closer look at it. This time around I finally got to see Gurramkonda fort and the Ranginimahal from close quarters. Some interesting pics and perspectives that capture the essence of Gurramkonda better than any of my pics do... A Satellite pic of the Gurramkonda hill...  Courtesy: Google maps. A pen & ink drawing of the Gurramkonda, made in 1802 by Thomas Fraser, a surveyor with the Madras Engineers...  Courtesy: British Library A painting of the Gurramkonda fort by Thomas Fraser...  Courtesy: British Library Description of the layout and the elevation of the Ranginimahal palace in Gurramkonda, drafted by Thomas Fraser...  Courtesy: British Library A pic taken by the Archeological Survey of India, in 1898, which shows the eastern side of the Ranginimahal palace, Gurramkonda...  Courtesy: British Library A pic taken by the Archeological Survey of India, in 1898, showing the tomb of Mir Raza Ali Khan...  Courtesy: British Library Vontimitta (Ontimitta) The small town is situated about 28 kilometers from Kadapa on the Kadapa - Chennai main road. Though there are several stories about why town got its name, the most plausible story seems to be that as the town is located on a single hillock, it was called 'Vonti-mitta’, i.e. single-hillock. The other version is that two locals Vontodu and Mittodu helped a King who had camped in that area and the King gave them ownership of that area as a reward. The village that came up in that area was named after the first part of both their names and hence Vonti-Mitta. Another legend says that the idol in the Kodandarama temple here is carved from a single stone, hence the temple was called the 'onti-mitta' temple, i.e. single rock. The main place to see in this town is the temple of Sri Kodandarama, a 14th century structure which was originally developed by the Cholas and later by the Vijayanagara kings. There are also several local legends linking this area to the Ramayana. Siddhavatam This small fort is located around 25 Kms from Cuddapah. Built in 1303 AD, the fort stands on the banks of river Pennar and covers an area of 30 acres. The fort was extensively damaged during an attack by Hyder Ali and most of the buildings inside the fort have disintegrated over the centuries. Currently the main places to see inside the fort are the fort bastions, ruins and foundations of the palace complex and other buildings, a tomb of a Muslim saint, a few Mantapas with carved pillars and a passage tunnel carved / built from the fort to the Pennar river which flows next to the fort. A Satellite pic of the Siddhavatam fort, clearly visible as the rectangular construction next to the river...  Courtesy: Google maps. A water color painting of the Siddhavatam fort by Thomas Fraser, this too is from the year 1802...  Courtesy: British Library Brahmamgarimatam 'Brahmamgarimatam' is the place where Sri Potuluri Veerabrahmam - also known as the 'Nostradamus of India' stayed in Kandimallayapalli area. He entered Jeeva Samadhi in the year 1693. The Brahmamgari-matam temple was built after Sri Veerabrahmam entered into his Samadhi. There is nothing architecturally significant about the matam as such, but it is certainly a unique place where one can get glimpses about the life, times and the predictions by Sri Veerabrahmam. The main places to see here are the Matam, the Veerabrahmam dam and a couple of temples. To be continued with a few trip pics... Last edited by hotstuff : 28th February 2009 at 02:30. Reason: Typo... |
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1st March 2009, 08:35
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| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Campus @ IIMA !
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| Gurramkonda, Vontimitta, Siddhavatam, Brahmamgarimatam... Somewhere near Hoskote; looks like a fabrication & storage yard for wind-mill blades. It is difficult to comprehend the actual size of the blades when we see a wind-mill on a hill side; when seen from near, each one looks as big as the wing of a commercial jet...   Due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal, there were un-seasonal rains in many parts of South India, so the weather was quite pleasant during the drive. First view of the Gurramkonda hill...  The near vertical sides of the hill which made the fort almost impregnable...  The fort walls and the Ranginimahal palace at the foot of the hill...  A closer view of the quaint little palace...  If you look at Thomas Fraser's 1802 surveys of the building, the staircase is missing. It is an addition made later during the time when the palace was being used as an office and residence of the local British officials...  Most of the palace is in a relatively good condition, though some of the walls have major cracks and may need some urgent repairs...   The eastern side of the palace, with the grand staircase...  There some small and dilapidated buildings around the main palace, sporting signs of typical British colonial architecture. They were later additions to be used as servant quarters or store-rooms...  The surrounding hills...  After spending some time inside the fort area, we drove on towards Cuddapah and halted there overnight.  Something which can be seen normally during the monsoon season, but due to the un-seasonal rains, we got to see some waterfalls in the ghat section near Cuddapah...  The Ghat road...  We headed straight towards B'matam, with the intention of attending the wedding and we would stop by at the other places to see on the way back. The Veerabrahmendra Swamy reservoir in Brahmamgarimatam...   Accommodation was at the guest house at one end of the dam. A picturesque location...  Attended the function and headed back towards Cuddapah the next day. First stop on the way back was at Siddhavatam fort...  This is a small fort on the banks of the Pennar River. The bastions of the fort...  The main entrance into the fort. The moat that once surrounded the fort is now mostly filled up vegetation...  The mandapam (canopy) behind the main gate...  The fort was heavily damaged by Hyder Ali's troops when they laid siege on this fort. Subsequently the fort was abandoned and many structures either crumbled over the centuries and some were pulled down by the locals to be used as construction material in the village. Currently the ASI is restoring parts of the fort with the material that was originally used. I.e. Stone, Mud-bricks, Lime mortar...    Ruins of some of the royal buildings in the fort...  There are footpaths to walk around inside the fort area...  Some of the surviving structures inside the fort. A mosque and a couple of other buildings built after the fort was taken over by Hyder Ali. If you look at Thomas Fraser's 1802 water color painting of the fort, you can see these structures depicted inside the fort....  There is also a tomb of a local saint...  A small temple...  To be continued... Last edited by hotstuff : 1st March 2009 at 08:39. |
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1st March 2009, 08:51
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1st March 2009, 08:55
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| Gurramkonda, Vontimitta, Siddhavatam, Brahmamgarimatam... The Pennar River, as seen from one of the Siddhavatam fort bastions...    A building being used by the caretaker's family...  The tomb structure...    Close to the tomb, there is a tunnel built into the fort walls, which leads down to the river. During the monsoon season, the other end of the tunnel can be under water...   The fort walls. Unlike the precisely cut rocks used in forts like Chitradurga, this fort is built with roughly hewn stones and lime-mortar...  A Nandi, with its head hacked off...  A stone cannon-ball...  The Mandapa close to the other entrance of the fort...  The moat around the fort. This would have been filled with water and home to a couple of crocodiles, put there with an intention to welcome the unwanted visitors ;-)  The other entrance gate of the fort...  Foundations and walls of some of the buildings that once graced the fort...   A closer view of the Mandapa that is being renovated...  One last look at the fort as we walked out...  Since the other bridge was being repaired, traffic was diverted through the lower / old bridge, which sometimes gets completely submerged when the Pennar River is in spate during the monsoons...  Next stop was at the Ontimitta Sri.Kodandarama temple...   It is quite a big temple, with elaborate carvings and built in a blended architectural style...   The temple is quite well maintained...  The elaborately carved mukhamandapam of the temple...  A pic of the temple entrance gopuram, in a night-shot mode...  The intricate carvings near the entrance...  The Dwajastambham (the flag mast) of the temple...  We stayed overnight in Cuddapah and started back towards Bangalore early next day. -------------------------------------------------- Where to next? |
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1st March 2009, 10:14
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1st March 2009, 14:10
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1st March 2009, 21:29
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