On top of Madhugiri fort

Participants:

1. Harsha
2. Srinvas R.
3. Chakrapani and family
4. Shrikant Gaikwad
5. Myself

Date: 27th November, 2011

Mode of Transport: Bajaj Platina 125 cc, Unicorn, Hero Honda Passion

Time: 9:30 hrs

It was a bit of yes/no, since it has been drizzling all these days and climbing the rocky surface can be a bit tricky. But as the weather forecast showed some(Sun) rays of hope we decided to go on the ride. We all assembled at the Nelamangala Toll Plaza at 9:30 hrs to start the journey. After crossing the toll road, we decided to have breakfast at Kamat, which is on the left (just before the Dobbaspet flyover).

Route Information:

As you go on towards Tumkur from Bangalore, one needs to take a right at below the Dobbaspet fly-over to go to Madhugiri. It is around 56 kms from the fly-over. This is a straight road till you reach Koratagere, where you need to take a right. The left goes to Tumkur. The same road takes you to Devaranyana Durg and Siddara Betta. The road condition after Koratgere is not so good. Though it a tar road but you can just see the pebbles in it. The total distance is about 114 kms from Heball (one way).

Madhugiri Fort:

The Madhugiri Fort, nestled in the steep slopes of the Madhugiri Betta in Tumkur District, was built around 1678 during the reign of Raja Hera Gowda during the Ganga period. Further fortification was done by Hyder Ali, to whom it is credited the most. Looking up from the base of the hill, Madhugiri Fort looks like a maze of randomly built series of strong walls on the slopes. There are a number Mantapas located in various parts of the fort overseeing the base. There are several water tanks along with granaries on top of the hill to serve to the needs of soldiers. It is one of the beautiful fort of the era. The fort looks like a maze of randomly built series of strong walls on the slopes.

At 3930 feet elevation, Madhugiri is a single hill and is the largest in Asia and second largest in the world.

Time: 12:15 hrs

We reached the base of the fort and after parking our bike’s we started the climb at around 12:25 hrs. The initial climb was pretty easy with ASI doing some renovations and building up some good stone steps. As you pass the first guard wall you can view the glimpse of the 4th majestic fort wall.

Since the rains have just pass by in some months ago the greenery in the rocks is still alive. We had some nice photo shoots in an around the first fort wall.

As we move upwards, the steepness also increase but the small steps carved out on the rock made it look easy. There was a place where the water was flowing making it very slippery. The worst part was when we had cross a stretch with right side to the cliff and the other side is the fall. Thanks to the railing support, it was helpful to overcome this. It would have been a night mare without the support.

From there on there is no support, though now the climb is not so steep. For once you would feel that you are on top of the fort, but not to your wishes, you have to climb more. You could hardly see the fort walls from there. After taking some break some photo shoots we moved ahead to our destination. As you gasp your breath, you think what is next? How much more? But you would reach there in another 40 mins of walk from there.

A small fort welcomes you on the top. Though the walls are worn off, you can still figure out how good it was. There is also a small house, I assume it was for the soldiers, with natural lighting.

The view from the top is awesome. It can’t be described but should be felt.

Time: 15:35 hrs

Fully satisfied with the view/scenery at the top, we started the decent to reach the base at around 16:50 hrs.

Time: 21:00 hrs

Reached home after having dinner at `Maruthi Panjabi Daba`, some 30 kms from Bangalore (on the right in case you are coming from Madhugiri fort).

Total Odometer: 228 kms

Courtesy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhugiri
http://www.bmcindia.org/events/bmc-madhugiri-trek.html
http://www.filmapia.com/published/places/madhugiri-fort