15 Oct 2017

Massive Ratnagiri fort

by | posted in: Fort, India, Karnataka, Trek | 15
At the Karnataka Andra border near Madhugiri is the massive Ratnagiri fort. It has a great history spanning from the time of Cholas to Nayaks to Vijayanagar to Hyder Ali. This fort was in my backlog for a long time. After climbing the Madakasira fort in January this year, Wido and I had decided to climb Ratnagiri. So, when Wido announced that he would be in Bengaluru in October, we planned to go to Ratnagiri fort. Wido’s colleague, Santosh joined us.

 

View from the top

 

Like the previous trip, I went to Airport to pick up Wido and Santosh, and we proceeded towards Ratnagiri. The route we followed was Airport->Chikkaballapura->Tondebavi->Madhugiri->Ratnagiri. The road was mostly good except for some stretches between Chikkaballapura and Tondebavi, where road construction and rains had damaged the roads. The total distance was about 130 km.

 

Ratnagiri fort seen from the village

 

We reached the village, and I tried to park the car and walk, but the villagers insisted on driving further. The path was narrow and zigzag, and it went inside the fort. The fort walls extended to the plains, and part of the village resided inside the fort. After reaching a dead-end, we parked the vehicle and started our walk.

 

Car parking

 

By then, few kids from the village had come near us. For them, Wido was the prime attraction. They were very proud when I told them that he had come from the US to see the fort in their village. They volunteered to accompany us throughout the trek!! Being energetic and talkative kids, they were good company. Very soon they got our names and started calling “Aravind Anna”, “Wido brother” and “Santosh brother”!!

 

Ratnagiri boys with Wido

 

After passing through few houses, we entered the fields. A temple in the village looked big and old, and it was recently renovated. A Kalyani next to the temple provided a glimpse of the past. The litter inside the pond indicated the level of importance given to historic structures.

 

Kalyani

 

We could see a lone temple at the base of the hill. It was away from the route to the base of the fort.

 

Temple at the base of the hill

 

Very soon, we were at the base of the hill. The massive brick wall was an imposing structure. It looked like a new addition to the fort, and it may be built during Hyder Ali days. A couple of sections before the brick wall was slippery due to rains but was not dangerous. Once you cross the brick wall, the continuous climb over steps begins.

 

Arc shared wall

 

It was an amazing walk. The recent rains had made the entire area green, and many ponds had come up all along the way. At one of the gates, there were some beautiful carvings. Unfortunately, fortune hunters have damaged a lot by digging. The word “Ratna” would have attracted a lot of fortune hunters who are a bane to our society.

 

 

Carvings at the gatewaty

 

After crossing about five doors, we reached the second stage of the fort. Here two buildings looked like the storeroom for ammunitions or grains. There were remains of the small temples at this stage.

 

Second stage of the fort

 

To reach the last stage, we had to cross the narrow and steep steps. If you see the photos, it looks scary and dangerous, but in reality, it turned to be an easy climb. The steps were wide enough, and chances of slipping were less though we were cautious at certain places which were wet. If it is raining, it is risky to climb this stage.

 

Final stage of the fort
The steep steps

 

It is how it looks from the top of the steps.

 

Steep steps

 

After a little bit of climb and after crossing the two-storied gateway, we were at the top of the fort. A pond and a conical bastion were seen. The kids took us through a very narrow hole leading to the outer wall of the fort. It provided a nice view of the surrounding area. If not for kids, we could not have found this narrow hole.

 

Two storey gateway

 

The fort spans across the two hillocks and said to have a perimeter of about 4.5 km. The other hillock had very few structures but looked formidable. Kids mentioned that the climb to the other hill was difficult due to lack of steps, and the rains had made the path very slippery.

 

Fort walls

 

After spending a good amount of time at the top of the fort, it was time to get down. The cloud cover had increased, and some of the nearby areas were already receiving rains.

 

At the top

 

Ratnagiri fort is one of the most formidable forts in the area. It is a pity that ASI has not taken any steps to maintain it apart from putting a board which itself is in a bad state!! Villagers, though proud of the fort do not put importance on the maintenance.

 

Responsibility as understood by ASI

 

15 Responses

  9. aravindgj
    | Reply

    Dhiraj,
    True. It's sad.

    Prem, CSM India, Ananda, Sandeep, Yogi Saraswat,
    Thanks for your comments.

    Wido,
    Cool. Thanks for adding the link of this post.

  13. uday kiran
    | Reply

    i am interested to join your group to visit historical places and forts.

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