Bhasmangi fort

About Bhasmangi fort

This is one of the numerous fort in Tumakuru district. A local ruler Budi Basavappa Nayaka built this fort in 17th century using mud. Hyder Ali took over this place in 1768 and reinforced this fort by building steps, escape tunnels, doorways, bastions and guard rooms. Nothing remains constant and this fort was later abandoned and left to ruin. Today, it stands alone next to a village whose residents are least bothered about its existence while it remains unknown to most people outside.

 

Drive to Bhasmangi

This fort was in my wish list for a long time and it materialised only few weeks ago. Sankara wanted to visit the Jayamangali blackbuck sanctuary and I proposed to add this fort to the itinerary. With Bhasmangi, I would be covering most of the forts around Madhugiri area. My earlier visit were to Madhugiri (here and here), Channarayanadurga, Midigeshi, Madakasira, Ratnagiri and Pavagada fort. 

 

The drive to Bhasmangi was uneventful. The route we followed was Bengaluru –> Dabbaspet —> Madhugiri —> Badavanahalli —> Bhasmangi. The roads were superb throughout the stretch and Dabbaspet Madhugiri route was simply amazing. While Google maps directed us to the village, the last mile had to be navigated with the help of locals. The road inside the village was narrow and was also used for other purposes like washing clothes. The ladies washing the clothes had to move the buckets to give way for the big SUV of Sankara. We finally reached the kind of dead end where we parked the car.

 

Climb to the fort

The fort was visible from the village and it looked to be in a good condition. Asking direction from the locals, we started walking. The path was not clear but we walked keeping the direction in mind. Very soon we reached a temple and the path to the fort was clearly visible. The first gate of the door was very near the temple and the climb to the top started.

 

The climb was straightforward with clear steps. We passed through a small temple dedicated to Hanuman. Very soon we came to the second gateway.

 

The second gateway brought us to a wide area. The fortifications was quite extensive and intact. It looks like lot of planning went in designing this fort. 

 

We found four water tanks in this place that gave an indication that this section of the fort was used for human habitation. It could also be used to keep animals. A “Beesuva Kallu” also highlighted this theory. But it was disfigured due to Graffiti. One part was intact while the other part was broken and scattered around.

 

A sole white building was a complete contrast to the area. It housed a nice Nandi statue.

 

There was a small gate in the fort wall that lead to the edge of the cliffs. It provided some nice view of the walls.

 

The entry to the top section of the fort was concealed with the trees in front of it. It looks like the place was used for storing ammunitions. 

 

We spent a long time in the upper sections of the fort. It was quite outstanding that it stood string in spite of apathy from everywhere.

 

Descent

The descent was quick as we took less than 30 minutes to reach the village. Unlike many other forts in the area, Bhasmangi fort did not provide any challenge while climbing up or down. There are no difficult sections if one follows the main trail.