The massive fort of Midigeshi

Midigeshi fort was built by local chieftain Nagareddi during the Vijaynagar days. He also built around 101 temples in Midigeshi village at the base of the hill. Few of the temples remain even today though most are in ruins. Those were the golden days. Like many forts in India, the control of this fort changed many hands during history. Today, it is occasionally visited by trekkers but remains neglected by ASI.

Midigeshi fort

Midigeshi village is on Madhugiri – Pavagada highway. This was on my list for a long time. I had visited many hill forts nearby, like Madhugiri, Channarayanadurga, Ratnagiri and Pavagada. As the summer was approaching, we had the last few weeks to do some hikes. Along with Krishna and Subbu, I looked at the options and found that it was time to climb Midigeshi fort.

The temple at the base of the fort

The journey to Midigeshi was uneventful, thanks to great roads all along the way. We parked our car in the village and asked villagers for directions to the fort. As usual, they were helpful. A glance at the fort hill convinced us that it was neither easy nor difficult.

Start of the trek

Our climb started from Venkatramana temple. I would logically divide the climb into four sections.

From the base, we could see the first gate, which was our first destination. The climb was relatively easy through loose sand, rocks and shrubs. The path was not clear at many places, and we missed the route. A bit shocked at losing the way at the beginning of the trek, we searched for ways to climb up and eventually made it to the gate.

First gate

A nice view of Venkatramana Swamy temple could be seen at the gate. The temple was renovated, but the beauty was damaged by whitewashing it. It is an issue I have seen in many historical temples where the deity is worshipped. Someone needs to tell the religious people managing temples to also appreciate architectural beauty.

 

Temple and the village

The path after the gate was clear. Some sections of the climb required walking over rocks. Thanks to the rough surface, it was not a difficult task to climb up. In the midway, a partially constructed temple platform makes its appearance. It looked like the construction was halted due to some reason. Evidence of quarrying for the conduction are visible.

Temple platform

The climb after the temple platform was over steep rocks. Again, the rough surface made it possible to climb this section without much difficulty.

Rocks at the middle section

Very steep climb after middle section

The walls of the top portion of the fort made their appearance. But we need to climb an almost vertical section of the rock to reach the top. While I was wondering how we could cross that section, the rock-cut steps showed us the way to the top. That made our life easier. It looked very similar to the section in Ratnagiri fort.

Steep section

As I climbed, I realized it was not as easy as Ratnagiri. The climb at Midigeshi was steeper. The steps were not straight but turned at a few places, and the angle of the steps made it difficult to climb. I knew that I could not see up or down as it made me dizzy. So, I had to put my focus on the steps and climbed in one go. My heart was pounding when I crossed this section. Later, climbing down was much difficult.

While climbing down

We rested for a long time after climbing this section.

The next stage was simple. The steps were neatly placed, and we crossed a couple of gateways before we reached the top portion of the fort. We saw some bloodstains as we climbed up. It was not in large quantity, but someone had an injury. The person (or animal) would have walked down. It was also fresh. We could not identify anything more than that. Krishna also found a porcupine quill.

One of the gateways of the fort

As we reached the top portion of the fort, a dilapidated mosque made its appearance. One of the minarets was damaged for reason unknown to us. A lot of graffiti from recognition craving people was seen on the walls of the mosque. It showed that a lot of people lacking common sense had made it to the top!!

Mosque at the top

Small buildings that would have served as granaries were also seen at the top.

Dilapidated fort

We entered into the ruined structure to reach the other side of the fort. There we found a place between two precariously placed rocks to rest. It was a great place with stunning views. We rested for a long time discussing various topics. We wondered how this rock could have come to that place and stood in that position.

The rock

On the way back, we visited the mosque again. There was a narrow pathway through the minaret to reach the top of the mosque. That was interesting.

We visited the Venkatramana Swamy temple at the base. While most of the temple was renovated, the pillar in front of the temple looked old. The priest also explained some history about the place. He seemed to be very proud of the location.

Temple and the fort

There were few ruined temples in the vicinity which we made a quick visit.

Old temple

From the top of the hill, we had seen twin temples near the lake. We visited this place. The interesting part was the stone slab placed in the area. It was rare to see such a huge slab. While we were interpreting the sculpture in the slab, the year “1956” caught our attention. The slab looked much older than that. Certainly, someone else had played a role to alter. But today, the slab stands ignored by people.

Huge slab lying in the village

Last words

Midigeshi is a certainly a place to visit for people interested in history and climbing.