Heat, Holiday and History 🏰

September 2017

Heat, Holiday and History 🏰

Look out squirrel!!

The fort had heavy protection and the architecture was commendable, being even better than most of them available today. A large moat, currently non-existent, had to cross at the start which itself was a difficult task without being spotted. Though it isn’t present currently, it was told to us by the guide. The pathway was twisted like the slithering of the snake to slow down the speed of the opponent. Soldiers generally stood on top of watchtowers and signaled their fellow members when the spotted them. The bricks had small slits between them at certain areas to shoot from. This was built for centuries and was occupied by many clans and dynasties, but earned its prominence from the Nayaka dynasty. The dynasty started from the rule of Timanna Nayaka and ended with the king who is regarded as the greatest ruler of the Nayakas. Madakari Nayaka V was the final ruler of the dynasty who was overthrown by Hyder Ali, who successfully defeated the king the third time. During one of these wars was then the Obavva, a brave and legendary woman, attacked several men of Hyder Ali’s troops.

We had come to the major attraction of the small city; it was the Chitradurga Fort in Chitradurga, Karnataka whose beauty I was smitten by.

Hyder Ali was a sultan who brutally attacked forts to seize them. He wished to do the same with the breath-taking fort of Chitradurga. While attacking, his soldiers had found a small hole in the rocks and were planning on squeezing in. Here came the story of the patriotic legend, Obavva. She was the wife of a soldier who served the king wholeheartedly. Coincidentally when Hyder’s soldiers were entering, Obavva was heading towards the same hole to fetch some water for her husband who was eating and noticed vague figures in the hole which generally had nothing more than water. Not wishing to disturb her eating husband, she grabbed a large Onake (pestle) and killed every soldier with a fatal blow to his head. As they were in stealth mode, they didn’t worry that the soldier who had gotten into the fort had given no signal. Her husband soon came to see her with a bloodstained onake and an exhausted face. She was then named Onake Obavva, the legend. From an unknown cause, she, unfortunately, died on the same day, either due to shock or by the opponent’s army. Her patriotism is forever remembered till today. In our present world, none have such a zeal for their country unlike her.

Many also link Chitradurga to the Indian Epic, Mahabharata. The man-eating giant who terrorized people, Hidambasura, lived on the Chitradurga hill which surrounds the fort. Bhima, one of the five brothers called the Pandavas, was known for his strength. He slew the monster in a duel, while his brothers and mother were in exile, and restored peace to the city. Dedicated to the monster is a temple in the fort called Hidambeshwara temple.

Entering the third gate, considered the main one presently, we went walked along a pathway with compounds running along the side. What happened to the first and second gates, don’t you wonder? They were devastatingly lost amid the busy city. My blood boiling at the sight of shops and houses inside the first and second gate walls, I wondered why the Archaeological Survey of India hadn’t done anything about it. Such a prideful monument had been engulfed by the city.

As we entered, the guide pointed at a patch of black on the gate, saying that it was the remains of the plastering. It was used as the basic level of protection from neighbouring kingdoms. A huge door fit for a king overpowered the small one for soldiers beside it on the gate.

Standing near the door used by soldiers

Small black coloured remains of plastering on the wall

The hinges for the door

Slits in between the wall through which guns were placed to attack

It was surprising how people back then planned such complex designing and methods like cutting rocks. For doing so, they made small holes running around the rock. Inside these, wooden pegs were placed and were soaked. For water makes wood expand, it expanded these holes into large ones which successfully cut the rock. A few of the uncut ones laden with tiny holes, we saw as we went on our way.

‘Where does Chitradurga, the name of the city and fort, come from?’ you may wonder. A rock further ahead seemed to have a shape of its own. It looked like an elephant in a sitting position, bowing its head in respect. It wasn’t the only naturally formed rock that resembled an animal. A rabbit with its ears erect and a frog admiring a tree, we saw. The guide told us that Chitradurga was roughly named after the imagination and creativity of the people, the word Chitra meaning picture and Durga meaning fort in Kannada. 

The bowing elephant rock in which the Ganapathi temple is carved

Admiring it we walked further, finding water in what looked like a small stepwell. Looks like people back then had fun too for the water was filled with turmeric powder called Arshina and a red powder called Kumkuma, the two powders being holy and a main source of colour. The coloured water was then used to play Holi, a festival in which people indulge as they spray themselves with coloured water. 

The stepwell used during Holi

The guide then revealed to us that we were in the heart of the fort. Pointing out the kitchen, he said that it is now being used as a food stall for tired travellers.

A mud wall stood near the kitchen and it was the old remains of a soldier’s house. It was what houses, the main palace (in ruins) and the mint was made of. The mint had stone plinths to prevent the base, mud, from washing off due to heavy rains. The plastered roof had drains to prevent it from touching the inner walls.

The scorching sun heated us up as we walked forward. Buying a bottle of Mountain Dew for the water we had was nearing empty, we chugged it up. Putting the empty can in the bin, I saw it nearly empty. Most of the visitors had thrown their empty packets of buttermilk, juices and ice creams into what used to be two serene lake-like tanks called the twin tanks. I felt sorrowful as I saw the trash fill more than half of the lake though efforts had been taken to clean the area and encourage people to use trash cans.

The tanks were a part of a rainwater harvesting system that was planned such that there was no water loss for the whole city. In fact, when Hyder Ali had captured the fort in the late 1700’s, he made enquiries about the fort’s supplies. He was told that the water that had been collected could provide purified water to the inhabitants for the next 12 years without traces of rain! The water initially collected at the Gopalaswami tank which was built by constructing a small dam across the valley. The overflowed water poured into the Akka Honda (the elder sister tank). The water slowly filtered to the Thangi Honda (the younger sister tank) through a permeable wall built to separate the tanks. Eventually, the water reached the Sihineeru Honda (sweetwater tank) through a small channel. An underground conduit carries the overflowed water to a large step tank called the Santhe Honda where water was available.

(1)  is Gopalaswami tank

(2)  is the Akka Honda

(3)  is the Thangi Hona

(4) is the Sihineeru Honda from which water flows to the Santhe Honda

 Further, we went to find the major attraction; Obavvana Kindi (Obavva’s hole) was a small hole in the fort but has a large importance in our history (as mentioned above). The Kindi (roughly translating to hole) was discovered by Hyder Ali, a king, who wished to plan an attack on the fort to seize it from Madakari Nayaka V. 

I think I'm stuck...

Next, we headed to the treasury. As the guide had finished his journey with us, my dad told me about it. When he had come to the same fort when he was in 5^th grade, he had been told that the treasury was made to be built by criminals who were to face a death sentence such that the location of it would be kept a secret. There was a large hole which was once brimming with coins but now slightly filled with shiny cold drink cans. The next stop was the mint. The board indicated that it had been made of mud but plastered well to prevent rain from washing off the base material. The roof had been made to prevent the water from splashing onto the mint’s walls. Inside, the currency of the kingdom was made by hand, unlike the machines we have today.

Inside the hole, the coins were placed

Just before we left, we went to the highest part of a hill to view the fort. Breath-taking, was the sight and words could not explain its beauty. Stairs and walls of large stones filled up most of it while a large mountain added to its beauty.

With my trekking stick I stand, amidst the bewitching sight

Sitting in the car, I wondered how our architecture has stooped compared to the fort built centuries ago. It was also bittersweet as the big beauty had been polluted by us, the recent generations. The holiday in Navarathri (the nine holy nights) had been spent in heat and history!

Comment down one of your holiday experiences!