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Monday, July 11, 2011

Narayanadurga fort, Sindaghatta, Mandya

       On a hot summer morning, we set our journey towards "Sindaghatta", located near K.R.Pete Taluk of Mandya District. The place originally known as Siddhaghatta underwent modifications and came to be known as Sindhughatta which later became Sindaghatta as it is called now. The place derived its name as Siddhaghatta from the Siddhas who meditated here and resided in the nearby caves. With a couple of inquires, we reached this place comfortably. On further inquiring about the caves, we realised that we had to travel a little more to reach the hillock near Rayasamudra village. The final stretch on road towards the hillock from Rayasamudra is difficult.
Narayanadurga
    The Hillock is named Narayanadurga, but commonly known as Kailaseshwaradurga. We inquired about the caves but the locals denied of any existence of the same though the legends mention about it. On the top of the hill is a temple dedicated to Lord Kailaseshwara and remains of an old fort built by a local Chieftain. There are many legends associated with this place suggesting links with the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This was a major reason our guides made sure we climbed the rocky hill bare footed.
First Tier
Initial Stretch
The Climb
       The Fort has been built on one side to prevent an attack from the enemies while the other is steep, acting as a natural mode of defense. It is a seven tiered fort, with every fort wall having an entrance each. All of them are equally artistic though only their ruins remain. The fort walls follow a zigzag pattern and one can get easily lost if venturing alone.
Gateway
Amazing Views
Skillful Brick Masonry
Ruined Gateway
Stairway To Heaven
         There is a beautiful temple on the hill top originally dedicated to Lord Narayana (Vishnu). His idol was stolen and the later king worshiped Lord Kailaeshwara's (shiva) in Lord Vishnu's place. The temple currently houses a Shiva Linga and Nandi, but the most interesting feature was a pair of life sized Dwarapalakas which very few temples carry. There is a ruined mantap by the side of the temple and a few natural water ponds which are believed to have been originated from Bhima's toe, thumb, knee and mace and are named accordingly. We had heard the same story about this place from another priest (Mt Karinja).
Nandi Kambha
Religious Mark
Fort Entrance To The Temple
Temple Complex
Life Sized Dwarapalakas
Garuda Kambha
Inner View of Temple
Kailaseshwara Temple
Natural Water Pond
 
           We suffered sunburns on our feet as we had to climb the hill bare footed. Our guides were two local boys who were also climbing the hill to pay a visit to Lord Kailaseshwara .
Silk Cotton
Well Just Like Oasis
Lovely View
Sky Watch
To Be Continued .............

20 comments:

  1. WOW! You seem to be unearthing great places near Bangalore. This seems to be a fantastic trek.

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  2. What a fascinating and beautiful place! Your photos are superb as always and what a wonderful tour you take us on through your captures! Thank you, too, for the very interesting information/history that you include - that makes your photos even more interesting. Love your new header, too! Look forward to the next installment! Have a great week!

    Sylvia

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  3. आप भी ऐसी जगह तलाश करते हो कि मन वहाँ जाने को कर जाता है।

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  4. What an amazing place, the pics make me want to go there now!! The lost legacy of India, we must preserve these places...

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  5. wow you have unravelled another gem!!

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  6. You have become a master at discovering new places. Keep going..

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.com/2011/07/sunset-over-indian-ocean.html

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  7. the place is just amazing.... the path to travel there itself creates adventure...
    the place is full of architectural beauties... its amazing to think how they constructed the place... awesome!!!

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  8. Very nice images! Well-done!

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  9. Recently I also visited one monastrey on a hillock caled sittanavasal , abode of saints. But there was only a small Jain temple.
    Photos are awesome!!

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  10. Lovely, raw beauty of indian monuments...

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  11. I haven't been to this place yet. :(
    Thanks for this virtual treasures.

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  12. hi

    Sindaghatta is very similar to Chitharal. Beautiful photos with narrations

    thanks

    http://krishnasepages.blogspot.com/2011/06/chitharal-rock-cut-temple-jain-monument.html

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  13. Beautiful photos! I love your posts. I probably will never get to these places in person so your posts are perfect for me. I get to see a part of the world that fascinates me.

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  14. Explorer!!!
    Wonderful photos...9th photo was tremendous:-)

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  15. Arriving here rather late, but this looks really interesting. to think there are so many places we havent even heard about!

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  16. I visited this place on July 2020, our exploration was really amazing.

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