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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Udayagiri Fort and Temples, Nellore

After realizing the presence of a fort named Udayagiri at about 11 km from Duttalur, we went ahead to explore the place. Lovely winding roads leads us to Udayagiri, a hill fort, situated at 950 m above Main sea level.  Within minutes of our realizing that  it would take us more time to trek up to the fort, a few tall Rajagopuras in Udayagiri town caught our attention.
History of the Fort - The fort was built by Gajapathis during the14th Century. In the year 1512,  Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar Kingdom attacked this fort while the battle lasted for about 18 months. After Krishnadevaraya's army defeated the Gajapathis and captured the fort, the Gajapathis offered a peace treaty by asking Krishnadevaraya to marry their princess Jaganmohini (Badradevi) . Later, the Nawabs of Golconda occupied this fort. Today it is pile of ruins. One has to trek about 12 km to reach the fort.
Udayagiri Fort, Nellore
Udayagiri Fort
The Grand Royal Wedding - A grand Kalyana Mandapa/ Paruveta Mandapam was constructed in the Udayagiri  town at the orders of Krishnadevaraya. The place was decked up beautifully for the wedding of Krishnadevaraya and Princess Jaganmohini. A lovely Rajagopura welcomed us at the entrance,  while the pillared Kalyana Mantapa with intricate carvings is present inside the compound. There is a huge Kalyani in front of the Rajagopura.  The ASI and the Andhra Pradesh Govt. has done a decent job in restoring the place, though there is a lack of maintenance.
Pushkarni or Kalyani
  Mantapa 
Rajagopura
Carvings on the Walls of the Rajagopura
  Lord Krishna
Paruveta Mandapam , Udayagiri
Pillared Mantapa
Pillared Kalyana Mandapa, Udayagiri
Another View of The Mantapa
Kalyana Mantapa
Carved pillars
Pillar Top and Lintel Carvings
   Udayagiri houses the ruins of more than 300 temples built during the reign of different kingdoms, though most of them were re-built or improved further by the Vijayanagar Kings.
Lord Balakrishna Temple, Udayagiri
Lord Balakrishna Temple 


Continued here...

26 comments:

  1. Another fascinating post, wonderful history and superb captures of such lovely places! I do so enjoy the tours you take us on! I also really like your new header and spider web! Beautiful! Hope your week is going well!

    Sylvia

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  2. What a beautiful beautiful place!!! Great narration...:)

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  3. You may have fallen behind schedule visiting these sites, but they are fascinating. The carvings on the Mantapa are beautiful.

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  4. amazing information and lovely images!

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  5. nice start...

    "incredible India"

    beautiful photos

    thanks

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  6. Wonderful place. This is definitely worth exploration.

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  7. the pictures tell a tale, lovely place and a neat compiled post!

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  8. Wonderful post. Keep exploring.


    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

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  9. Gr8 coverage of Udaygiri temples associated with Gajapathis and Krishnadevaraya. Now looking forward for the jain cave temples.

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  10. Its amazing..
    this looks so grand today, it must have been a sight to behold then in those days...
    Fabulous pics.

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  11. Splendid images.Amazing architecture & sculptures of the great Vijayanagara empire

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  12. Dheeraj and Team,

    Awesome.. Simply Awesome..

    BTW! Do you have any friends in Pune who are travel crazy like you? Would like to join them.. :)

    Regards

    Hari
    http://harithemusafir.blogspot.com

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  13. The carvings/sculptures are marvellous!!

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  14. beautifully captured pillars, temples and landscapes... each and every photo stand out on its own!

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  15. You have captured the beauty of nectar in stones so well... I feel so proud of our culture and heritage.

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  16. Excellent.. This is one place, I am longing to visit..!

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  17. Amazing beauty! Just leaves you spellbound!!

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  18. Indian history, proud of the heritage, culture and architecture.

    thanks for sharing such a wonderful place of importance:)

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  19. Just came from a 4 day trip to Hampi. I am posting the pictures in my blog soon.I am unable to remember the photos for captions as I took nearly 120 of them being a senior!!!

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  20. Beautiful pillars and the mandapa is exquisite

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  21. Really nice & fascinating.. do take us on a food tour sometime ;-)

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