‘
Rayakottai’ or the
‘King’s
Fort’ is one amongst the popular fort treks near Bengaluru at a
distance of around 100 km. One Sunday we decided to check out this fort and our
journey to this place was quite uneventful. We reached the base of the hill
fort and after enquiring about the route, we proceeded further. Steps are laid until
the top and it’s a pretty straight forward climb. In no time we reached the
first gateway of the fort. This arched gateway seems to have been renovated
during the reign of Tippu Sultan as we can find a similar pattern for the
gateway at
Nandi hills. The fort was initially built by Jagadeva Raya, a Palegara
of Channapatna town in Ramanagara district, thus the name Raya Kottai. A common
misconception however is that this fort was built by Tippu Sultan.
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| Bird's eye View of Rayakottai Town |
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| Monsoon Clouds |
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| Way Up to the Rayakottai Fort |
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| Enter The Dragon (Rayakottai Fort Entrance) |
Jagadeva Raya had control over the entire regions
of Hosur, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu. He served as a vassal king
under the Vijayanagaras and also won the battle of Penukonda for them. Rayakottai
was a strategic fortress connecting Mysore to the Baramahal. Post Jagadeva Raya,
none of the Kings were strong enough to hold the entire territory and hence started
to lose their territories to Hyder Ali. Later, Major Gowdie under Lord
Cornwallis captured the Fort from Tippu Sultan in the year 1791-92. Hereon,
they marched towards Srirangapatna and killed Tippu in 1799. Rayakottai then was
held by the East India Company until independence. The East India Company made
a few additions to the fort, which remained popular among Military
Pensioners. Ruins of buildings constructed
by the British can still be seen here. There are many water tanks built here
for providing water for the people. At one such big water pond, we found a
carving of Lord Shiva in the form of a Linga along with Lords Nandi and
Ganesha. The carvings are very much similar to the ones present at Krishnagiri
fort; probably indicating that this fort existed even before the reign of
Jagadeva Raya and may have been originally built during Lord Krishnadeva Raya’s
rule.
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| Rayakottai Fort Entrance |
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| Fort Wall |
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| Ruins Spread Across |
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| Young Trekker |
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| One of Many Water Sources Here |
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| Hidden Treasure |
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| House With A View |
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| British Bungalow |
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| Ruined Beauty |
Interestingly, on our way back to Bengaluru we also found a carving of
King Krishnadeva Raya accompanied by his two queens offering prayers to Lord
Shiva. There is no evidence for the presence of any temple in the fort
premises. However, there are chances
that the same was destroyed during Hyder/ Tippu’s period. There exists a big cave
Ashram used during 19th century saint, maintained in good condition.
This gives us an indication of things that have occurred here. Overall,
Rayakottai is a lovely fort to explore and preferably best when visited during
early hours of the day to avoid sun’s heat. It is also better to carry along
some snacks and lots of water to stay hydrated. Today, Rayakottai is a small
sleepy village fairly well connected with Bengaluru by roads and rail.
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| Lords Shiva, Ganesha And Nandi |
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| Fresh Sweet Water Pond |
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| Ashram |
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| Lord Anjaneya |
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| Trichodes alvearius (bee hive Beetle) |
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| Monkey Puzzle Butterfly (Rathinda amor) |
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| Delicate |
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