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| The Mighty Hill - Nagamalai |
Our search for the twelve forts constituting
the “Baramahal” or “the twelve Palaces” this time lead us to Nagamangalam, situated
in Krishnagiri. We had spotted a hill fort from Jagadevi fort during our visit
to that place but we were unable to explore this fort. Finally, this year, on a fine Sunday morning
we decided to explore this hill. After having a good breakfast at one of the
hotels in Krishnagiri and packing enough food to survive during the trek, we
headed towards Nagamangalam. Reaching this fort was easy as were aware of the
location. Confirming the route again to the hill base with the locals to ensure
we were on the right track, we reached the base of the hill fort. The locals
helped us find the start point of the trek.
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| Nagamalai Fort |
Not much of the history of this forts
seems to be documented in the English literature. The only reference we were
able to find was the “Madras District Gazetteer - Salem”. It is mentioned in this that Nagamangalam was
one among the twelve palaces constituting “the Baramahal”. This information was
sufficient for us to explore the fort. The fort seems to have been built during
the rule of Channarayapatna Palegar, Sri Jagadevaraya who also built the fort
at Jagadevi. Although the fort of Nagamangalam has more resemblance to
Thattakaldurgam in terms of its location and architecture, the absence of any
temple here signifies that it was built during Sri Jagadevaraya's rule, similar
to the Fort of Jagadevi. 
The trek initially is through the
forest path after which we had to cross a small hillock to reach the base of
the main hill. Hereon, the trek turned more adventurous. We had to climb a 70-degree
inclined slope and without any proper route nor support while ascending, it was
quite a challenge to overcome this stretch until we reached the ramparts of the
fort. Here we were welcomed by a small door, probably used for emergency escape
during any contingencies. Moving further along the walking path lead us to a
point which deviated into two routes, one leading downwards and another leading
upwards. We decided to take the downward route first to explore the main
portions of the fort.
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| The Young Trekker |
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| The Wild Trek Route |
A nicely laid staircase led us
downwards to the main entrance of the fort. Half-way down the staircase, we
spotted the living area of the fortress on the other side. However, we wanted
to explore the gateway area first and come back to exploring this later. The
gateway here is very beautiful with Lord Ganesha sculpted on its lintel. Lord
Ganesha seems to be the istha devata of Sri Jagadevaraya, which is quite
evident across the forts built during his period. This fort gateway is associated
with a building probably one that served as a guard’s room for the soldiers to
rest. The top portion of the gateway made of brick and mortar seems like a later
addition. After exploring the gateway, we walked along the ramparts to reach the
living area of the fort.
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| The Slope |
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| Enter The Dragon Moment |
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| The Well Laid Steps |
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| The Gateway |
We headed straight towards the structure
that looked like the base of a Mahal/ royal palace/ residence of army chieftain.
This beautiful structure is made of locally sourced stones. Besides this
structure is a huge granary. Further ahead are 2 structures resembling an armoury,
a place to store gun powder and other ammunitions. There is a big rain water
harvesting pond which probably was the main source of drinking water. The water
here was clean and clear except for the fallen leaves. There is a big bastion
overlooking this living place, which served as the vantage point to keep an eye
on the enemies. This single tiered hill fort probably served more like a
military outpost to Jagadevi fort. The Bastion gave clear view of Jagadevi
fort; any attack over there seemed to have alerted the army here. We now halted
for some rest and food under a shade.
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| The Remains of Palace |
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| The Structures inside the Fortress |
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| The Major Water Source |
We emptied our packed food in no time
since we were dead hungry. After resting for a while, we headed towards exploring
the upper part of the fort and started to back track. We came across a beautiful
carving of Lord Anjaneya on a stone. As we get down from here, there are remains
of the foundation of a structure resembling a mantapa, the foundation or the
base platform was seen having some carvings of animals. Now, it was time for us
to start our descent. While descending
the 70-degree slope, we were very cautious and carefully got down the slope. Rest
of the descent was uneventful.
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| The View From Big Bastion |
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| Remains of Structure Probably Residence |
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| The Other View of the Residence |
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| Inside the Armoury |
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| The Ruins of Armoury |
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| The Bastion |
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| The Mantapa |
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| Kote Anjaneya Swamy |
One of the interesting aspects of
this place was finding a dolmen on the inclined slope. Although we did not
sight or find any rock art or cave paintings apart from the dolmen, this place seemed
perfect for prehistoric settlement owing to the presence of numerous caves and
rock shelters. The Fort is well preserved naturally due to its location and not
many people venturing here. The overall route is easy except for the slopy stretch,
but is quite lengthy being about 8 km (to and fro). |
| Fort Gateway & The Trekker |
