Chitradurga

Chitradurga is a city and the headquarters of Chitradurga district, which is located on the valley of
the Vedavati river in the central part of the Indian state of Karnataka.[4] Chitradurga is a place with
historical significance and a major tourist hub of Karnataka. The city is renowned for its 15th
century Kallina Kote or Stone Fortress. This is formed from two Kannada words: ‘Kallina’ means
"Stone's" and Kote means "Fort". Other names used in Kannada are ‘Ukkina Kote": "Steel Fort"
(metaphorically used to mean an impregnable fort) and ‘Yelusuttina Kote’: "Seven Circles Fort".[5]

Etymology

Chitradurga gets its name from Chitrakaldurga [meaning picturesque fort, in turn "Chitra" (Picture),
"Kala" (Art) and "Durga" (Fort)], an umbrella-shaped lofty hill found here. Chitradurga was also known
by the names Chitradurg, Chitrakaladurga, and Chittaldurg. Chittaldrug (or Chitaldrug[4] or
Chittledroog) was the official name used during the period of British rule.[6]

History

Chitradurga features bold rock hills and picturesque valleys, with huge towering boulders in
numerous shapes. It is known as the "stone fortress" (Kallina Kote). According to the epic
Mahabharatha, a man-eating Rakshasa named Hidimba and his sister Hidimbi lived on the hill.
Hidimba was a source of terror to everyone around, while Hidimbi was a peace-loving rakshasi.
When the Pandavas came with their mother Kunti in the course of their exile, Bhima had a duel with
Hidimba in which Hidimba was killed. Bhima married Hidimbi and they had a son named
Ghatotkacha, who had magical powers. Legend has it the boulders were part of the arsenal used by
Bhima during that duel. The boulders on which a major part of the city was developed belong to the
oldest rock formation in the country.

Timmanna Nayaka, a chieftain under the Vijayanagar Empire, was appointed as governor of
Chitradurga as a reward from the Vijayanagara ruler for his excellence in military services. This was
the beginning of the rule of the Nayakas of Chitradurga. His son Obana Nayaka is known by the
name Madakari Nayaka (1588 CE). (He was the last ruler of Chitradurga. His name comes from his
ability to have suppressed the arrogance- "Mada" of a particular troublesome elephant- "Kari").
Madakari Nayaka's son Kasturi Rangappa (1602) succeeded him and consolidated the kingdom to
rule peacefully. As he had no heirs to succeed him, his adopted son, the apparent heir, was
enthroned. But he was killed a few months later by the Dalavayis.
Chikkanna Nayaka (1676), the brother of
Chitradurga
Madakari Nayaka II, served on the throne. His
brother succeeded him in 1686 with the title City

Madakari Nayaka III. The Dalawayis overthrow of

Madakari Nayaka III's rule gave an opportunity to
one of their distant relatives, Bharamappa
Nayaka, to ascend the throne in 1689. He is
known as the greatest of the Nayaka rulers. The
subjects of Chitradurga suffered through the brief
reigns of the successive rulers, which resulted in
Historic temple in Chitradurga
volatile conditions. The Hiri Madakari Nayaka IV
(1721), Kasturi Rangappa Nayaka II (1748), Nickname: Fort City (Kote Nadu)

Madakari Nayaka V (1758) ruled this area, but

there is not much documentation of their rule.[7]

Legend of Onake Obavva

An opening in the rocks of

Chitradurga fort that was used by
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Hyder Ali for an attempted invasion by
Chitradurga in Karnataka
his soldiers. This was defeated by
Obavva. Coordinates: 14.23°N 76.4°E (https://geohack.
toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Chitra
During the reign of Madakari Nayaka, the town of durga&params=14.23_N_76.4_E_type:city(145
Chitradurga was besieged by troops of Hyder Ali. 853)_region:IN-KA)

A chance sighting of a woman entering the Country India

Chitradurga fort through an opening in the rocks State Karnataka

led to a clever plan by Hyder Ali to send his
District Chitradurga
soldiers through the hole. The guard on duty near
Established 1465
that hole had gone home for lunch. Obavva, the
wife of that guard, was passing by the hole to Founded by Thimmanna Nayaka

collect water, when she noticed soldiers emerging Government

into the fort. Obavva was carrying an Onake (a • Body City Municipal
Council
long wooden club meant for pounding paddy
grains). • MP Govind Karjol[1]

Area
She killed Hyder Ali's soldiers one by one as they
attempted to enter the fort through the opening • City 62 km2 (24 sq mi)

and moved the dead. Over a short period of time, • Rural 1,350.76 km2
hundreds of soldiers entered and fell, without (521.53 sq mi)

raising any suspicion. After returning from lunch, Elevation 732 m (2,402 ft)

Obavva's husband was shocked to see Obavva Population (2011)

[2]

standing with a blood-stained Onake and

• City 145,853
hundreds of dead enemy bodies around her.
• Density 2,400/km2
Together both wife and husband beat up most of
(6,100/sq mi)
the soldiers. But as both were about to finish off
• Rural 283,673
the soldiers, Obavva died.
Demonym(s) Durgan, Durgans,
The opening in the rocks remains as a historical Durgadavaru

marker for this account. The Tanniru doni, the well Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
that Obavva was going to when she saw the
PIN 577501, 577502,
invading soldiers, has also survived. Though 577524

Obavva saved the fort on that occasion, Madakari Telephone code 08194
Nayaka could not repel another attack in 1779 by
Vehicle registration KA-16
Hyder Ali. In the ensuing battle, the fort of
Official language Kannada[3]
Chitradurga fell to the invader. Obavva, like Kittur
Rani Chennamma, remains a legend, especially to Website chitradurgacity.mrc
.gov.in (http://chitrad
the women of Karnataka.[8][9][10][11] urgacity.mrc.gov.in)

Geography

Chitradurga is located at 14.23°N 76.4°E (https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=C

hitradurga&params=14.23_N_76.4_E_).[12] It has an average elevation of 732 metres (2401 ft).

Chitradurga city is well connected to Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Davanagere, Hubli, Hospet,
Bellary, Shimoga, Tumkur, Bijapur, Belgaum by road and through railways.
Geology: National Geological Monument

What is known as "Pillow Lava" near the village of Maradihalli, Chitradurga District, Karnataka, has
been designated as a National Geological Monument of India by the Geological Survey of India
(GSI). They are protected and maintained to promote geotourism.[13][14][15] The Maradihalli group is
considered one of the best examples of this phenomenon in the world. They formed within the
Chitradurga schist belt of Dharwar Group, when hot molten lava erupted under water and solidified
quickly while cooling as forms of roughly spherical or rounded pillow-shapes. These rounded forms
are a few feet or less in size. This pillow lava has been dated to 2500 million years.

Maradihalli is 16 km southeast of Chitradurga town and 4 km north of Ayamangala village, on the

NH-4 (Bangalore –Pune). The area can be accessed by metalled road via Ayamangala, which is
about 180 km from Bangalore.

Geography

Climate

The climate here is considered to be a local steppe climate. During the year, there is little rainfall in
Chitradurga. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is BSh. The temperature here averages
25.3 °C. The rainfall here averages 576 mm.

Climate data for Chitradurga (1991–2020, extremes 1901–2020) [hide]

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
34.1 37.9 39.7 41.0 41.7 39.2 34.4 34.1 35.0 35.0 33.6 33.5 41.7
Record high °C (°F)
(93.4) (100.2) (103.5) (105.8) (107.1) (102.6) (93.9) (93.4) (95.0) (95.0) (92.5) (92.3) (107.1)
Mean daily 29.9 32.4 35.3 36.2 34.8 30.5 28.4 28.1 29.3 29.7 28.8 28.5 31.0
maximum °C (°F) (85.8) (90.3) (95.5) (97.2) (94.6) (86.9) (83.1) (82.6) (84.7) (85.5) (83.8) (83.3) (87.8)
23.2 25.6 28.4 29.5 28.3 25.6 24.3 24.0 24.6 24.7 23.5 22.5 25.3
Daily mean °C (°F)
(73.8) (78.1) (83.1) (85.1) (82.9) (78.1) (75.7) (75.2) (76.3) (76.5) (74.3) (72.5) (77.6)
Mean daily 16.7 18.8 21.4 22.7 22.5 21.7 21.1 20.7 20.6 20.1 18.3 16.5 20.1
minimum °C (°F) (62.1) (65.8) (70.5) (72.9) (72.5) (71.1) (70.0) (69.3) (69.1) (68.2) (64.9) (61.7) (68.2)
8.5 11.2 14.4 16.4 17.4 17.2 17.8 17.8 15.0 13.9 8.3 9.2 8.3
Record low °C (°F)
(47.3) (52.2) (57.9) (61.5) (63.3) (63.0) (64.0) (64.0) (59.0) (57.0) (46.9) (48.6) (46.9)
Average rainfall 1.5 3.7 7.3 45.1 77.7 74.9 82.5 96.3 107.4 151.9 53.4 8.9 710.8
mm (inches) (0.06) (0.15) (0.29) (1.78) (3.06) (2.95) (3.25) (3.79) (4.23) (5.98) (2.10) (0.35) (27.98)
Average rainy days 0.2 0.4 0.6 2.9 4.5 5.5 8.6 8.8 6.6 7.6 2.7 0.8 49.3
Average relative
humidity (%) 35 28 26 32 43 66 73 75 66 62 55 44 50
(at 17:30 IST)

Source 1: India Meteorological Department[16][17][18]

Source 2: Tokyo Climate Center (mean temperatures 1991–2020)[19]

Demographics

As of 2011 India census,[20] Chitradurga had a population of 1,25,170. Males constitute 51% of the
population and females 49%. Chitradurga has an average literacy rate of 76%, higher than the
national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 80% and female literacy of 72%. 11% of the
population is under 6 years of age.

Religions in Chitradurga city (2011)[21]

Religion Percent

Hinduism 68.80%

Islam 29.01%

Christianity 0.69%

Other or not stated 1.49%

Languages of Chitradurga
City[22]
Kannada (61.78%)
Urdu (28.55%)
Telugu (5.08%)
Hindi (2.33%)
Others (2.26%)

Administration

Chitradurga city is administered by the Chitradurga city municipal council.[23]

Renewable Energy

Chitradurga situated in a hilly region is also known to experience wind currents throughout the year
making it a suitable place to set up wind mills and wind farms. There are several Wind-Power based
power plants located around Chitradurga and most of the hills are embellished with wind mills
which can be seen while entering the city. These wind farms have a total installed capacity of 49.7
MW.

Historical places

Chitradurga Fort

Chitradurga Fort was built between the 10th and 18th centuries by the kings various dynasties
during that period which are Rashtrakutas, Kalyana Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagar and Nayakas
of Chitradurga. After Hyder Ali illegally Captured the fort from the last ruler of Chitradurga Madakari
Nayaka in the year 1779. It comprises a series of seven enclosure walls in Kannada. On the upper
part of the fort Eighteen ancient temples can be found and in the lower part of the fort there is one
huge temple. Among these temples the oldest and most interesting is the Hidambeshwara temple.
The masjid was an addition during Hyder Ali's rule. The fort's many interconnecting tanks were used
to harvest rainwater, and the fort was said to never suffer from a water shortage. This seemingly
impregnable fort has 19 gateways, 38 posterior entrances, a palace, a mosque, granaries, oil pits,
four secret entrances and water tanks. Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga, nearby to this place also has
historical significance.[24]

Chandravalli

Chandravalli caves is located amidst three hills namely Chitradurga, Cholagudda and Kirubanakallu.
These caves are a never-ending maze of steep steps that lead into passageways, rooms and ante-
rooms where kings from the Kadamba, Satavahana and Hoysala dynasties resided. And saints of
the Ankali Math of Belgaum meditated in the temples. These caves are well ventilated but there is
no light as its pitch dark inside the secret rooms that's why the kings used these rooms in case
there was a threat of an intrusion.[24]
Gallery

Gaali mantapa Madakari Nayaka Nandi Fort

statue

Pond View Inside View of Fort Another view of Fort Gopura

Temples inside the Stone Pillars Sampige

fort Siddalingeshwara
Temple

See also

Ajjappanahalli, Chitradurga

References

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http://www.chitradurgacity.gov.in/) . Chitradurga City Municipal Council. Archived from the
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stion-on-the-hill/article4484550.ece) . The Hindu. 7 March 2013.

External links

Blog (https://www.yatragenie.com/cabs/cabs-in-Chitradurga.jsp)