Trip to Madhugiri Fort

Location: Madhugiri town, Tumkur district

Distance: 110 km from Bangalore, 43 km from Tumkur

How to reach there: Best is private vehicle. Public transport can be hardly found and may not be convenient.

Journey time: 2 hrs

Route: Bangalore – Rajkumar Road – Tumkur road – Dobbaspet – Take right under the flyover – Koratagere – Madhugiri

Where to eat: Military Hotel and a veg hotel near the KSRTC bus station

Where to stay: A lodge is available near the bus station (you need not stay as there is nothing much apart from seeing the fort)

Madhugiri is a individual hill rising upto around 4000 feet. It is said to be one of the largest monolithic hill in the world. Once you reach Madhugiri town you can see the curvaceous steps on the body of the rocky hill. The entrance to the fort is on the left hand side of the KSRTC bus stand. Just before the bus stand there is a right turn, do not take the right turn, instead go straight through the door of the outer walls of the fort. Little further you will find plain land with temple on the left hand side. You can park your vehicles here. Once you start ascending the hills, you will be welcomed by the decorated white walls of the fort.

The monolithic hill is surrounded by many rounds of walls as protective boundaries. At places the climb can be steep. The view of the Madhugiri town and the surrounding from the top is awesome. Small isolated hills in the vicinity also add to the view. As we climbed higher we reach a grassland Plateau and in the think boundary walls there were holes which we used by the then soldiers to fire on the enemy. From here there is nice staircase which will lead to another highland. Further on you will be climbing directly on the face of the monolithic rock on little carved steps. On the way we notices a huge water reservoir, so we can even in those days they knew rain harvesting as getting water on top of the hills would have been a herculean job. This hill does not have any water source. At the top the ruined temple of Gopalakrishna is located. From the top one can get a bird eye view of the area.

Madhugiri is famous for pomegranate fruit. If you visit do make an effort to visit Maidanahalli Blackbuck Sanctuary too located around 25 km from Madhugiri near Kodigenahalli. Just keep in mind you need to obtain prior permission to visit the sanctuary.

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