Parasgad Fort

...driving from Aminbhavi, as we neared Saundatti, we could see Yellammanagudda to our right. The fort sits on the top with a portion of the wall right on the edge. I was thinking of taking a right towards of the base of the hill and climb up instead we stopped to check the correct approach... go to Saundatti, go towards Yellamma temple and ask for helipad, the fort is close to the helipad. Perfect directions.

We had but tickets @ 2 per head. We were welcomed by a small group of Langurs leaping around wildly. The fort is in ruins. The place does attract visitors, mostly pilgrims to visit a spring pond just outside the fort on the other side ...the side we saw from Aminbhavi-Saundatti road. I missed taking pictures of the entrance... you'll have to manage with this video.

...past the twisty gateway designed to slow down movement.


Inside it's open ground and few partly standing walls. We followed the heavily tread path...


This image of Lord Hanuman is unique. I've never seen anything like this before. Three teenage boys were the only other visitors other. They were chatting away non-stop, just like us, I could not make out the tongue they spoke. Chetan told me it was Pategari, a mix of Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Lamani and few words of their own.


Little further the path goes down hill gradually and we enter a shallow rocky valley. The Pategar boys stop, waiting for us to take the lead. They were scared of a bunch of red-faced monkeys.


This was one the most friendly of the lot. He was chewing away some sort of grass trying to quench his thirst from the moisture in it.

Someone remarked his haircut is stylish. The gateway in the background is the most intact part of this fort. This the path down the hill to the base.


The western sky. Middle of the picture is the Aminbhavi-Saundatti road.


Shri Yamanuru Raja Baksha Devastana. Get blessings. We did not go in but we could see a small pool of water. The place stank of bat droppings.


We were on a narrow ledge with a 20 feet fall. The rock overhang was a good shelter for soldiers guarding the fort's gateway. The place gave a good view of the surrounding plains and the approach to the hill.


The only bastion sitting on the edge.


View of the plains towards Dharwad.


Neelkant, Chetan and Veeresh.


Steps built through the cleft in the hill.


We could see a small temple further down the stairway but we chose to skip it and turn back.


Pategar boys stuck to us until we were out of the monkey's domain. We deviated from the regular path and climbed up the step like rock formations.


We were inspecting a fort within a fort. The structure is an enclosure with four bastions connected by four walls. As you see it's crumbling away.


We took the narrow gateway out and few steps ahead Veeresh spotted a snake skin ...completely intact. We could make out the eyes also.


Check out this video, it's interesting to see Veeresh lifting the snake-skin.

The bastions of Parasgad fort on the eastern side which is close to Yellamma Devatsana.


There are few things we did miss seeing ...the temple and the spring pond on the western side. Hope to visit again. We moved on to Hooli from here, the last destination of the day.
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