Kampli Fort

July 28, 2012

We leave Gangawati after breakfast. On my list of forts was Kampli, I remember locating ruins of the fort on the banks of Tungabhadra. I was glad to see flowing waters of Tungabhadra. We cross over from Koppal district to Bellary district. Looking at Kampli Kote from the bridge; where are the ruins?

No sign of an fort wall. Perhaps, the ruins are hidden in the greenery.

Kampli Kote is a busy place. Fishing and fish trade sustains the economy here. At the village entrance business was in progress; basket full of fresh fish was being auctioned. Close by were half a dozen shops dealing with fishing nets and related accessories. This is actually a port which also serves as a washing ghat.

Regular boats cannot be navigated through the maze of islands in the river. Hence, coracle building is  an important business here. We could see coracles in various stages of production.

Of course these are hybrid coracles. I call them hybrid because lot of plastic wire is used to bind the bamboo strips. Even plastic sheets are used for water-proofing the structure.

I had given up seeing fort ruins. However one of the folks told us go to the other end of the village, there's a dwara-bagilu. We decide to walk since the street was quite narrow and busy with people and two-wheeler traffic. A hero stone under a banyan tree.

Looking back towards the port area. I was at a junction. We turned left and then a immediate right.

One of the houses' outer walls had a row palm prints. I asked a passerby why those hands were painted There's a wedding in that house. A strange custom.

Looks of the houses gave an indication of people's prosperity in this little village. Down the street we could see the fort's gateway and some remaining rampart walls..

Under the  arch was Kannada text in red; Kampli Gandugali Kumara Ramana Kote.

Architecture seems to be Vijayanagara era's.

The outside of the gateway. To my left was Hole Anjaneya Swamy temple which seemed ancient but we did not venture in.

Back at the port area, one of the folks suggested us to check out the Vijayanagara era Pampapathi temple on the other side of the state highway. That's the temple's gateway.

It's a small temple dedicated to Shivalinga. The poojary explained the specialty of the Linga. Normally the 'arm' is on the right but here it is on the left.

Namah Shivaya

The temple is away from the road and surrounded by banana plantation. It had a peaceful ambiance.

A collection of Naga sculptures opposite the temple gateway.

Tekkalakota is about 42km from here but I dropped the trip. Instead we head back towards Gangawati from where we went to Anegundi and then to Shivapura. Between Shivapur and Hosaharalapur there's a granite hill with ruins of a fort on it.

Kampli fort coordinates: 15°25'28"N   76°35'23"E

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