Shivapura - Hosaharalapur fort

I had noticed this hill fort during my first visit to Anegundi. It is situated right next to Koppal-Anegundi road, between Shivapura and Hosaharalapura. .

June 23, 2012

I stopped at Hosaharalapura to inquire path to go up the hill. A bunch of school kids told its an easy climb, you can reach the summit in 10 minutes...

There are several walls to defend the core of the fort.

July 28, 2012

After the visit to Hire Benakal previous day, we had spent the night at Gangawati. Morning first we visit Kampli Kote, next was Shivapura fort. The fort did not look very far but the slope was steep. Neelappa was ahead of me and lagging behind me were Mohan mama and Malatesh. Stains in wavy patterns left by water flowing down hill.

Crumbling first line of defense

A lonely sculpture of Ganesha surrounded by tiny houses made by people in mark of their pending wishes. the fort wall did not look strong, it was quite thin.

Beyond the wall a flight of steps carved in the rock surface, it was quite helpful climbing this part. Actually these steps are made for wet weather. You can notice water stains running parallel to the steps, I'm sure climbing during rainy season would be dangerous without these steps.

The striking feature of this wall is the size of the stones; these are really small compared to the massive rocks used to build fort walls. Beyond the wall, on the horizon, just to the right of the midpoint, is Tungabadhra dam.

Neelappa decided to wait for Mama and Malatesh. I was eager to reach the summit, kept moving up.

Second line of defense

A neatly maintained cave temple and a mantapa. The rock on the left resembles a Linga.

Bsavanna on the Linga.

Inside of the rock temple. I cannot remember what deity resides in here.

Fruther up, a irrigation canal comes into view. The canal fed by the Hospet reservoir weaves its way between the rocky hills towards Sanapur reservoir.

A rock shelter.

The inner most fort seems to be a small one. I was surprised to see a family of four here; husband, wife and two kids.

The family was from Hosaharalapaura. The man claimed he was in charge of performing rituals at the Devi temple here and they stay here all day and go home by dusk. The shrine is a part of the fort wall, close to the gateway. I take a few steps past the gateway, the inside was packed with throny shrubs and bushes. the gateway had two chambers on either sides, seemingly occupied by the family outside.

Neelappa poses before the surviving bastion, the temple priest in the background.

The temple priest shows us the two sources of drinking water on the hill. This fort had the potential to become a major fort but some reason it remained a minor one. Right next to the hill is Bhoruka reservoir and power generation plant.

Beyond the reservoir, close to the horizon on the left is another fort- Kumara Ramana Kote. Malatesh mentioned that a several scenes of a historical movie was shot there. Near Kumara Ramana Kote is Hema Gudda right next to the state highway connecting Gangawati and Koppal.

The side and rear parts of the fort are in ruins.

The priest's wife and son. The kid was yelling his head off when I aimed the camera at them. The wife told that her son thinks I was a doctor and he's about to receive an injection. Poor little fellow!

The daughter was too shy to stand alone for a picture, she would not let mom go.

On the way back I noticed the pond I missed while climbing up.

The climb down was much faster. Our plan was to spend some time at Anegundi fort- see Chintamani and Krishnadevaraya tomb and head back to Gangawati for lunch.

Shivapura fort coordinates: 15°20'47"N   76°21'27"E

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