Munvalli Fort

March 6, 2010.
We arrive at Munvalli from Subapur, via Tallur. On the way Shrikanth tells us his Indica had a flat. We stopped for a moment to take a snap. Believe me... it's Malaprabha river in the foreground not a gutter.

Shrikanth drops us off near the fort gate and goes of to get the tube fixed. The fort is surrounded by jaaligida a shrub with terribly pointed thorns. To an extent jaaligida has kept vandals away from the fort walls. We walk through the gateway, the twin doors are battered.

I was surprised to see a farmer cultivating a plot. We guessed all the land, which is not really much, within the fort is owned by one family. I'm not too sure, it must be Qilledhar family.

As we walk the small path, we met a youth, Manju, two minutes of talking casually bout the fort, he volunteered to be our guide. He showed us Udchammanagudi. Udchamma is a goddess, an avatar of Parvati (my guess) is quite popular in North Karnataka, especially Dharwad and Belgaum districts.

On the way to Hanuman temple, we stopped by to appreciate these bastions. In the background you can see another plot, a farmer was irrigating the cultivated land. It seems vegetables are grown here.

Left to right: Chetan, Neel, Manju and passers by we asked to join the group ...Manju knew them.
There's the temple. It's simply fabulous! It's a small temple but decorated with exquisite carvings. The architecture is similar to temples of Maharashtra.

Place was little tight and light was not favorable ...I still need to learn to shoot facing Sun.

Jai Hanuman.

The arch reminds me of Indo-Saracenic architecture. Art works on this temple are pretty to similar to works in Ibrahim Rouza, Bijapur.

I'm at loss of words to even describe this piece of work. I just cannot even imagine how those pillars and platform were created. Isn't mind-blowing?

I could get 5 of 6 panels, missed the top most. Each one of them is a unique theme. Bottom to top: Trace the band with your finger, you end up where you started. A lotus. A vase on a stand. 3 fishes with their heads together. I cannot make out the last one.

The platform support is elegant adorned with so many details; a chain runs around the neck of the support, floral carvings, two fish and a spiral. How did the artists imagine the combination? I wish i could travel back in time and see those artists at work.

I do not remember seeing anything this before. Three fish form a star. Chetan and I discussed a bit about it but failed to understand what the central triangular piece is. The symbol, to my eyes, depicts something powerful. If someone could explain...

Another no-start no-end maze. This one is much more complex.

A pendant hanging by a chain. take a closer look at this packed image, you'll find a crow, a parrot, two circular no-start no-end maze and two special creatures with dog's body and a pig's head. Amazing!!

These two pendants are pretty similar to 'pendants hanging by chain' at Imbrahim Rauza of Vijayapura.

Another no-start no-end maze.

An array of floral and geometrical objects.

This little temple is at the top in my list of favorite temples.

I asked Manju if we could climb one of the bastions and get a good view of the entire fort. He was not sure but went exploring but no luck... either the shrubs blocked the way or the walls were too delicate to climb on. We gave up.

Manju told we could check from outside, I was skeptical but let Manju lead. The entire fort is surrounded by jaali-kanti. No way.

Our walk to the fort rear side did one good. We got to see four temples, two facing rows with two temples in each row. One temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is maintained since the daily pooja goes on. The one we are looking at was the most beautiful one but neglected. The inside was filled with filth.

I guess it was 12 by then, all of us famished. We decided to end out tour and head to a restaurant.
The Google Map screenshot shows Munvalli Fort and Malaprabha snaking around.

A - Fort gateway
B - Hanuman Temple
C - Malaprabha river
D - Saundatti - Munvalli - Yeragatti road
E - Ancient temples

I invited Manju to join us for brunch. We had Pulav and Mangaluru Bajji. With the break we felt much better. Further we could catch up with some more rest during the ride to Toragal Fort- destination next.
If you are ever visiting or passing by Munvalli during day do stop at the fort and visit the Hanuman temple.

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Subapur Fort

I'd not heard about Subapur Fort until a week before this visit. After some research and planning, I was all set to visit 5 forts on a Sunday- Subapur, Munvalli, Toragal, Ramdurg and Nargund ...in this order.
March 6, 2011. We grouped near Kala Bhavan around 5-30AM. With barely any traffic we soon passed Saundatti. On the way to Munvalli we saw two handsome looking peacocks but went out our view in seconds. We passed by Munvalli, stopped at Benakatti to ask directions for Tallur, at Tallur we asked for Subapur. The terrain changes- we drive past hills into a valley with a hill with a fort on the top comes into view.

We reached Subapur by 7-15 AM, we got a few surprised looks from the villagers. We asked for directions and coaxed a young fellow to be our guide.

The uphill dirt path was littered with rocks of varying sizes and dirt was loose at places. Wild shrubs stuck out their thorny bushes into the path snagging our tee-shirts.

After 15 mins climb, we were close to the gateway, we paused to catch our breath. That's Subapur village... our guide Fakirappa said it's pronounced Subbapur.

That's the main gateway facing North. As you see the walls and bastions are carefully piled stone walls... nothing binds them.

Wikimapia screen shot marked with few important points we checked.

A - Fort gateway

B - Well

C - Well

D - Well

E - Grainery

F - Bastion

G - Gateway

H - Outer wall

I - Well

J - Palace Ruins

According to Fakirappa this is a grainery. The top of the grainery is the highest point in the fort. We spent some on it. Unfortunately the structure is crumbling badly ...probably we contributed to it's deterioration by climbing up & down.

South end of the fort is double walled. Probably there was another gateway here. Beyond the walls is a valley. Subapur hill is undoubtedly the highest in the vicinity.

Another view of the neighboring hill.

As we climbed down the grainery, I noticed this strange looking sign on one of the stones.

Chetan pointed out this bunch of insects ...did not notice if they had wings. Two dots on their backs gives an illusion of a pair of eyes.

We explore the southern wall and bastions.

As you see this wall is at a lower level than the one we are standing on. I guess it's an extension to the main fort wall. If you look carefully you can see 3 black-face monkeys sitting on the rocks. A minute before I shot this picture the group was larger and Fakirappa had pointed out to two of them and said "that big fellow and that small fellow are worst of the lot, they steal groundnuts from our village" :) I'm amazed that Fakirappa could recognize monkeys just like people.

We walked along the wall to our left and standing at the edge. These are probably living quarters for guards.

Fakirappa climbed down easily while I struggled with my Canon hanging from my neck. Neel and Chetan and took their own sweet time posing for pictures. Neel was trying to imitate a pose of some movie actor.

The shallow depression enclosed by the walls probably was used for water storage.

Fakirappa told that government carried out repair work in this fort. I wish more is done to preserve this monument.

Back then construction was environment friendly.

If you take a close look just below root running horizontal you can see two concentric circles... lichens. This plant is common in this fort and likes to grow through gaps in rocks. Wonders of Mother Nature.

This hill range flows right up to Ramdurg.

One of the seven wells in this fort, three of them have proper steps descending into them. Couple of them had water. Whoever planned this fort made sure his soldiers would never go thirsty.

We are balancing on heap of rocks which were walls in their good days, walls of a royal residence with a dozen rooms.

I'm sure Subapur hills would look like paradise after a good rainy season. I made a mental note to visit some time between September and December.

I was happy with Fakirappa's patience... he would talk only when needed. I'm glad meet wonderful people most places I visit :) Going downhill was relaxed but not really easy, we had to watch every step. We said bye to Fakirappa... Srikanth was waiting for us.

Our next destination was Tallur Vaade. Fakirappa told us that Tallur Desai's people visit the fort every year to gather firewood. On a hunch I asked if there's a Vaade at Tallur. Yes. We'll check it out.
That's the route we traveled through the day.

Few videos made at Subapur Fort.
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