Kondapalli Fort,Vijayawada,Andhra Pradesh

day 3--
As it was my plan to visit kondapalli fort ,so i got up first early in the morning at 5am.After i got ready,i woke up p and afterward swat ,sumant and lastly akram got ready.We were on the road by 7 05am,just 5 mins behind our planed schedule(which was quite an achievement considering akram).We went to the bus sation and after some inquiries we boared a bus to kondapalli village.The bus dropped us at the main road from where a samll road led towards the villagen and the fort.The sun was out in the sky and was beating down hard on us.It was a long walk and on reaching the vilaage we had some drinks and as akram's bag was the heaviest,we kept it in a shop.We bought some snacks and drinks and after getting the directions from the locals we started on the path. I read that it was a 1 km trek uphill to reach it,but nobody wrote how hard it would be on a hot and humid day.The path was lined with stones.

It looked ancient but i dont know who laid it and when.We had to take four stops in between for rest,as the heat was proving too much for us.We were drenched with sweat by the time we reached the fort. I forgot all else as soon as i laid my eyes on the arched hall,it was beautiful,not like in the black and white pictures i saw. I read so much about this fort and its history and to see it in person was an exhilarating experiance.As we entered the fort complex, to the left of us was a lake nestled between two hills.The most striking point of this fort is that,it is located between two mountain peaks,unlike the golconda or the elgandal fort,the fort itself is not on the highest point,it is in between two tall mountains.To the right (inside the complex) is the main arched hall,the face of this fort.As we made our way inside,we saw two boards declaring two wide open spaces to be the diwan-e-aam and diwan-e-khas.The diwan-e-aam ,the court for the general public and the diwan-e-khass for the courtiers. Next came the narket yard.Neverbefore did i see a market yard of the olden times.It was systematic in the shape of a square,with walled spaces or cubicles for the shops at the perimter of the square.Personally, i liked the marketyard the most of all the structures we saw.From the marketyard we moved on to the the rani mahal and the raja mahal.Nothing was left of them, just there were only ruins left now.As we strolled along ,we reached the toop khana and the royal jail.Both were imposing and had the dungeons look about them.Sounds of bats squealing prevented us from going inside.Behind the toop khana,there was an excellent viewpont.


There were some cement chairs there ,but with the scorching sun beating down upon us,we couldnt stand there for a long time let alone sit.The view there was good.We made our way back and saw the dancing hall at the entrance,before we settled down under a banyan tree overlooking the lake i mentioned before.We had some snacks and drinks before we left the fort.Fortunately for us there was an auto waiting in the parking area and we found out that there was a motorable road.That road was an astonishing 6km from the top.The problem with the road was that it takes you away from the base of the fort or the village and drops you many kilometres away from the village.We had akram's bag in the village so we talked the autodriver into taking us there and he reluctantly agreed.We reached there and after taking akrams bag, we went to a shop selling the famous kondapalli toys.(at last i found them and i was determined i would bring back some as souvenirs). p and swat bought some ganesh idols and swat bought a big beautiful fan.I bought a hand fan and a candle holder. After our purchases we walked back to the main road .Just as we emerged on to the main road , a manuguru bus was approaching .so akram and swat boarded it.P, sumant and myself went back to the bus station where we had another one of those finger licking andhra meals.After that hearty meal,p boarded a bus to tenali and sumant and myself catched a bus to hyderabad.Sumant got off at suryapet.Thus ended a wonderful weekend trip for which i was longing for a long time.