Chandragiri Fort, Andhra Pradesh.

Chandragiri is a small village 15kms away from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.This small nondescript village doesn't attract many serious travelers and is frequented mainly by the local populace.But there was a time in History when this place and its fort held much significance.After the defeat of the mighty Vijayanagara Empire in the Battle of Talikota, the Vijayanagara Kings shifted their capital from Hampi to first Penukonda and then again to Chandragiri. Built in the 11th century its years of prominence were from 1367,when it came under the Vijayanagar Empire till 1792 when it slowly faded into obscurity.   

Now it lies silently amidst the barren lands surrounding it, coming alive only on weekends when throngs of people swarm its corridors oblivious of its history and only interested in the park surrounding it.

A few days back I visited this place from Nellore. I took a RTC bus from the RTC Bus stand in the city to reach  Tirupati.It took 3 hours for this part. From Tirupati I boarded another bus which dropped me in the small nondescript village of Chandragiri after a brief journey of 30 mins.

From the village one has to walk a few hundred metres to the fort complex. It was a Sunday and just a few metres away the road was lined up with cars on both the sides which was a bit unexpected. I don't like crowds and on top of that this was a crowd here not for the fort but for the park. Anyway I resigned to my fate and walked in.There is a ticket counter for entry. The fort complex has two palaces and a park near the point of entry but sadly access to the actual fort on the top of the hill is restricted, I have no idea why.Of the two palaces the first is called the Raja Mahal and the other is called, you guessed it, the Rani Mahal.

Raja Mahal
The Raja Mahal is a beautiful structure with three floors of arched windows on the front and a gopuram like structure on the top.It now houses a museum.The museum has nothing much to look at except a couple of sections. The first section which I liked was the Document section. There were a few documents from the 1810s detailing the correspondence between the then king and a British officer. It was fascinating to look at.Then there was the Coins section which had many Vijaynagara coins on display. Apart from these, other interesting displays were a full chain mail and a model of the Chandragiri Fort complex. After looking at the objects with interest and looking at the people with disgust I made my way out of the museum and headed over to the Rani Mahal.

Rani Mahal
The Rani Mahal looked as if the builder of the complex put his all efforts in the Raja Mahal and when the time came to build the Rani Mahal, lost all his interest. The front of the structure is plain and bland. I walked towards it hoping that maybe the inside will be better but I was disappointed. The moment I entered I found myself at the end. Thats how small that is. Reminded me of Munnabhai's Circuit's famous dailogue 'ye to shuru hote hi khatam hogaya'. I sat here on the grass on the other side of the building and took some much needed rest. The sun was shining relentlessly on the whole time and I was soaked wet with sweat.I saw a lot of couples here looking for privacy. I left soon not wanting to spoil these couples' 'quality' time and wandered over to the quiet canteen at the corner of the complex.

I had some snacks here and a bottle of Fanta. After spending some nice quiet time here I left when some noisy uncles and aunties entered. After spending some 3 hours in the complex I left .

Boating facility for the visitors

Chandragiri was a part of my 7 day trip I had planned during my Engineering Days which couldn't materialize due to lack of availability friends. Since those days a lot of things have changed and I have took to Solo traveling. I was glad I could visit one of the places from that unfinished trip. Still have many places to cover.

Notes
Where- Chandragiri Village near Tirupati,India
How to Reach - A lot of RTC buses pass by this small village.