Forgotten Devanahalli Fort near Bangalore International Airport
Last weekend was spent well exploring the forgotten Devanahalli Fort near Bangalore International airport. A majestic and imposing structure, its vicinity yet to be devoured by the land sharks. This 500 year old fort gained some importance recently and all because of the Kempegowda international airport coming up there, the historical relevance unfortunately lies covered in dust.
If you are a history buff and lover of forts include Devanahalli fort in your list of places to visit. Karnataka tourism has spruced up the place and it is worth making a day trip to this fort. There are lot of restaurants around the fort along the National Highway on which this fort is located.
A lone board stating the protected status of the monument stands there. So nothing should come up in and around 200meters of the monument, that is if all abide by the ‘Rule 32 of the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains, 1959’. Major part of the monument is in ruins, though some part of the structure has withstood the ravages of time.
Devanahalli Fort near Bangalore International Airport
Devanahalli Fort Wall
History of Devenahalli Fort
It was built in 1501 by Mallebyre Gowda a chieftain under the king Immadi Narasimha of Saluva dynasty. The fort was under the control of Mallebyre Gowda‘s descendants till 1749 when the Dalawayi of Mysore, Nanjarajaiah, occupied it. Later the fort was taken over by Hyder Ali. After the Mysore war it passed on to the hands of Lord Cornwallis in the year 1791.
This place is historically significant for yet another reason, may be the most important of all – Tipu Sultan was born here in 1750. Hyder Ali and Dewan Purnaiah, the Dewan of Mysore too resided here.
Mighty Walls of Devenahalli Fort
Walk on the walls of Devenahalli Fort, it is sure to give you goose bumps. I was imagining how many soldiers of Tipu Sultan must have lost their lives in this place, fighting valiantly against the troops of Lord Cornwallis. That was almost two centuries back.
The walls must have been stained by the blood of soldiers. There, on the walls of the fort were several holes running through the entire thickness of the wall. The soldiers must have aimed at the enemies inserting their guns and cannons through these holes.
We walked through the semi circular part of the fort wall which withstood the ravages of time till now. The view around from that height is great.
The thick fort wall, even the longest arm can’t reach the other side.
Can you guess what the above shot is about? Yes, it is tunnel sort of thing… you can see the fields on other side… Any guess to what structure it can belong to?
There are four holes in this. The holes run through the entire thickness of the fort walls of Devanahalli. I am sure you can guess the purpose of these holes.
Walls of Devanahalli Fort
The valiant soldiers of Tipu Sultan once inserted their guns and canons through these holes (arrowslit)to take aim at the advancing troops of Lord Cornwallis. In 1791, Lord Cornwallis laid siege to the fort and took possession of it during the Mysore War.
View of Devanahalli Fort Battlefield
Two centuries back, the warfare technology was nothing great… yet from these walls one can make out the amount of designing that must have gone in to making them, the strategy they must have used to attack the advancing armies.
Each soldier could aim in four different directions standing in one position. The soldiers on this side of the fort were shielded well from the enemies’ onslaught by the thick fort wall. If anything could have defeated them, it may have been the numbers at the other side.
With a large army, Cornwallis marched through Vellore and Ambure to Bangalore. He captured Bangalore in 1791…
Devanahalli Fort abruptly ends here.
Living Fort – The Devanahalli Fort
Inside the lofty walls of the fort is a small town similar to that you will find in a picture book of Malgudi Days. There are many temples some very old, some not so old and some just under construction. Temples there are dedicated to Venugopalswamy, Ranganatha, Chandramouleshwara and many other Gods and Goddesses too. More about the temples in another post here: Temples within Devanahalli Fort
Temple inside Devanahalli Fort
The 20 acres of land inside the fort is divided and owned by many private owners. Have a look at the various sites and the site holders’ names in the Wiki Map of the Fort. Soon these land owners will fall prey to the tempting offers of reputed builders. Then all you will find inside the granite walled fort will be high rise apartments, shopping malls and multiplexes.
Till then every proud Bangalorean should visit the place to pass on the heritage and legacy of the place to the future generations.
Inside Devanahalli Fort
Tickets and Timings
The fort is open throughout the day. No tickets are required. You can enter it for free. You will need one to two hours to tour the fort.
How to reach Devanahalli Fort
After you land at Kempegowda International Airport, don’t zoom off to the Bangalore city to attend meetings; instead start off in the opposite direction on Bellary road. Drive for 10 km and you are sure to hit the fort. Those of you who are in Bangalore, take the Bellary Road, it is 45 km from the city.
Interested in trekking forts? Here are more – Top 10 Forts in Bangalore
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(This post was first published on May 8th, 2008.)
Amazing Devanahalli Fort. Interesting post. Beautiful photos.
I shall visit this place.
You are right, already the lands near Devanahalli are sold to many builders, and soon we will see only concrete jungle there.
Beautiful pictures and a good read.
informative post !
Covers complete tour of Devanahalli Fort, Bangalore. Nice click.
This place is historically significant for yet another reason, may be the most important of all –Tipu Sultan was born here in 1750. Beautifully written with information to go there . Equally supported by pictures !! Thnx for taking us to a Historical place Indrani ji .
Such a beautiful fort! And so close to Bangalore!
Interesting place. Great pictures 🙂
So impressive. Nice to see this much of it has stood the test of time despite getting almost no care. If only it was maintained, it’d look great. It definitely a place that more people ought to see.
I wanted to go see it last year. It didn’t work out. I’m so glad I came across your post. Thank you for the tour and for the pics, Indrani. 🙂
it is a nice place, but not maintained well.
Been there really long back. Got to go again.
Seems like a great architectural marvel… quite interesting post!
Will make sure to visit it..I liked your line…After you land at the international airport, don’t zoom off to the Bangalore city to attend meetings;
Another thorough post by you. Good one 🙂
–Nimi
http://www.NimiArora.com
superb boss
wecome at http://www.maharanasaheb.tk
This interesting site looks old and new all at once. I’ll admit I love the graffiti in that one shot. I suppose we all want to leave our mark…What an interesting place. Thanks.
truly majestic! great shots too!
These are interesting photos and great history.
Cooking and Baking
Thanks Anil.
Thanks Swati… glad this post could motivate you. 🙂
Great Photos….will surely visit the fort….good to know such historical places so very near to Bangalore…
Informative post. Must see this one the next time I visit Bangalore.
Thanks Digital Polaroids!
Thanks and Welcome back Pradeep,that was after a long time. 🙂
Informative writeup. Heard of this, but never got to know of it this much. Shall surely make it one day.
Beautiful!
A very big THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU who enjoyed reading this post and took the effort to leave your valuable comments for me.
Hi! You have a nice blog liked reading through it, nice pics will come back for more.Thanks for shareing.Wish You Well
good post this one. i enjoyed it . thanks
excellent virtual tour. wonderful photos and infos
personally i am not too fond of tippu or hyder for that matter, with reason. some day i will post a blog on what he did in malabar.
but well he did teach the art of fighting with guns to the indians of the south..
That’s an amazing history! Wow! Love histories. So glad you shared it with us.
wow, lovely and intersting pictures…hope i can go here someday.
mine is up too, hope you can check it out.
http://www.myplanetpurple.com/2008/05/weekend-snapshot-4-beef-ramen.html
http://howellabie.blogspot.com/2008/05/weekend-snapshot-2-swimming-class.html
happy WS!!
Lovely pictures.. from within car to outdoors. And thanks for
walking us thro’ 1501 to 1791. Informative and you’ve kindled the
interest to one day go and admire Mallebyregowda’s achievement.
When I was a small kid, whilst marching to the drawing class in a
line – a boy in front of me, just before entering the class
wrote his name on the wall… and I didn’t like one particular
alphabet, so perfected it. And stepped back, to my horror on the
drawing class teacher’s foot…. looked up to see his Tippu Sultan
like moustache quivering.
sigh… was made to clean up the handprints of various previous
dynasties, on the entire wall..!!! Thankfully, learnt my lesson then :-)))
Feel sad when people scribble on Forts and Monuments, defiling its glory.
interesting post. Nice pics
Mine in here Thanks
great shots
Will you visit mine Thanks
great shots
Will you visit mine Thanks
Nice to see the port you have there. 🙂
You took some great shots of the fort. Very interesting post.
As usual Indrani , your post so full of wonderful information and make such great reads .
Your pictures are so beautifully clear !
I particularly loved the ones that show the arches of the fort .
A pity such monuments are not given the care that will preserve them for posterity.
Looking forward to your post on the temples 🙂
I have seen this fort while traveling in that directions and have wanted to go there….but never made it. Thanks to this post, I would visit this place sometime soon.
Great post for WS! Hope you have a nice monday and a fresh start to your week! Mine’s Up too hope you can drop by…
Though 500 years old, the fort still looks good 🙂
Hope you had a good Mother’s Day!
p/s:Yup, I covered for a wedding on Friday 🙂
Hi Indrani!
Lovely post of another impressive Indian fort! Loved the pictures. But my week surprise was the self-erasable paper; amazing!
Thanks for your comment on Blogtrotter, where I’m now in Casablanca, however missing Ilsa Lund… ;(
Hope you have a great weekend!
So that’s where you were! 🙂
Wish you had started blogging when I was in Bangalore!
Great fort, but sad to see the red-white towers coming up in such close vicinity. 🙁
Great pictures and good commentary on them. I’ve not seen the fort either and it does look impressive. India’s got great treasures in it’s monuments and archaeology and sadly they are never promoted nor maintained, except for the famous ones that have put India on the map.
Very interesting read – the history embellished with your imagination, the desriptions, the uncertain future of the calm inside the fort – and lovley photos.
Great work, Indrani.
This is a good piece of information to me, will try to pass through that place some time 🙂 BTW, those pics are nice.
I am currently writing a post on a fort.
I like forts. It’s good to hear about the most intriguing tales of the past and the people of those times. Yes, there is something so majestic about them.
Thank you for sharing this interesting post on Devanhalli Fort. 🙂
lovely pics..i went there some years ago when I went to see a property..didnt buy any though but it was too late to enter the fort and then Ive been telling myself we will go..but ..
lakshmi