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Published: August 29th 2010
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Madhugiri Fortress
The Madhugiri fort with its four levels of walls and bastions I am posting this recent trekking update after a long hiatus from Travelblog. To test my fitness level and to identify a good trekking club to do my futre short treks (less than 2 days) with, I signed up for the Madhugiri trek with Bangalore mountaineering club (www.bmcindia.org). BMC operates from Bangalore and conducts regular weekend treks of one and two day durations to locations in and around Bangalore. Some of the featured treks include Makkalidurga, Ramnagaram, Skandagiri, Ranagaswamy Betta, Shingani Gudda, Kudremukh etc. The club caters to the outdoor enthusiasts from the affluent IT, Biotech and management professions who, bored by the monotonous routine of the work week flock to do some hardcore action in the outdoors. Having joined a job and working in Bangalore for the last six months, I though I'll give it a shot and see if BMC can be a good trekking joint to meet new people and enjoy some action.
I signed up for the Madhugiri trek, a one day trek to the fort atop a 1000 meter hill located in the town of Madhugiri in Tumkur District. I had underestimated the effort needed under the impression that after all if a fort could
be built on top, with steps cut through rocks, it should be easy to ascend. This was proved wrong as I would elaborate on the point subsequently. As Wikipedia says "Madhugiri is located at 13.66°N 77.21°E. It has an average elevation of 787 metres (2582 feet)". It is located about 40km from Tumkur and 103 km from Bangalore. It is the second largest monolith (read as single stone) in Asia and ascends to about 4000 ft from the ground. A fort was constructed by the early rulers of Tumkur (the name slips my mind, will be back on it later) but was subsequently taken over by Hyder Ali with extensive fortifications. There are four levels from the bottom to top and each level has a wall with circular bastions. The walls themselves are about 6 feet tall with 10X4-inch slits at regular intervals, interrupted by larger holes. Presumably these slits were used by soldiers to place their rifles, while the larger holes were used for cannons. Each level houses a large reservoir cut out of rock to hold water for the fighting army and presumably to be through the rocks to make the surface slippery. The climb up was steep
and difficult made, so by the absence of steps at certain sections and growth of mosses making the surface slippery. The presence of water (after a rain perhaps) and its retention by moss on the rocks makes the climbing difficult and tricky. The trek is best done during the day and when the sun shines bright. The architecture of the fort was fantastic and gives us an idea about the way warfare was conducted in those days. If there is an attack, the army might retreat to the hill fort and repel the siege. The attacking army would have to rappel with gunshots from crevices, cannonade from slits and climb up the rocks through water poured from the top to discourage ascent. Not bad at all for the ruler who was known to have introduced fighting with rockets and missiles to the world and the one who never surrendered to the British (Hyder Ali died of cancer). At the top of the fort is a one-floor structure built of rocks and concrete with multiple rooms inside. There were holes at the top for each room which probably may have been used to collect water and for illumination. At the entrance
is a pavilion with rock cut slabs for people to sit and our trek coordinator Mr. Preetham mentioned that it was where the ruler sat and gave judgement (I fancy the reason for serving judgement from atop a hill unless the verdict was to throw the guilty down). There were inverted hemispherical dome with hole on top probably used to store water, ghee etc(No beer) but I could not find any tap - the only way to take things out is to use a receptacle tied to a rop on top like drawing from a well. We did not find any trace of temple or any idols
The historical aspects of the fort aside, regarding the climb Preetham told our group of nine that this was the most difficult of the treks in the BMC repertoire (my luck). I carried a liter of water but two would be recommended as it is a day trek and the shining sun makes one sweat a lot. I do not carry electrolyte drinks as I am of the opinion that the salt concentration in the blood increases due to electrolyte (salts) i the drink and loss of water due to sweating. This
would lead to increased thirst and water requirement to dilute the blood salt concentration. Our group was relatively fit and completed the ascent in a little less than two hours. The view from the top was good and we could see as far as the horizon (the air was cleaner and less polluted, I guess). I had a little nap on the rocks for a good half-hour enjoying the cool breeze before deciding to climb down. We hoped that it should not rain till we get down, as the wetness of the rock would make the descent challenging and dangerous. The descent was difficult and at places people had to be bailed out by holding hands and using the fort walls for grip. Particularly interesting was the section with steel rods erected on the rocks (these probably supported the concrete walls which are long gone) and steps etched on the rocks. We ascended facing the rock and using hands for support but while descending we had to face the opposite direction with the butt on the rock, to be able to see the foothold. The foothold was only an inch in depth and one has to carefully place the foot
to avoid slipping. We eventually reached the base in 45 minutes and rested for a while to catch breath and freshen up, before heading back to Bangalore.
To sum up, the experience was fantastic, the climb was challenging and our guide (he is a volunteer with BMC) Mr. Preetham was knowledgeable and helpful. The trek is charged at Rs. 700 including travel, breakfast and lunch, which in my opinion is a good deal. I look forward to doing more treks with BMC in the future.
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