A visit to Devanahalli Fort and Tipu's Birth Place

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How to reach there

You have to go on Bangalore - Hyderabad National Highway 7. On this road do not take a deviation to the airport. But still proceed until you reach a circle for Devanahalli township marked towards right. You have to go half km further and take a right turn from the highway.



Actually the fort is about 100 mtrs from the highway and visible from the road. But because the fort looks old and not attractive, you are very likely not to notice it from the road. I had never noticed the fort although I had gone more than 50 times on that highway. But this time after coming from the fort I realized that it is in fact visible from the highway.

About the Fort

There is a fort in Devanahalli was built by Mallabairegowda in 1501 A.D. Which was latter taken over by Tippu Sultan in 17th Century A.D. The present fort in Devanahalli is rebuilt by Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan during 17th Century. The fort was then taken over by the British after Tippu lost the battle in Mysore war.



This fort is very different from what I was expecting it to be. I was expecting a ticket counter, a parking place, some guards and stuff. But actually the fort is just an entrance and nothing after that (for the tourists). Talking from a different angle the fort area is used as a regular habitation.

There is no ticket or entrance fee for the fort. The entrance of the fort is rather a regular road to pass through. You can drive in through the fort entrance and go to the habitation area. The entrance to the fort is bit narrow, just enough for a big car to go.



The fort is spread over an area of 20 acres. This is a living fort where many families are living inside. There are many temples inside the fort area, such as Venugopalswamy temple, Siddheswar swamy temple, Raghabendraswamy Math, Chandramouleswar Temple etc.

After we drove in through the fort entrance we first saw two temples, Venugopalswamy temple and Siddheswar Swamy temple. The Venugopalswamy temple is just behind the entrance of the fort, sharing the same common wall.



This is front side (above) of Venugopalaswamy temple. This temple is believed to be the oldest among other temples. The sculptures of this temple are very attractive. We saw a beautiful Vimana (below) which is used to carry the idol during festivals.



There are two black colored statues guarding both the sides of the main entrance of the Venugopalswamy temple (below).



While coming out of Venugopalswamy temple, we could see Siddheswar swamy temple and two other temples in the front within yards.



Siddheswar temple (below) is just in front of Venugopalswamy temple, on the other side of the road, say at 10 meters distance. There is a newly built Siva statue with mirrors which gives multiple reflection of the lord. In order to protect the mirrors from birds and animals the temple is fully covered by metal grill.



The temple has a traditional look with beautiful sculpture. Painting with beautiful colors has made it even more attractive.



The main deity of the temple is lord Siddheswar (behind me above). The deity is old and worshiped since several centuries. A new temple is built in the campus (behind me below) fitted with mirrors at all sides to give infinite reflections of lord Shiva and Parvati.



There are few more temples inside the fort area which we could not visit because of limited time. It was going to be envening and we thought to visit Tipu’s birth place before it gets dark. So we came out of the fort and went further on the same road for 200 meters. We saw a small memorial marked as Tipu’s sultan’s birth place.



However, it has just some archeological importance, but there is nothing much to see. It is just an arch of about 20 feet surrounded by a wall.

Something important at the end

There is nothing much to see in the fort. So don’t go with much expectation, which might lead to frustration. Similar in case of Tipu’s birth place. If you like old monuments and archeological places, then you would like this place.

However, if you are in Bangalore, it is worth driving a few kilometers to visit this place. Particularly if you like temples, you will get some beautiful temples within a kilometer radius.

There is no timing of the fort (as it is always open), no tickets (as the fort entry road is used as the public road). So you can go at any time of your convenience.

There are two Beautiful Nakoda Jain temples on both sides of the highway. They are beautiful and worth visiting.

Nandi hills is also on the same direction. You have to go 2 kms further on the National Highway and then take a left turn for Nandi hills. It will be a good idea to combine Devanahalli fort in your Nandi hills trip and first visit the fort while going to Nandi hills.

(Note: This article was first published in JournalSite )

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