Penukonda Fort, located 76 km south of Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, and 141 km north of Bengaluru, is an elaborate fort system built around early 14th Century CE.
The region finds mention as ‘Ghangari’ in the ancient inscriptions. Penukonda was also the second (summer) capital of Vijayanagara Kings.
Fort had numerous temples, establishments and 7 citadels within its fortifications, but very few have survived.
There are a couple of stepwells – built in typical Vijayanagara style. There’s one Gopuram that leads to nowhere; probably a temple existed behind that at some point in time.
Ajithanatha temple, built around 1359 CE, has been recently renovated. There’s also a Dargah of Hazrath Baba Fakruddin, a Sufi saint of 12th century CE.
Thimmarasu jail is where Prime Minister Thimmarasu of Vijayanagara – the creator of Lepakshi’s magnificent structures – was imprisoned for some time.
This region and the fort were under the control of Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagara, Marathas, Tipu Sultan, Hyderabad Nizam and eventually the British, at different points in time.
Also in the precinct are Ramalayam, Kashi Vishwanatha temple, Mukteswara temple and Gagan Mahal.
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/MXKWMZBLHtWG9qqr9
#drive #heritage #nature
Awesome website- very informative, beautiful pictures. Thanks so much for this treasure.