‘Bengaluru Fort’: A Witness to Historical Glory!

Bengaluru Fort, Bengaluru, Karnataka  I  Courtesy of Wikipedia  

India’s culture and heritage places are some of the favorite topics of many people. For those, and for their curiosity, there are many places in India where people can learn and observe historical pieces of evidence. It is grateful to visit heritage places where all the things are inherited and preserved just like the old days. My visit to Bengaluru Fort before the pandemic brought a great experience of learning new things. It revealed the cultural facts of our country. Also helped to learn about the people who experienced that era.

---

Bengaluru, a city of dreams for millions of Indians, the silicon valley of India is also very well known for its history and heritage. This beautiful city has witnessed a range of kingdoms rise and fall, it has seen Kannada culture evolving through time, and the temples, palaces, forts are just a few examples of this incredibility. Many kings built some monuments to survive and maintain their states and also so that their descendants will always remember their pride and states. One such example is "Bengaluru Fort'', which is also known as "Tipu Sultan Fort".

I believe that historical monuments and artifacts take us through the time of our ancestors and make us feel proud about what we inherit from them. I visited Bengaluru Fort out of curiosity to explore the city, but eventually learned a lot about our old culture. The place is located in the heart of a busy KR market, a bit tricky to find out but very easy to get to.

The strength of the fort and its preserved richness is just evident at its very first glance. Though it was originally built using only soil during the reign of Kempe Gowda, while building a new city of Bengaluru back then; the fort was renovated in a later period by Haider Ali. Fort was surrounded by four gates but the one that stands out is called "Delhi Gate", which is why I think it is the main entrance to the place. These wooden gates were meant to be the primary protection from outsiders and that's why they have big spikes and supports onto them. Besides, these doors and all the walls are decorated with Persian friezes. I could capture a few carvings where the motifs like Lotus, Peacocks, Birds, Elephants are carved, but most of them were having marks of damage telling stories of suffered military attacks.

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tejaswee Pande (@pande_tejaswee)

Illustration of Ganpati temple inside the fort

A Ganpati temple, which can be seen right after one enters the fort, was built long back and seems like it holds its sanctity in its preserved heritage. Moreover, an engraved double-headed bird just at the upper side of the temple is also very attractive and thorough.

The entire fort is not only beautifully designed but also constructed very tactically that anyone can get impressed by the vision behind it. Bastions that were designed to trick enemies, various walkways, artillery make the fort an epitome of architecture. In addition to this Kote Venkataramana Temple and Tipu Sultan Summer Palace are more two places that were once part of the Bengaluru Fort.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tejaswee Pande (@pande_tejaswee)

 Illustration of Summer Palace interior

The summer palace is an impressive piece of architecture. As it was built for the summer, it has open balconies, four rooms, and a hall with adequate ventilation. Traces of old murals and paintings can still be seen on the walls of the palace. The Islamic art style and teak wood interiors of the palace boosted my curiosity towards the ancient arts. Another remarkable piece of architecture is Kote Venkataramana Temple, built during the time of ruler Wodeyar. This temple has added charm to the beauty of this magnificent fort.

 

I was already aware of the fact that the originally constructed monument was very vast in area, so I was able to visualize it from the currently protected monument. Every part of the fort cannot be visited as we have to preserve them but one can still go there with a little more effort.

 

I must say that the whole place traced me back to the history of Bangalore. It tells stories about who we really are and what we actually own from our ancestors. And that is why one cannot deny the fact that Bengaluru Fort has its national importance under the ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains.