Rayadurg Fort

Rayadurgam or Rayadurg Fort or the “King’s Hill Fort”  is a medieval fortress built in the town of Rayadurgam in Anantapur district of the Indian province of Andhra Pradesh. It is positioned at a distance of about 2 km from Rayadurgam Bus Station and 99 km from Anantapur.

Rayadurgam Fort is one of Andhra Pradesh’s oldest forts and was built at an altitude of 2727 feet. This fort is accessible through all the means of transportation. The Fort of Rayadurgam is among the principal tourist destinations in the city.

The Rayadurg Fort played a very significant role throughout the history of the Empire of Vijayanagar. This fort is comprised of numerous layers of the internal forts which made it inaccessible for the attacking enemies. According to historians, Junga Nayaka, the head of Vijayanagar Kings, founded the fort of Rayadurgam. The fort was later conquered by Tipu Sultan and annexed to the Gooty Province.

On the hill, beneath which the Rayadurg Town is built, the wrecks of the fortification can still be seen. A portion of the wall of the fort has been collapsed. But the majority of the fortress still stands strong. Four caves with the doors of stone and with the ‘ Siddhas ‘ gravure are situated underneath the slope of the hill.

The fortress area includes most of the temples of the village that includes the temples of ‘Hanuman’,’ Narashimhaswamy’ and’ Elamma’. The villagers visit these temples frequently and these are popular among the tourists too. Other temples present in the area are of ‘ Prasanna Venkateswara,” Venugopala,” Jambukeswara,” Veerabhadra’ and’ Kanyakaparameswari ‘.

Another notable and impressive sight is the statue of Lord Ganesha with ten shoulders or the “Dasabhuja Ganapathi,” carved from a 4 m high monolithic stone. The statue of ‘ Dasabhuja Ganapathi ‘ is the testimony of the beautiful old sculpture art of “Shilpakala.”