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Gooty Fort

Kumari Sonali

Gooty Fort:

After review, the Union Ministry of Communications and Department of Posts recently forwarded the proposal for a commemorative postage stamp on Gooty Fort.

  • Gooty Fort, also known as Ravadurg and Gutti Kota, is an ancient hilltop fortress located in the town of Gooty in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
  • Inscriptions found here appear to be from the reign of the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI Tribhuvanamalla (1076 CE – 1126 CE).
  • It was also the site of a major battle between the Western Chalukyas and the Cholas under Vira Rajendra (1063 CE – 1070 CE) when the latter laid siege to the fort.
  • The defenders fought well and hard and beat back the Cholas.
  • The area later was taken over by the Vijayanagar empire and once was the abode of one of the most powerful Hindu rulers of all time,
  • The Qutb Shahi dynasty succeeded the Vijayanagar empire and subsequently fell into the hands of the Mughals when their capital of Golconda was annexed.
  • In the 18th century, the Maratha general Murari Rao captured the fort area and revamped the structure to strengthen it.
  • Hyder Ali, the then ruler of the Mysore kingdom and father of Tipu Sultan, forced Murari Rao to surrender when he ran out of water supplies.
  • With the onset of the British invasion of India, the important fort fell into the hands of the British East India Company.
  • It is a blend of Hindu-Islamic architecture.
  • It was made of granite rocks, and the domes were constructed with fine stone, mortar, and lime, ensuring sustainability.
  • Built in the shape of a shell, this fort actually comprises 15 small forts with different gateways.
  • The outer wall with bastions connects all the gateways of smaller forts.
  • The fort also features two imposing buildings, one of which is a gymnasium, while other is a barrack.
  • On the edge of the cliff, there is a pavilion of polished limestone called Morari Rao’s seat.
  • Various wells were created at the top of the hill.
  • There are several temples within the fort, like the Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Nageswara Swami Temple, Hanuman Temple, Jyothimma Temple, and the Ramaswamy Temple.
  • There is also a Dargah inside the fortification.
  • There are several ruined structures on the upper level of the fort.