Chandragiri fort near Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh - eNidhi India Travel Blog

Chandragiri fort near Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh

-2020 update: Had to remove photos due to technical issue (site where I had uploaded them went down)- will try to restore -

We were supposed to visit Chandragiri fort during our Horsley Hills trip, but with our car creating trouble Day 2 plans went for a toss and we had to drop the idea of visiting Chandragiri

2 months later, during our Venkatagiri-Talakona trip we accidently came across Chandragiri fort and explored it a bit.

This Chandragiri is located in Andhra Pradesh near temple town Tirupati and not to be mistaken with a similar named fort in Kerala. On the Bangalore-Tirupati route, Chandragiri fort is located about 20 kms before Tirupati. The fort houses 2 major buildings- One is a 2 stories building called Raja Mahal or King’s residence, now converted into museum and the other one is a smaller Rani Mahal.


Chandragiri fort was built in the 11th century. (Now 1000 years young!) Chandragiri was under the rule of Yadava rayas for about three centuries and came into control of Vijayanagar rulers in 1367. (source, Wikipedia) and probably this explains the presence of a golden coloured statue of Sri Krishnadevaraya in the campus.

Museum houses a small collection of ancient artefacts, idols and literature, related to regions ranging from Mysore Empire to the Golcondas. Caretakers of the museum offer to explain them in more detail to you, of course in expectation of money. Photography is not allowed inside. First and second floor of Rani Mahal is closed and kept out of bound from tourists.


The palace appears to be built more for leisure than as a defense against enemies, as the structure is located very close to fort walls (which aren’t of great height either) and not built on top of the hill. The small rocky hill adjacent to it houses about 8 ruined temples and structures and a decent walk through the fort campus would take about 3 hours. (refer image above)


There’s a small pond in the campus and some boats too, but the pond is too small for any sane boating. Laser show is organized during weekends, 7PM onwards.

Chandragiri is a good place to stop by while visiting Tirupati.

Similar posts: Shanivar Wada, Pune * Bekal Fort, Kerala * Gingee Fort * Keladi Nagara Fort *  Talakona waterfalls, AP * Alamparai fort and backwaters off ECR * Madhugiri Fort near Tumkur *

16 comments:

  1. Which car to rent next and where are you headed?

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  2. Ok, Since you're asking, revealing the next 3 trips:
    Next weekend: Ford Endeavour, Tirupati side

    Oct 9 10, Coorg, Ford Endeavour

    Later in October, Chidambaram, Ambassador

    Wanna join?

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  3. Nice place to visit while on the way to some place.
    From what we saw, it did not impress me much, except for the good maintenance.
    Maybe my opinion would change if we had spent more time there...

    Ram

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  4. impressive! the place and your plans!!

    cheers!

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  5. Deepak,

    Thanks. I do keep planning trips but not all of them materialize. Let us see how next 1 month goes...

    Ram,
    Yes, its not a full day program, but a good stopover.

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  6. nice one and perfect timing.. am planning a trip to tirupati in oct.. and wanted to visit the fort,. now thanks to u i have the details...thanks

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  7. Nice pics, great blog and good page rank. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Shrinidhi,
    My name's Kenneth, and I do work for the magazine Right Choice (http://whichrightchoice.com/). We're writing about timeshare this month. It'd be great if you would answer some of my questions on the same. This is my email address - saldanha.kenneth@gmail.com. Do contact me if you're interested.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I had heard of this place, but never see it. Very nice shots of such a historical place.

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  10. That was one great tour!
    (That was embroidery work.)

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  11. Rajesh,
    How come you've not been to this place? I thought you've covered allover India

    Indrani,
    Thanks for the response. Great embroidery...

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  12. Chandragiri is my great grandfather's native place. My Grandfather was Dr Chandragiri Dwarakanath. It was a pleasant surprise to see your post about Chandragiri.

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  13. To know about the chandragiri fort in kasaragod, kerala click this link

    http://colours-artofnature.blogspot.com/2010/11/chandragiri-fort.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for giving wonderful info...nice post..last year i have been there.really beautiful temple.

    ReplyDelete

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