A 'Fort'uitous detour.

It was not the intended destination . But we were destined to land there  ! 

On a journey to Seebi , a minor error in map-reading put us on the two lane highway , where we were stuck  with a never ending median , making it tough to reverse the direction. A signboard for Sira showed up before the  median relented with any  gap for U Turn.

But the name Sira rang a bell , a big clanging bell . 

Sira ! We were in the vicinity of a historical place that gave the prototypes for all the grand edifices we Bengalureans take pride in : The Bangalore Fort , Lalbagh and Tipu's Palace ! The prototypes are all gone with history. Sira is a small town now, with just the ghost of a Fort  left .

But the  name beckoned as with a Siren Song !

Seebi  was unceremoniously put on the backburner and the destination reassigned . Onward to  Sira Fort then !

SIRA ( originally called Siria ) has a long and checkered history of being passed around the imperial hands of a variety of mighty  players - the Vijayanagara Nayakas  , the Marathas , the Moghuls, the Mysore Sultanate, the Wodeyars and the British, all of whom coveted this fertile tableland for its strategic location as well as for its natural wealth .

Looking at the small dusty town now, it is difficult to visualise its past greatness . 

Yet , this was once a Power Center , the Capital of a Subah ( Province)  created by Aurangazeb in 1687 , south of the River  Tungabhadra , comprising seven parganas  , approximating the Carnatic Balaghat carved out earlier by the Maratthas. Big names like Anegundi , Bednur , Chitradurga and Mysore were made tributaries to Sira Subah and were administered from The Sira Fort .

The Mughal revenue  system introduced in Sira has had  long lasting influence in the region.

The Fort goes by  the name Kasturi Rangappa Nayakana Kote.
Rangappa,  the Nayaka of Ratnagiri   started building the brick and stone fort during early 17th Century  . However, Sira fell to General Randullah Khan  of Bijapur in 1638 and the fort was completed by the Governor Malik Hussen, who also enclosed the town with a mud  wall . The subsequent conquerors redesigned and added to the Fort and what remains today are mostly walls and bastions built by Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan . And these are in an appalling condition now.

Till a few years ago , the Fort was in total neglect . The first effort at restoration in 2015  met with severe criticism as crumbling walls were being bulldozed without any effort  to retain the old architectural elements such as the  slits in the wall for musketry and the glacis . The ASI then undertook  systematic repair work, which was going on when we visited.

Entering the Fort was a minor battle for us as a hedge of thorny twigs was laid across the approach to ward off  irresponsible visitors, who ,reportedly, were using the ancient monument to answer the call of Nature.

                         

Entry managed , the first portal to cross was a gaping  space in the enormous stone wall rising 20feet high , just beyond the dry, weed filled moat . It must have had a door made of timber once , but now lost.

The second portal, locally called Diddi Bagilu,  was the most unexpected sight . Looking like the entrance  of a Dravidian Temple , it had spacious "jagalis" with a set of very beautiful pillars.

                           

The third portal had more pillars with bas relief panels, but most of them severely damaged. Some of the relief sculptures seemed like they were systematically chipped away.What was left intact  - the elephants, makaras , creepers etc  - made pretty pictures.

                                        

Crossing this portal , we were confronted by  a high wall again . The pathway curved around this wall in a deep loop . This was an interesting and unusual security measure thought up by the Fort's architects to thwart  easy access by intruders .

                                     

Covering an area of about 80 Hectares , the fort is now mostly a wasteland inside . We found crumbled remains of only three buildings , which could not be identified as of any particular description . 

Two wells , one of them quite large and stepped , apparently served the needs of those who lived within the fort .

                                   

 Clay pipes were used for conveying water and evidence of this lay  among the rubble.  We almost missed this feature. But  a kindly local gentleman, with kohl-ed eyes and smelling of  fresh carbolic soap, stopped by to point it out for us . Noticing our interest and curiosity , he lingered on to guide us around the entire Fort. We found his obvious pride in the Fort touching.

                                    

Among the ruined buildings, only the octogonal pavilion with a domed roof seemed relatively less damaged . According to our newfound guide , the polished blackstone slabs of its flooring were joined using lead. This  he verified for us by scratching a joint with a stone : it showed a silvery shine  ! So lead it was !Wow !

                                     

 The fort is a square , with 18 bastions placed in perfect symmetry , which shows up like a neat diagram in satellite pictures .

The low ramp hugging the moat on the inner side is a broad wall of packed rubble , finished with perfectly  laid stone  cladding .

As we went around the Fort , we found stray relief sculptures dotting the outer walls : faces , serpents , fish , hamsa and human figures in addition to small niches with identifiable Ganesha and Hanuman icons. The isolated, weather worn faces seemed a bit creepy .

                       

High up at some corners of the wall, the cross beams used for strengthening the base of the upper moulding were actually pillars of some older temple with carvings of rishis and devatas . It was peculiar to see these characters in a prone position. 

                                      

Similarly the side walls of the flight of steps leading into the larger well  had carved elements from some long lost temple. Since the Fort changed so many hands during its life time , it is difficult to assess when such repurposing of worked stones was done.  

                          

From the top of the rampart , a fine view of the town unfolded , showing a large waterbody ( Doddakere ) and some minarets beyond the areca groves.

                 

By noontime , the sun had become too earnest, and we had to wrap up our visit . Just before leaving though , we went up one of the ramparts to see what work was going on there .

A team from ASI was busy removing old, grimy , graffiti marked plaster from the upper brick walls and applying a fresh layer of a white paste  . As we got talking , we were enlightened by the team that the material being used was not cement but the exact type of plaster used originally : the "nei-garey" , or Chunam prepared from the same ancient recipe : Lime , fine sand , aloe vera , jaggery , asbestos powder( kalnaru) , and plant resin all ground together to a smooth white paste in a giant grinder. Looking at the churning machine , it was difficult not to think of idli batter roiling in a kitchen grinder! The lime powder they were using , we noticed , came all the way from Korea as local supply is scarce . 

                                      

The nice gentleman was very happy to have guided  us around "our Fort" . When we offered a small token of appreciation for his troubles, he seemed quite offended. His only wish was for us to spread word and encourage more City folks to visit " our beautiful and historic Sira"

Though unplanned , the visit to Sira Fort turned out to be an exciting voyage of discovery and wonder .

( Sira is 123kms from Bengaluru , in Tumkur District )