Sat Manjil and Gagan Mahal, Vijayapura (Bijapura)

 "A land without ruins is a land without memories. A land without memories is a land without history"-Abram Joseph Ryan

As the name suggests once upon a time Sat Manjil stood tallest in the citadel with seven-storeys. What we see today is hardly four floors, barely holding together. We were told few government offices occupy the palace now. There was no entry into the building. We circled around the property to no avail. There was a sacred fig tree nearby where we sat observing the one of the tallest buildings of Bijapura of bygone era.

Built in 1583 during the regime of Ibrhaim Adil Shah II as a pleasure pavilion. Prostitution may be legal back then. We do not have any information for this claim. However, having seen Sule Bazaar (Courtesan Street) in Hampi of Vijayanagara dynasty, it was only rationale to compare the two considering the timeline. Once known for stucco work and paintings now the building is in total dilapidated state. If timely action is not taken by the ASI there would not be any floor standing, forget the seven.

"Stone upon stone, a palace"-George Bernard Shaw

The stones are scattered, a palace gone. It is true for Gagan Mahal in Bijapura. The literal meaning is sky palace. It was built in 1561 during the reign of Ali Adil Shah I as royal residence with darbal hall. Three arches, wider centrally and narrow adjacently welcomes you to the ground floor which was supposed to be the darbal hall. The noble quarters were situated on the first floor. Unfortunately most of them are in ruins now. There is a beautiful garden in front of this structure. People were picnicking on the well-maintained lawn, mostly local. Several kids were enthusiastic to see us and volunteered to be photographed. They followed us asking various questions. We sheepishly admit they treated us like royals. Their version might be different than us. They might as well looked at us like specimens of interest.

History: Aurangzeb had his eyes on Bijapur for the longest time. However, his plans were halted due to a peace treaty between his father Shah Jahan and Adil Shahi dynasty with the help of Dara Shikoh in 1637. So, during the seize of Bijapur Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb personally arrived to establish the victory in 1686. The seize was the prolonged military undertaking lasting about 15 months from March 1685 to September 1686. The boy-king Sikandar Adil Shah of Bijapur who refused to be the vassal of Mughal Empire was brought in front of Auragzeb sitting on the Bijapur throne (pardon our GOT hangover) in Gagan Mahal. Shackled in silver chains Sikandar bowed three times to Mughal Empire and was sent to a prison in Daulatabad Fort where he eventually died.

Thus the almost two century old monarchy of Adil Shahi came to an end that ruled Bijapura from 1490 to 1686.

Nearby Attractions: Gol Gumbaz, Ibrahim Rouza, Saat Kabar, Bara Kaman, Navarasa Mahal, Malik-E-Maidan, Upli Burj, Jama Mosque, Mehtar Mahal and Taj Bawdi, Shivagiri

Sadashivgad Hill Fort, Karwar

After crossing the Kali Bridge we were at the foothill of Sadashivagad Hill Fort in no time. Apart from a temple the area looked deserted. Even the temple was closed. We sat in the patio for a few minutes waiting for somebody to show up. While doing so we we read a little about the temple. And it goes something like this. 

Temple History: The existence of this Durgamma Temple/Shantadurga Temple in the fort can be traced back to many centuries. Chatrapathi Shivaji visited this place twice, once in 1665 and again in 1673 with an army and captured all the coastal places of Canara including Sadashivagad. He was a devotee of Goddess Durgamma. The Durgamma temple was rebuilt and expanded in 1928 by the Bhandari community settled on this coast who have got the reputation of being the Darya Sarangas (navigators) of the old rulers.

Then few ladies carrying the water from a nearby well showed up and when asked about the fort, they directed us to a narrow stone path. We were lost because the GPS kept showing this knobs as our destination when we clearly know fort is up somewhere in the hill. We started ascending the narrow track clearing the tiny bushes. In sometime we were face-to-face with a locked gate, however, next to the gate there was enough gap allowing us to pass through it. As we neared the Lodge a man approached to tell us the estate is not open to public or tourists, and if we are eager to see the fort we could do so by booking the resort. Being born and bred in Jungle we consider ourselves Junglees (pun intended) and shelling out money to stay in one is never going to happen. Now the property belongs to 'Jungle Lodges and Resorts' of Karnataka Tourism Department.

We explained to him that we are travel bloggers and we write about the place that interests us. And Sadashivagad Fort is a historical place and people have the right to visit them. Without any argument he agreed us to show around. And what he showed is an empty space in which the famed fort once stool tall. It cannot even be called ruins. It is said most of its structures were destroyed by General Matthews of East India Company in 1783. 

History: The fort was built on a old fortified site on the bank of Kali River where the river meets the Arabian sea. That is why it is called Pani Killa. It is said old Karwar fort (Cintacora) was dismantled and its materials were used to build Sadashivgad. In 1715 Basavalingraj of Sonda named the fort Sadashivagad after his father Sadashiva Lingraj. The existence of old and new fort can be chronicled between 1510 till now. The fort silently validated the power shifts between many rulers including Portugese, Marathas, Sondas, Tipu Sultan, East India Company, and finally Republic of India.

Portugese called it Forte de Piro or Pir fort because of the Dargah inside the fort, which we could not see. In its past glory fort had ramparts of 8 meter high and 2 meters wide at the top. There were watch towers and windows for the guns. A stone horse stands in the middle and a restored column of bricks. The continuous history of fort is unsorted. The chance to have it in order seems bleak as this place is now turned into a resort. You will very well understand why a historic monument turned into a commercial establishment once you take a look from the top, because it is breathtaking.

According to us it should be a protected monument and maintained by either state or central archaeological departments considering the importance of history. One argument is that because of the dilapidated condition of the fort it will be better preserved by the tourism department and will bring revenue to the state exchequer. We had so much to discuss, which we could not do in front of the caretaker/manager who was gracious enough to show us around. Thanking him profusely we started descending the hill chatting away to glory.

Tip:

Book-in Sadashivgad Sea View Resort, Karwar of Jungle Lodges and Resorts if you're an outdoorsy person.

Entry for general public is prohibited.

Kali River Bridge, Karwar

The faint memory of being dropped off of an excursion by older family members appear every single time I hear the word Sadashivgad. It's only fair now to embark on that unfinished journey when we we're in town.

Breakfast we had at a small joint known to and frequented by Tarun many moons ago. The quality of food has reduced to a great deal according to him. Since I don't have any previous experience to compare, it tasted good. We often familiarize with each other's memories to create a moment that eventually becomes another beautiful treasure.

The Kali river bridge is built over the confluence of the river and the Arabian Sea in 1983. The bridge connects two states, Karnataka and Goa by national highway 17. Towards Goan side the road was constructed by bifurcating the hills of Sadashivgad into half. The sharpness of granite rock shone like crystal in the bright sunlight. Total length of bridge is 0.66 kilometres. Another thing I must add here Tarun as a tiny tot walked the entire length and breath of this link on foot. He was too young to remember it. This was narrated by his parents.

The structure of bridge is of Cast-in-situ PSC Box Girder Type with chainage of 102.47. With span arrangement of 122 meters, the carriage way width is for two lanes. We stopped the vehicle at the end of bridge and walked closely to the wall. We believe irrespective of size and shape each and every bridge is marvel of engineering. The skill, precision, time, effort, money, and hope involved in such construction is immense only to make our lives easy and comfortable.

The river below flows swiftly and gently glinting in sunshine like diamonds. The Kali river plays a significant role in Uttar Kannada district's agriculture, aquaculture, and development. Kaiga
nuclear power plant is also situated on the bank of this river.  Due to the endless vehicle influx we had to move away from the bridge and head to Sadhashivgad. 

Written By: Pallavi