Gagan Mahal, Penukonda

The time was the cusp between the year end and the beginning of a new year. The wintry sun was shy to shine upon brightly. Generous doses of cut-chai were just an excuse to keep the coldness at bay, truth be told we love winters. Road trips during this season is the best. The destination we entered in google map was Penukonda Fort and it took us right at the entrance of this off-white building. The gate was closed. As we parked and gathered our essentials (read cameras) a young guy approached and inquired whether we are interested in seeing the Gagan Mahal. He turned out to be son of this building's caretaker and will open the gate only if we are keen on. We told him humorously that we intend to spend at least an hour or so in this palace.

Penukonda was the second capital of erstwhile Vijayanagara Kingdom. After the defeat in the battle of Talikota Aliya Rama Raya's brother Tirumala Deva Raya fled Vijayanagara to Penukonda carrying major portion of wealth of the empire. In later years it came under the control of Sultan of Golconda, Mysore Kingdom, Tipu Sultan, and ultimately British. Gagan Mahal was built in 1575 AD as a summer palace to King Krishnadevaraya. The architecture was Indo-Persian, also known as Indo-Sarcanic. A large portrait of Sri Krishnadevaraya was hung on the wall next to the entrance, which is very new obviously.  

The east-facing building comprises of two rafters. The ground floor consists of forty five arches in the dome and few rooms. The staircase on the left leads to first floor of the main building. This floor is equipped with few rooms. The total number of arches are twelve with eight big windows. From here the narrow steps will take us to the tower on the northern side. The pyramidal roof built in tier at the top is of Dravidian design. The tower has six protruding windows supported by brackets. As we sat on the large windowsill the cool breeze seeped in gently reminding us why it was called a summer palace. From here we could see the Ramaswamy Temple and Vishwanath Temple. The surface of the walls of building is coated with stucco. The palace was built without a single rafter, a unique specimen architecture. Among many other historic sites in Penukonda only Gagan Mahal is protected by Archaeology Department.

One folklore says Gagan Mahal was also home to court-dancer Gangamma. It was her job to perform when king, royals, dignitaries, and other bigwigs visit the palace.
  
Not a single soul was here during our entire time here. We could see the caretaker guy being fidgety and restless. We almost could hear a sign of relief when we decided to take leave from this place.

Route: Bangalore-Chikkaballapura-Bagepalli-Penukonda
Time: 09:00-05:00 (Depends on the availability of caretaker's presence.
Entry: Free

Navarasa Mahal/Sangeetha Mahal/Nari Mahal, Vijayapura (Bijapura)

"Oh mother Saraswati! Since you have blessed Ibrahim, his work Navrass will last for long"-Ibrahim Adil Shah II

We have told how we were chided by shoe keeper lady on the premises of Ibrahim Rouza when we asked for the direction of Saat Kabar. She thought us to be really crazy to visit that haunted place late in the evening. To pacify her we changed the subject to Navarasa Mahal. Her interest piqued at the topic. She narrated there is secret tunnel underground the Ibrahim Rouza that connects to Navarasa Mahal, that is at a distance of 4 kilometers. It was used by the erstwhile royalties. Though far-fetched to believe we nodded along silently.

After Saat Kabar we headed to Navarasa Mahal well aware that it would be closed by then. GPS was not fed with this location. On the way we asked few locals about Navarasa Mahal. What we understood later is that locally it is called Sangeetha Mahal. Following that was easy. We even found one sign board named Sangeetha Mahal. As we expected the complex was closed for the day. We were glad to have made this effort. The sun was setting behind the Mahal spreading its rich hues into the sky. Evening could not have been more beautiful.

The great patron of art and music Ibrahim Adil Shah II envisioned twin cities dedicated to music and dance namely Navarasapura. Navarasas are the human emotions or expressions while reacting to a situation. The expressions which can be heard or seen in Indian classical music and classical dance respectively. The nine emotions are shringara (love), Haasya (laughter), karuna (compassion), roudra (anger), veera (courage), bhayanaka (fear), bheebhatsya (disgust), adbhutha (wonder), and shantha (peace). The significance of naming the cultural towns to Navarasapura was inspired by Adil Shah II's book Kitab-e-Navras (book on navarasa) in Dakhani. The book contains 59 compositions and 17 couplets, most were attributed to Hindu deities. 

"Ibrahim the tanpurawala became learned due to grace of god, living in the city of Vidyanagari"-Ibrahim Adil Shah II

As we have mentioned in earlier post (Ibrahim Rouza, Vijayapura), Adil Shah was a trained tamburi (tanpura/string instrument) player. It is speculated Vidyanagari was the previous name of Bijapura. During his time Vijayapura (Bijapura) was the cultural melting point to various musicians, dancers, and artists.

The next day we were there around 11 in the morning. Through a grand arch we walked towards the Nari Mahal. Most of it were in ruins but for a palatial mansion and reservoir, encased by walls. The palace once stood tall to inspire wonder in commoners. Few interior walls were in crumbles. The royalty would have watched music and dance performances from their gallery. We roamed around the lawn seeing scattered stones on the hedges. It is said Navarasapura was ransacked by Malik Ambar when Adil Shahis of Bijapura were at war with Nizam Shahis of Ahmadnagar in 1624.

Though collapsed and crushed now, one should appreciate the vision of Ibrahim Adil Shah II for thinking about a city dedicated to music, dance, and cultural activities. It is documented that being a philosopher, Adil Shah constantly tried to bring harmony among Hindus and Muslims and Shias and Sunnis.

In the month of January or February Navarasapura Musical festival conducted on this venue annually to encourage the local artists. A piece of art in any form be it painting, architecture, music, dance, theater is a source of inspiration to others. Having decided on visiting Vijayapura in the musical season said we goodbye to Navarasa Mahal.

Tips

Best Season: June to February

Best Time: During sunset or sunrise

Visitor's Time: 10 am to 5 pm

Entry: Free

Nearby Attraction: Gol Gumbaz, Bara Kaman, Ibrahim Rouza, Saat Kabar, Upli Burj