Historic Hutridurga

With its ruined fortifications, Uttari Betta or Hutridurga is the only place that has monuments inextricably connected to Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru, write Sandy N Vyjay

Dodda Donne

Hutridurga Fort. PHOTO BY AUTHORS

A couple of buffaloes grunt at each other. A small calf vigorously shakes its tender neck to ward off flies. An old woman smilingly weighs heaps of white Kakada flowers, a group of elderly men are deep in animated conversation outside the temple to the village deity. This is a typical scene that one comes across in the villages that are scattered around Uttari Betta also known as Hutridurga in the Kunigal taluk of Tumakuru district.

The villagers in the many villages surrounding the hill go about their daily lives in the shadow of the hill which bears silent testimony to the passage of time and history. A history that dates back to the stone age. The Uttari Betta that rises to a height of about 3,708 feet has resonated to the echoes of the footsteps of the Neolithic Man more than 3,000 years ago as well as to those of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda and the forces of Tipu Sultan and the British.

The discovery of burial sites, as well as remains of pottery and iron weapons in the vicinity of the Hutridurga Fort, point to the existence of human civilisation dating back to more than 3,000 years ago. The connection with Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru, is established by a stone inscription found near the ruins of the Hutridurga Fort. The inscription says that the Hutridurga Fort was constructed by one Chennamma Nayaka in 1534 under the orders of Kempegowda. The Hutridurga Fort predates the construction of the Bangalore Fort and the Bangalore Pete which were the precursors to the Bengaluru we now know. It is also one of the Navadurgas which are the nine forts found around Bengaluru. Coins referred to as Bhairava Naniya from the times of Kempegowda have also been found in the vicinity of the ruins of Hutridurga. Once you reach the pinnacle of the Hutridurga hill which was fortified by a seven-layer security system in ancient times, you see an ancient Shiva temple with a small rectangular water body embedded in the rocky surface known as Dodda Donne. This is a spring that has a perennial water supply from an unknown source. The ruins of Hutridurga Fort and the ecosystem of the hill cry for attention to emerge from the shadows of oblivion. A group of passionate people of the surrounding villages have now come together to form the Hutridurga Samrakshana Samiti to ensure that Hutridurga gets its rightful place in history.