The Ramagiri Fort, also known as Ramagiri Khilla, located over a mountain top, is in the Peddapalli district of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. in ramagiri khilla the Hanuman statue was constructed by Gaddam Bapu from mancherial district. The family member will visit every year and make pray and worship for lord Hanuman. And recent year the family also established lord nagula statue near putta on top of mountain

Location

The fort, located on the Ramagiri hills, is near the Begumpet village in Ramagiri mandal in Peddapalli district. The fort was built within a thickly forested area that has a wealth of plant species, including many medicinal herbs. The fort is away from Peddapalli, the district headquarters. The Peddapalli – Manthani highway passes close to the fort, which is away from the Begumpet village.

History

The fort was built in the 12th century by the Kakatiyas of

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 811,844 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal serv ...

. Later, it was controlled by the Qutub Sahi Sultanate from 1518 to 1687, In 1656, the ruler of

Golconda Golconda is a fortified citadel and ruined city located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. It was ceded to the Bahmani ...

, Abdullah Qutb Shah, gave the fort to his son-in-law, one of

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

's sons. The fort came under the control of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in 1791. Tradition has it that Kalidasa, one of the greatest

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

poets, was motivated to compose his

Meghadūta ''Meghadūta'' (, literally ''Cloud Messenger'') is a lyric poem written by Kālidāsa (c. 4th–5th century CE), considered to be one of the greatest Sanskrit poets. It describes how a '' yakṣa'' (or nature spirit), who had been banished by ...

, a lyrical poem, by the Ramagiri Fort; however, Kalidasa is thought to have lived in the fifth century CE, well before the fort's construction. The Hanuman statue on the mountain was construction by Gaddam Bapu from mancherial district.

Features

Built in stone, the fort has many bastions and occupies a large area of a few square kilometres. The bastions are in octagonal shape. The fort had been fitted with four forge-welded cannons on the masonry battlements built to a height of as part of the fort walls. It has been noted that the mud plaster that covered some of the structures in thick layers was a combination of mud, lime, reeds, hair of animals, or even blood of animals.

Herbal plants

The Ramagiri forest in the area of the fort is an important source for medicinal plants. Large numbers of local medicinal people collect the plants and offer them for sale in nearby towns. Students also visit the area to identify these plants and make herbarium specimens. In view of this importance for medicinal plants, it has been suggested that the forest of the fort area be declared a Medicinal Plants Conservation Center.

References

Bibliography