Kondaveedu Fort

Kondaveedu, famous for it's hill fort, regarded as one of the toughest to conquer, a place that like Bobilli has become a byword for courage and valour.

It was first established as a settlement in 1115 CE by Gopanna,the commander of Buddhavarma of Telugu Chola dynasty. It came under the Kakatiyas later, and it's glorious phase was under Prolaya Vema Reddy who shifted his capital here from Addanki.

In 1323, when Andhra came under the Tughlaq rulers, the Musunuri Nayaks, formed an alliance of all the Hindu chieftains, and threw out the occupying Tughlag Governor. One of them was Prolaya Vema Reddy, who would found the Reddy dynasty, initially feudatories of the Kakatiyas, they later carved out their own independent kingdom in coastal Andhra, primarily Krishna Delta-Guntur region. Vema Reddy shifted the capital from Addanki to Kondaveedu, and made it his base. Later the fort came under the Bahmani sultans and the Gajapati rulers.

In 1513, Sri Krishnadeva Raya laid siege to Kondavidu, in his campaign against the Gajapatis. It was one bloody long siege, with Prince Virabhadra putting up a stiff resistance, before Timmarasu, found a secret entrance to the fort and it fell in a night attack. The fort later passed into the hands of the Qutub Shahis following the decline of Vijayanagar, and later the Mughals, the Asaf Jahis before the British finally captured it in 1788.

The fort is built on a range of hills at an elevation of 1500 feet, the highest point going up to 1700 feet above sea level. It can be reached by 2 Ghat sections, one a very steep but short access in north, another a 3.2 km trek up, which is less tiring.

There are basically 3 forts on top of the hill,the oldest dating back to the 12th century, the main fort built by the Reddy rulers at a height of 1050 ft, is considered the strongest, with about 21 structures within it.

There are 2 entrance gates leading into the fort, the Kollepalli Darwaza and the Nadella Darwaza. The gates are 3 storied, made of massive granite stone blocks, there is another building built with rock slabs.

The fort has 3 reservoirs- Mutyalamma Cheruvu, Putalamma Cheruvu and Vedulla Cheruvu, which used to supply water to the fort's residents.

Another attraction at Kondaveedu is the Katthula Bavi( Well of Knives), where rivals used to be killed and disposed off. This is located in the Gopinatha Swamy temple at the foothills, and it has quite a bloody history.

Currently a ghat road has been built for the benefit of visitors to Kondaveedu, and is quite a scenic drive all the way up with some crazy twists and turns, be warned though you can get caught up in some traffic jams on weekends here.