Madanapalle and Horsley Hills

Madanapalle one of the major towns in erstwhile Chittor district is a mix of heritage, history and natural beauty. It’s history is believed to date back to 907 AD, when it was part of the Chola Empire. In fact some of the localities in the town like Sipayi Galli, Kota Goda( Fort wall) have a historical association.

This place was ruled by two Palegars of Vijayanagara Empire- Basanna and Madanna, after whom it’s believed to have been named. There are two hills flanking the town, the Basanna Konda and Madanna Konda. As per another theory, the town was originally named as Maryada Ramanna Puram, after the famous judge, which in due course became Madanapalle.

The place was initially under the control of Cholas, Yadavas, Hoysalas from 907-955, later under the Vijayanagara Empire, and was captured by the Golkonda Sultans in 1565. In 1713, the Nawab of Kadapa, Abdul Naqi Khan took this under his control, and finally the British. The Collector Bungalow here was built during time of Sir Thomas Monroe, the first collector of Kadapa.

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, visited Madanapalle in 1919, and was impressed by the natural beauty, solitude here. Jana Gana Mana was sung for the first time in public at the Beasant Theosophical College here on February 28th, the principal James Cousins was a good friend of Gurudev. He also translated Jana Gana Mana to English at this college.

The Beasant Theosophical College here was founded by Thesophical Society in 1914 and named after Annie Beasant. It is one of the more well known colleges in Andhra Pradesh, and during freedom movement was a center of the Home Rule movement. Many eminent people like Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Babu Rajendra Prasad visited this college, while it’s alumni included former Andhra Pradesh CM Kotla Vijaybhaskar Reddy, poet Sankarambadi Sundarachari who wrote “Ma Telugu Talliki Mallepoodanda” and Supreme Court Judge Sarasa Venkatanarayana Bhatti.

Horsley Hills around 15 km from Madanapalle is one quaint hill station off the beaten track. It was originally called Enugu Mallama Konda, after a devotee Mallamma who meditated on the hills here, and an elephant( Enugu in Telugu) used to get her fruit daily. Then collector of Madanapalle, W.D.Horsley built a summer resort here in 1863, and the place since then came to be known as Horsley Hills. The cool pleasant climate here has given it the nickname of Andhra Ooty.

There is a temple here dedicated to Enugu Mallamma, as also a huge eucalyptus tree,that was planted somewhere in 1859. The hill station has a mini zoo with a small crocodile park and aquarium that attracts tourists. There is also a forest bungalow to stay and the place is famous for it’s sunrise and sunsets.

The Rishi Valley School here is another attraction, founded by noted philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthy. Spread over 375 acres in the Rishi Valley, so called as it’s believed this place was inhabited by Rishis once. The School is known for it’s holistic education that emphasizes cultural development, arts and sports along with academics. Some of the eminent alumni of this school include former President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, actress Aditi Rao Hydari, Varun Gandhi, TV news journalist Srinivasan Jain.

Horsley Hills is located around 160km from Bangalore, 140 km from Tirupati by road. The beautiful hills, the greenery, Rishi Valley all make it worth a visit.