Chitradurga Fort Seven-Circles

Chitradurga Fort — often called “Kallina Kote” (stone fort) — is a sprawling hill fortress raised across seven concentric lines of fortification by the Nayaka palegars (chieftains) who ruled the region from the 16th to the 18th century, incorporating natural granite boulders and hills into its defenses. The fort’s labyrinth of walls, secret tunnels, watchtowers, temples, and granaries makes it one of the most formidable examples of Deccan military architecture, later contested by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan before falling to the British in 1799.

The fort is inseparable from the legend of Onake Obavva, a local woman who, armed only with a pestle (onake), is said to have single-handedly killed a line of enemy soldiers attempting to infiltrate through a narrow crevice in the wall while her husband, the guard, was away — a story still told across Karnataka as an emblem of ordinary courage.

Getting there: The fort dominates the skyline above Chitradurga town on National Highway 4, roughly midway between Bengaluru and Hubballi; the Chitradurga Head Post Office lies in the town below, a short drive from the main fort entrance.