Rayadurga

Rayadurga is a hill fortress south of Bellary, its walls enclosing two rocky heights above the town. Temples of Narasimha, Hanuman and the goddess Ellamma stand among the fortified remains, together with a Jain shrine. A festival in honour of Ellamma brings worshippers to the hill. The stronghold was associated with local Bedar chiefs before it entered the Vijayanagara sphere, and later passed between competing powers of the southern Deccan.

After Vijayanagara’s decline, the palegar of Rayadurga became tributary to the Marathas. Mughal armies later advanced into the region, but local chiefs continued to administer and collect revenue under their changing overlords. In 1800 the fort and surrounding Bellary country passed to the British after the Nizam of Hyderabad ceded territory acquired in the wars against Mysore.