Naldurg Fort

Naldurg Fort:-

Naldurg which was formerly a district headquarter is situated about 50 Kms. southeast of Osmanabad. The fort which is an interesting place has enclosed a surface of a knoll or plantain of basalt rock which is jutted out into the valley or raving of the small river Bori. Along the rest of the cliff on three sides ran fortifications. Bastion firmly built out are large enough to carry heavy guns. The entire circumference is about a mile and a half. The interior portion is covered with ruined walls and a wide road running up to the centre. The fort has many bastions amongst which are upli Buruj, which is the height point in the fort. Paranda Buruj , nagar Buruj, Sangam Burug, Sangram Buruj, Bands Buruj, poone Buruj are the other bastions.
History:-

The Naldurg fort is one of the important ground forts in the Marathawada region. It represents a fine example of the medieval architectural style.
It it believed that the fort was built by Nalaraja (The King Nala). The fort and the city is named after him. The fort was built in the period of the Later from A.D. 1351 to A.D. 1480 in the period of the kings and in A.D. 1558, the Adil Shahi rulers constructed the massive fortification wall of the fort. In A.D. 1613, Ibrahim Adilshah II built the weir on the river Bori and constructed Pani Mahal.
The main entrance gate of the fort is known as Hulmukh Darwaza. The protective walls have 115 massive bastions. The chief bastions are named Paranda, Upli, Sangram and Nav Buruj. Upli Burug is the highest place in the fort. Cannons are also placed on these bastions till today.
These cannons have figures of elephants and crocodiles and are therefore called Hathi Thop and Magar Thop. There are some old buildings still standing in good condition.
Inside fort:-

Inside the fort there are remains of the walls and some of the building such as Barood kotha, Baradari, Ambarkhana, Rangaan mahal, Jali etc. Though the buildings are in ruins the remains give a impression that there might have been at one time the specious buildings. There are two tanks in the fort known as machali guns amongst which important are the hathi toph and magar Toph, The hathi Darwaza and the hurmukh darwaza are the main gates of the fort.
Panimahal:-

The most interesting building which connects the fort and the Ranmandala is the dam constructed across the bori river, the dam and the pani mahal, which is built underaatched and in the middle of the dam were, constructed. During the reign of Ibrahim Adil shah II. The fort is said to have been originally built by a Hindu Raja who was a vassal of the Chalukya kings of kalyani. It was latter included in the dominions of the Bahamanis and was subsequently taken over by the Adil shahi kings of bijapur, from whom it passed in the hands of mughalain the year 1686.A.D.
Temples:-
Khandoba Mandir
Shree 1008 Bhagwan Adhinath Mandir
Ambabai Mandir
Rokdya Maruti Mandir
Ganesh Mandir
Vithal Rukumini Mandir
Mahadev Mandir