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INSIDE STORY

A forgotten town

Photos: by author

Celebrating glory The Kirti Thoranas are the gateways of glory

The road curves and arches into a fortified stone wall, embellished with sculptures and yaalis carved in stone. An entire settlement lies behind these walls. We are in the old Warangal Fort, the capital of the Kakatiya Dynasty.

I walk towards the map, and read a bit of history. Earlier known as Orugallu or Orukal, referring to the single boulder or hillock on which the fort is located, it is also called Ekasilanagaram.

The information on the map says that the fort, built in the 12th Century by Kakatiya king Prola Raja and his son Rudra Deva, was ruled by Ganapathideva. The most important ruler of the Kakatiyas is not a king, but queen Rudramma Devi who held fort here in the next century.

Sculptures lie around and enclosing them are four massive stone pillars, one in each direction. The stone pillars, called Kirti Thoranas, are more than 30 feet high and are the “gateways of glory”. A couple of elephants, another nandi, yaalis, a few pillars, broken sculptures, a gaja kesari and even an old throne are enclosed by the kirti thoranas and open to the sky.

Famous Kakatiya ruler Prataparudra worshipped at a “Swayambhu” (self-incarnated) Shiva temple here. We sit near the throne and look around. A couple of dogs chase each other. The fort has three concentric fortifications, two walls and there is a trace of the third. Of the four gates, only those in the east and west are still in use.

With 45 towers and pillars spread over a radius of 19 km, there was also a moat surrounding the fort. Today, the fort is today in ruins. It was largely destroyed by Malik Kafur, as the dynasty eventually fell to the Delhi Sultanate. The silence in the fort is soothing and we spend some time marvelling at the sculptures.

Yonder, the Kush Mahal, built much later by a local ruler, Shitab Khan, possibly a subordinate of the Bahmani kingdom in the 15th Century, is a sharp contrast from the architecture of the fort. We walk up to the roof top and take in the sights of the old village. A couple of vehicles ply on the road and school kids walk past us. The lush fields sway in the breeze.

This was once one of the richest dynasties. As Marco Polo once said, they have “great abundance of all necessaries of life.”

It is amazing how a rich capital, a seat of power where battles were fought and won, is today a town of forgotten memories, alive only in text books.

My trail ends here, but the Kirti Thoranas remain in our minds — pillars of yesteryears’ glory lost to modern civilisation.

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