Did you know that Gudibande a town has a hilltop fort of 17th century built in the shape of a Shiva Linga by a Yogi and a local ruler Byre Gowda of Tuluva dynasty of the Vijayanagar empire?
Gudibande, a town in Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka state, is best known for a conical shaped granite hill called " Surasadmagiri Hill" (second highest in the district) with an elevation of 826 metres, in the Nandidurga range of hills, which has an impressive rock fort built in the shape of a Shiva Linga. Thus the name Gudi Bande was coined with 'Gudi' meaning "temple" and 'Bande' meaning "rock" Historically, the fort is stated to have been built in the 17 th century by local ruler called Byre Gowda of Tuluva dysnaty, a fuedatory of former Vijayanagar empire. Byre Gowda was also known as the Robin Hood who would occassionally rob the rich and feed the poor, and also earned the nick name 'Havali (menace) Byre Gowda' who ruled for a short period from 1645 to 1648. The Fort is stated to be a replica of the Madhugiri fort. The fort, an 'Elusuttina Kote' is marked by , seven gateways at different levels, several turrets, and ramparts. The fort is built with seven levels with interconnecting escape routes which would help soldiers to flee in case of emergency. While the frist three gates are in ruins or not discernible, the fourth gate has been reinforced with a grilled door. The hill fort is easily accessible and is good for trekking.
The fort houses many temples of which a Shiva temple known as "Sir Rameshwara Temple", established by Sage Vishwamitra and Lord Rama which is believed to be one of the 108 Jyotirlingas.; this tempel has been renovated. It was then named as one of the panchagramas ( five settlements ) . The second ancient temple in the fort is the Lakshmi Venkateswara Swamy Temple which is claimed to have been built by the Chola kings. There is also the Ahobala Narasimhaswamy Cave Temple here. There are also two Jain basadis here one with an ancient idol of Tirthankar Parshwanath in Kayotsarga.
The fort is also known for water bodies or lakes. One is the Byrasagara Lake built by the lcoal, chieftain Byre Gowda in the foot hills. Byre Gowda had also built 19 water harvesting strctures called 'dhones' within the forts' limits which are interconnected through a unique canal system, and once capable of providing three lakh litres of rain water; these strcutres have been recently revived. Budibanda is famous for cultivation of paddy and sugarcane.
Gudibande is 132 km from Bengaluru city and 32 km from Chikka ballapur.
Narasipur Char
