Veerabhadra Temple Nijagal

I had learnt that Nijagal was literally a fierce battleground for the raiding Marathas alongwith the support of  Madakari Nayak defeated Hyder Ali's army in 1777.  We wanted to cover this massive fortress located adjacent to NH4 on the return, but with the day light fading rapidly we had to compromise with visiting the Veerbhadra temple which is situated at the ground level of the Fortress.

Brief History :  The Nijagal fortress appears to have been built by feudatory of  the Vijaynagar Empire, later captured by Hyder Ali and strengthened to withstand the enemy assault.  The fortress was well endowed with multiple layers of security, moats filled with crocodiles, and granary which had a capacity to store food grains for two years.  Sardar khan was appointed as the general to protect the territory under Nijagal fortress by Hyder Ali.  He had garnered sufficient revenue and secured his loot inside the fortress.  How the fortress was captured will be a matter to be discussed in the later post.

Location : Hale Nijagal is the right description of the fortress on NH4, which is approximately 60 km away from Bangalore.  One will find the Kamat Restaurant on the left towards Tumkur and the fortress is visible right in front across the railway line, but one has to travel further and cross the under bridge at Old Nijagal to reach the Veerabhadra temple.

One can park their vehicle at the bottom of the hillock and ascend around 100 steps to reach the temple premises.  A Shiv Linga is installed inside a cavern wherein one can seek blessing of the Lord.  Than proceed towards monolithic Veerabhadra ( son of  Shiva ) carved out of the rock face.  The priests do conduct prayers for the devotees well being with right earnest.  It is soothing prayer one may find repetitive,
but bearable.

After completing the dharsan at both the temples one can take a hike towards the rocky pedestal on which Nandi is housed.  The scenery from this vantage point is quite pleasing.  One can have a sneak perview of the fortress too.  But the coverage of the fortress is kept pending for another day.  It was almost 7 pm and light was fading, we rushed to the Reliance Bangera foodcourt and had dosas and than proceeded back to the pavilion.