Madhugiri - Other Features

Other Features

• The Mallinatha Jaina Basadi adjoining the fort wall has a good manasthamba.
• At the Veerashaiva Gurrammana Matha there is a tomb of a guru named Shivalingaswamy. There are some fine caves near the matha.
• The erection of the fort at Madhugiri is ascribed to a local chief named Raja Hire Gauda. The fort was greatly improved by Haidar Ali. Haidar Ali, after the conquest of Bednur, had kept the Rani of Bednur imprisoned in this fort until its capture by the Marathas in 1767 A.D.
• Several gates such as the Antaralada Bagilu, Diddibagilu and the Mysore Gate lead one to the top of the hill which has many springs.
• The place is known for the manufacture of handloom cloth and blankets. A superior variety of rice called chinnada-salakki (golden stick) is grown in this taluk.
• Midugeshi, the headquarters of the hobli of the same name, is about 19 km north of the Madhugiri town. The place is said to have been so named by a local chief Nagi Reddy of Vijayanagara times, after his wife Midigeshi who was so called because her locks (kasha) were so long that it touched her feet.
• The Midigeshi hill is said to have been fortified by Nagi Reddy and it has several gates leading to the top of the hill. On a rock beside the steps to the hill, there is the statue of the woman in relief, and it is identified as of a heroic woman called Chikkamallamma. On the hill are granaries, dome-like structures for storing ghee and oil, powder magazines and springs which are called Musare-done and Kanneramana-done. On the summit is a mosque with two minarets at the sides and ornamental parapet all round roof. Close to the mosque there is a shrine of Hanuman. The building has flights of steps on both the sides.

(Source: Karnataka State Gazetteer 1983)