A new feather is being added to the crown of 14th century Kondaveedu Fort, now being renovated into a full-fledged tourist destination.
The Department of Archaeology and Museums has come up with a proposal to set up a unique fort museum on the foothills of the fort to provide a glimpse of the glory of this fort, once the citadel of Reddy dynasty.
Director of State Gallery Eemani Sivanagi Reddy said that the museum would be constructed with a cost of Rs.1 crore and would have rare artefacts including stone sculptures discovered during numerous excavations.
It would house an exclusive gallery named, ‘Forts through Ages’ – a compilation of history of all famous forts in the State.
Stone sculptures“The Department of Archaeology has about 20 stone sculptures excavated in Kondaveedu Fort at various museums across the country. We will be collecting them to be installed in the museum here,” Dr. Nagi Reddy says.
New impetus
A new impetus has been given to development of the fort after the State government has given its nod to lay a ghat road at a cost of Rs.35 crore. The Roads and Buildings Department has completed survey and laid a 3-km kutcha road. A Tourist Information Centre at a cost of Rs.30 lakh would also set up.
Tourist destinationKondaveedu Fort Development Committee convener K. Siva Reddy is excited. “Our dreams of restoring the pristine glory of the fort and make it into a top notch tourist destinations is finally coming true,” he says.
Located 26 km from Guntur, the Kondaveedu fort was built by Anapotha Reddy in the 1,250 A.D and later developed by Ana Venkata Reddy, rulers of the Reddy dynasty known to be benevolent patrons of the art and culture. Later, the fort, considered impregnable, with 24 bastions and spread across 30 hillocks, was ruled by Gajapathis. Famous historians like Amol Mujumdar and Roy Chaudhuri praised the fort in their writings.
