Trek to Bhuvanagiri Fort

Many times while passing through bhuvanagiri, i used to think that it is very difficult to reach top of the bhuvanagiri fort, as the mountain is very steep and never though that one day i will be reaching the top, trekking on those steep mountain. I should thank Soorya Prakash, who is friend of mine from many years and Hyderabad Trekking Club for organizing a memorable sunrise trek to Bhongiri fort. This trek and the fort location was far above my expectations and one can enjoy the beautiful views of valleys from the top of the fort.

Location:
Bhuvanagiri or Bhongiri is at a distance of 40 km from Hyderabad(Uppal) on the Hyderabad- Warangal highway(NH - 202).

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History:
The fort was supposed to be built by a Chalukyan ruler Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya VI in the year 1076 and was named after him as 'Bhuvanagiri'. Some of the inscriptions found in the fort were in Kannada and Telugu language that highlighted the life style of the people in that era. Somewhere in 15^th century, the fort was ceded to the Bahamani Sultans and then was taken over by a local governor. The Qutub Shahis' used the fort as a prison for those who aspired to snatch their throne. According to legend, there once was an underground corridor connecting Bhongir Fort to Golconda Fort.

How to reach bhongiri?

From Hyderabad, we have to take warangal highway(NH -202) and the route will be Uppal -> Ghatkesar -> BibiNagar -> Pagidapalli -> Bhongiri(41km).
From Warangal, Bhongiri is around 100km and the route will be Warangal -> Kazipet -> Jangoan -> Aleru -> Bhongiri (100km).
Bhongiri is well connected by road, rail. Most of the buses from Hyderabad to warangal will stop at Bhongiri bus stand and there are some passenger, express which will stop at bhongiri railway station.
If you are planning to reach bhongiri by your own vehicle, please remember that you have to take left turn from the highway in order to get inside bhongiri.
Some parts of the highway is still in construction, so be cautious while driving, as i have seen many accidents on the way to bhongiri.

Our Trekking:

We were 7 members, started at around 6am from uppal in two cars and reached bhongiri at 7am. We directly went to the lower fort entrance, parked our cars and started our trek. As the lower fort entrance is situated on the western side, we didn't faced much problem because of sun while trekking. Official timings to visit the fort is 10am-6pm, but nobody will stop you if you visit the fort apart from the official timings. For those who are not adventurous, can take the steps and rest can opt for trekking on the steep hill.

Initially the mountain was less steep and after trekking for some time, we found it more steepy and at some point, we were unable to stand or sit as there is no support allowing us in doing so. After trekking for 200mts and climbing the fort wall, we entered into the fort. From there we have to again trek for some distance in order to reach the top of the fort.

The first half of the hill can be reached by steps and after that we have to take support of the railings in order to reach top of the hill. There is one small pond on the side of the steps, which is supposed to be full in monsoon and considered as dangerous to get into it, but it will be completely dry in summer.

With the help of railings and steps, we reached the top of the hill. From there one can see the beautiful views of bhongiri town and also the national highway. On the top of the hill, there is one fort like structure which is in a bad state and there are steps in that building to reach the top of the fort. One can have a 360 degrees view of the place if we reach the top of the fort.

Best time to visit:
As it is just 40km from Hyderabad, early morning visit to the bhongiri fort is most recommended, so that you don't have to trek under the sun. Try to avoid trekking in monsoon and in mid summer. If you are planning to visit in monsoon, then opt for steps instead of trek.

Where to eat?
Bhongiri has some small hotels, where you can find south indian food and also there are many bakeries. But try to avoid lunch or dinner in bhongiri. You wont find any shops inside the fort, so take some snacks and water with you.

Disappointed!!!!

I'm very much disappointed the way which the government is treating the historic places like bhongiri. Bhongiri fort is almost in ruined state and government is not at all showing interest in preserving the fort except collecting money from the visitors who enter the fort.