JUNE 7, 1872.]
ANCIENT REMAINS IN THE KRISHNA DISTRICT.
Dargah Darwāja, there is another entrance, known as Golkonda Darwāja, on the other side of the hill, from which a path leads down towards Jagiapett. On the hill ferns abound, and many flowering and odoriferous shrubs. There is a white and purple
creeper (samudrapala the milk of ocean) which is very luxuriant. There is a good deal of jungle but no forest. One tree Ponugu chettu grows in consi derable abundance, and is much used by the Machis of Kondapali who are celebrated for the manu
facture of figures as representations of all the castes and costumes. Some of these are very good. On the hill there are numbers of monkeys (kondamutsu). There is a Telugu manuscript containing the legends and history of this fort.
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madan Government, he used to deposit his letters for Haidarabad at the foot of this image, and used to return the following day and find the answers. The monkey god is credited with a feat worthy only of the electric telegraph. There is another fort with walls of mud and stone
at the foot of the hill. This formerly belonged to the Malraj Zamindar's family. The fort is entirely in ruins, and the area has been given up for cultivation. Dharanekota, Amravati, and Chintapalli.Dharanekota is the site of a very ancient town, “the city of magic” as the name imports. The walls were pulled down by the late Vasereddi Zamindar to build the town of Amravati about a century ago. These buildings have also in time fallen into ruins.
Bellamkonda.-There is an old fort of stone here,
There were two hundred two-storied houses built
also said to have been built by the Reddis when
for Brahmans, and the Zamindar's palace is reported to have had gilt and silvered tiles. The whole place is now a mass of ruins. There are to be seen the remains of large reservoirs and fountains and places for pleasure grounds. A long law suit, car ried through many years regarding a disputed suc cession, dissipated the wealth of the family. The estate fell into arrears, and was sold by auction, and bought in by Government for a nominal sum. There are two brothers, the present representatives of this old and ancient Zamindari, who now live
they ruled the country. The fort is on the top of a high hill, and is termed a durgam or durg. The fortification still remains, and also the ruins of flat roofed dwelling houses, magazines, granaries,
etc. There is a perennial spring at the top which supplies a reservoir. The hill is covered with jungle, and there are tamarind trees, custard apple trees, and bamboos. There is a pathway formed for the ascent.
Vinukonda.-This is the Hill of Hearing. Tradi
tion says that here was the spot where, according to
in a ruined tenement where their ancestors were once
the localized legend, Ráma first heard of the rape of his wife Sità by Rāvana. On the hill, about 600
high lords, drawing a revenue of thirty or forty lacs a-year. They are dependent on their mother's pension of Rupees 150 a-month. The fort at Chintapalli belonged to the same family, and is now also in ruins. Also another at Rajapett, which is
feet high—a bare rock without vegetation, there is a temple of Shiva under the designation of Rāma lingeshwaraswämi. The ascent is a very steep one,
in the same condition.
by steps cut in the rock, and cut stones piled to form steps. Close to the temple on the summit are two konerus or artificial reservoirs of water revetted with cut stone. These never run dry. The larger
one is known as Rāmagundam, and is much resorted to for bathing. The other, which is much smaller, is known as Sitágundam, and it would be considered desecrative to bathe in it, as it is left for the god dess's private use. There are three lines of fortification around the
hill, one above the other, but the walls have been demolished, and the stones are gone for long distances. The fort is said to have been built when the Red
dis held the country, and there are still to be seen the foundations of the old dwelling houses on the
hill, magazines, granaries, etc. About a quarter of the way up the hill there is a large artificial
reservoir At
with a perennial spring known as Tega Bhavi.
the foot of the hill there is an old temple dedicated to Kodandarámaswämi and another to Prasanna
Rámalingaswami ; all around are the ruins of mantapams, and much cut stone.
There is a curious story attached to a large
representation of Hanuman at the foot of the hill. It is known as Tappal Anjanayulu, and it is said that when the country was held by Guntupalli or Rayani Baskarudu, a Deshapanda, under the Muham
Gurjala.-At Gurjala in the Palnad there are the ruins of an old fort, the stones of which have been largely taken by the villagers to build their houses. It is said to have been originally raised by Raja Narandrudu, the 4th descendant of the Pándavas (Kshattrayas). There are also the remains of other stone forts in
the Palnad, at Tunnekota (this has lately been pulled down and levelled,)at Kambhampad, Goli Nayarjunakonda, Tangada, and Karempudi. At the latter place, outside the fort wall, there are several two storied mantapams or porticos, which are said to have been used by an old Rishi in former days for the performance of his japam (prayers). He would recite his prayers at different quarters of the town at different hours of the day, high up in the second story of these mantapams where his devotions might be duly observed. Agnigmedala.-This place, in the Winukonda Taluq, derives its name from the hot springs which are said to have existed here, but there are no traces of them now. The fort here belonged to the old Malraj family, and is now quite dilapidated, and the site unoccupied. In the Winukonda Taluq there are also the ruins of old forts at Winukonda, which belonged to the
