01After Hampi
Penukonda had been a provincial capital of Vijayanagara since the 14th century, guarding the road from the Deccan to the south. When Aliya Rama Raya fell at Talikota in January 1565 and Hampi was sacked, his brother Tirumala Deva Raya escaped with what treasure he could load on elephants and set up the court here. He founded the Aravidu line of emperors. Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur besieged Penukonda in the 1570s and was driven off. The court moved on to Chandragiri late in the century.
02What stands
Walls climb the hill above the town, with gates on the old road. Below them stands the Gagan Mahal, a palace of the Vijayanagara period with a tiered roof, and in the town are a Rama temple, a Shiva temple and an old Jain temple of Parshvanatha, side by side as they were under the emperors. A tradition of the town holds that Krishnadevaraya was imprisoned here as a young prince, and that Thimmarusu, his minister, was once governor at Penukonda.
The life of this place
- 1565Tirumala Deva Raya brings the Vijayanagara court to Penukonda after Talikota.
- 1570sBijapur’s siege of Penukonda fails.
- late 16th centuryThe capital moves to Chandragiri.
On the Bengaluru–Anantapur road, about 70 km south of Anantapur. Climb early, before the heat.
