This 13th Barabati Fort built by the Ganga dynasty in Cuttack, Odisha is in ruins. This medieval fort is about 8 km away from the center of Cuttack city in a delta area formed by the river Mahanadi and its tributaries.
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| Barabati fort, Odisha. new indianexpresscom. |
It seems it was a well fortified structure that could withstand a long siege. The deep moat around it, the strong walls and the entry gate would have given extra security to the people inside the fort. There is a Hindu temple within the fort dedicated to Katak Chandi, supposedly the presiding deity of the city, They are all in a dilapidated state including the 9 story tall palace. Presently, it is close to a modern sports stadium. The state administration has a plan to develop this site with park, boating facilities, etc - the old Gadakhai - moat into an interesting tourist destination. They already started the renovation work several years ago. But the work has been slow due to lethargy in the release of funds from the allocated amount.
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| Location map Barabati, near Cuttck, Odisha state, world geographic locations in |
The date of construction of Barabati fort, Madalapanji, is a subject of debate. King Anangabhimadeva III was the builder of this fort. When the king crossed the big river Mahanadi and was at Barabati, he noticed certain strange incidents which prompted him to have a fort built there. The village was named Barabati Cuttack and later the ruler shifted the capital from Chaudwar to this place. .
Square in plan the fort covers an area of 102 acres surrounded on all sides with a stone paved moat of 10 Mtr. width in northern and western sides and 20 Mtr. width in the eastern and southern sides. Because of passage of time and lack of proper maintenance, except the entry gate, the entire fort wall is missing. Since 1915 the fort has been under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India and is already declared as a protected site by the government. At the center of the fort there was a high mound with a tank in the western side, covering 15/16 acres of area. Now the site is under extensive encroachment. The 1989 excavation found out the fort was built with Khondolite stone over an area which was carefully strengthened by filling up 5 meter with sand and lime mixture. Further, the trenching dug on the eastern side of the structure brought to light 32 pillars made of literate blocks roughly square but varying in size. A mosque built by Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, governor of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1719 AD still exists.
The capital city remained unchanged during the Muslim rule )Mogul, etc) as well as the Maratha rule. In the colonial period in 1803, the fort was converted into a prison for confinement. It was here in 1800 the Raja of Kujanga and later in 1818 the Raja of Surgaja with his family members were imprisoned here. The advent of the Railways - introduction of the Bengal-Nagpur Railways linking Cuttack with Madras (Chennai) and Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1919 was a boon and Cuttack became the capital of Odisha.
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| Barabati Fort, near Cuttack, Odisha gobibo com |
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| 1887 image Barabati Fort, near Cuttack, Odisha, ineartamerica.com |
