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Located at a distance of approximately 600 km from the capital city of Bangalore, Gulbarga is a rich historical city in Karnataka. In the past, Hindu rulers ruled the city. The name Gulbarga is related to a Kannada word Kaliburgi that means the stone land. Gulbarga is a sterile land with old palaces. There are some attractive tourist destinations in and around Gulbarga. Gulbarga Fort is one of the major tourist attractions in Karnataka.
The majestic Gulbarga Fort is a piece of the earliest illustrations of Islamic construction in Karnataka. Raja Gulchand built the fort. After that, Gulbarga gained importance as the Bahamani capital. Alauddin Bahaman fortified the fort with huge walls and seemingly bottomless moat. The fort houses numerous old structures including mosques, temples, huge buildings, bullet dumps, carriages, towers, guns and various striking courtyards. Adil Shah of Bahmani kingdom undertook massive repair works in the fort, after it was decimated by Krishnadeva Raya of VIjaynagar.
The lively infrastructure of the Gulbarga Fort used to act as a protector against invading army and looting marauders. These days the royal Gulbarga Fort stands as a decaying structure, thanks to the callousness of the authorities. The fort has faced many battles, and if you listen hard enough you can probably listen to some of those battle cries echoeing around its ramparts…The walls of the fort still manages to depict its old impression and majesty.
There is a mosque inside the fort called Jumma Masjid, which resembles the great Cardova mosque in Spain. Apart from that, there is the tomb of the great Sufi Saint Khwaja Syed Mohammad Gesu Daraz , popularly known as Kwaja Bande Nawaz. The tomb, built in Indo-Saracenic style, is known as Khwaja Bande Nawaz Dargah. The tomb is the venue for the annual Urs festival, which is attended by nearly a thousand people. There are some more tombs, which lie to the west of the Khwaja Bande Dargah. A compound of seven regal tombs is known as the half Gumbaz.
The best time to visit the Gulbarga city is just after the monsoon, between the month of October to February. Hyderabad is the nearest airport if you plan to visit the Gulbarga Fort by air. Hyderabad is about 220 km from Gulbarga. Jet Airways and Indian Airlines provide frequent air services between Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Tourists can also access Gulbarga directly by train. The city has its own railway station, and there is frequent rail connectivity between Bangalore, Bider and Bijapur to Gulbarga. Most of the trains to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi pass through Gulbarga, and they stop there.
Gulbarga is well linked by road to the major cities of Karnataka. There are frequent KSRTC buses from Bangalore to Gulbarga. After arriving at Gulbarga, tourists can hire taxies and autos to move around the city. Visit Gulbarga Fort during Karnataka tours to witness historical glories of Gulbarga.
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