Places of Interest

Gulbarga Fort : The fort was originally built by Raja Gulchand, a feudatory of the Warangal Kakatiyas. It was subsequently substantially fortified in West Asian and European military architectural style by Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah, the ruler of the Bahmani dynasty; particular mention is made of the citadel that was added in the centre of the fort. The fort has an area of 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) and periphery length of 3 kilometres (1.9 mi). It is well fortified with double fortification. A 30 feet (9.1 m) wide moat surrounds the fort. The fort is a monumental structure highly fortified with 15 towers mounted with 26 guns; each gun located inside the fort is 8 metres (26 ft) long and is still well preserved.It is said that the Bahmani Sultanate claimed lineage of the Sasanians and the motifs on their buildings, particularly the crowns of the arches that they built depicted an emblem of the crescent and occasionally a disk that was closely reminiscent of the crowns of the Sassanian emperors. Many religious or secular buildings in the fort area depict this emblem.

JAMA MASJID

Jama Masjid : The mosque, one of the first in South India, was built to commemorate Gulbarga as the capital of the Bahmanid Sultanate. The mosque though simple in design but has a symmetrical plan with well organized constituent parts. The masjid, only one of its kind in India, has dimensions of 216 feet (66 m)x176 feet (54 m) and was built on the lines of the Great Mosque of Córdoba in Spain. The mosque has no open courtyard. The outer passageways surround the prayer hall on three sides and have low open arcades with arches. They form a rectangular layout with ten bays each on the north and the south, and seven bays on the east. The square bays on the corners are topped by domes. The roofed interior bays are covered with low domes, faceted by pendentives. The front yard in front of the mihrab has nine bays with a single large dome. Trefoil interiors and elongated lobes are seen on sloping arches of the drum. The main roof drum is mounted on a cubic clerestory. The wooden screens that existed on the outer arcade openings have been removed over the years. They have been replaced, in recent times, by an arched entrance portal on the north face. On the whole, the mosque displays distinct Persian architectural style with five large domes (One large and four small at the corners) and 75 small domes with 250 arches.

Malkhed ( known as Manyakheta in earlier days ) was the capital of Rashtrakuta empire from 818 CE to 982 CE. The fort is located on the banks of Kagina River in Sedam Taluk. This place rose to prominence when King Amoghavarsha I (Nrupatunga Amoghavarsha) shifted Rashtrakuta capital from Mayurkhandi (present day Bidar) to Manyakheta. Amoghavarsha I ruled 64 years and wrote Kavirajamarga the first classical Kannada work. Amoghavarsha I and the scholars mathematician Mahaveeracharya, and intellectuals Ajitasenacharya, Gunabhadracharya and Jinasenacharya, helped to spread Jainism. After the fall of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas, it remained the capital of their successors, the Kalyani Chalukyas or Western Chalukyas till about 1050 CE.

Uttaradhi Math : 

The remains of Sri Jayatirtha, one of its most prominent saints in the lineage of Madhvacharya are buried in a Brindavana here. He was a commentator of the celebrated “aNuvyakhyana” of Madhvacharya which itself is a commentary upon the “Brahma Sutras”. For this commentary called Nyaya Sudha, he is popularly known as Teekacharya, a disciple of Akshobhya Tirtha (one of the four disciples of Madhvacharya), he had converted the Malkhed into the centre of Madhva study. Every year the Aradhana Mahotsava of Jayatirtha held at Malkhed during the month of Ashada.

The Jain Bhattaraka Math. The temple of Neminath (9th century AD). The pillars and walls of the temple date back to between the 9th and 11th centuries. The idols include tirthankaras, choubisi (24 tirthankaras), Nandishwar dvipa and idols of yakshi. There is a famous panchdhatu shrine with 96 images. In the same temple, there are other historical images.

The famous Mahapurana (Adipurana and Uttarapurana) was composed here by Acharya Jinasena and his pupil Gunabhadra in the 9th century. Somodeva Suri’s Yasastilaka Champu was written here. The mathematics text Ganita Saara Sangraha was written here by Mahaviracharya.The famous Apabhramsha poet Pushapadanta lived here.

Malkhed is well connected by road and railway. Malkhed lies in State Highway 10.

Ganagapur : Shree kshetra Ganagapura is holy place of Dattatreya. The place is associated with Sri Narasimha Saraswati Swami, the second incarnation of Dattatreya. It is located in the Afzalpur taluk of Kalaburagi district in Karnataka. The Main Mutt in Ganagapur where Shree Guru used to Stay is known as Nirgun Math. This Nirguna Math is adorned with the Nirguna Padukas. There is a Holy Tree of Ashwattha in the Temple (Nirgun Math). The water of the rivers Bhima and Amaraja, especially at the spot of their confluence, are considered extremely holy. “Bhima-Amarja Sangam at Gangapur is very sacred. The Aswatha Tree at Gangapur is as powerful as tha KalpaVriksha. Near the Aswatha Tree is Narasimha Teertha, and northwards to it are the PapaVinasini Teertha, Varanasi Teertha, Rudrapada Teertha, Chakra Teertha, Koti Teertha, manmadha Teertha etc. There is the Kalleshwara temple there.

Ganagapur is well connected by road and rail. There are many state-run buses from Gulbarga to Ganagapur. The town is on the railway route.Travellers need to get down at the Ganagapur Road railway station, which is on Gulbarga-Mumbai route. From there to Ganagapur is 22 kilometres (14 mi) by bus or auto-rickshaw. The nearest airport is at Hyderabad located 245 kilometres from Ganagapur. Pilgrims also from maharashtra state can come via solapur and Akkalkot. Both this places are having good connectivity to Ganagapur.

Sharana Basaveshwar Temple : Sharana Basaveshwara Temple is a shrine. The temple is dedicated to an eminent Hindu religious teacher and philosopher, Shri Sharana Basaveshwara,a Lingayat saint of the 18th century known for his Dasoha (Giving is earning) and Kayaka — an advancement of the Karma doctrine “You have the right to perform the work assigned to you. You have no rights to ‘demand’ the fruits of your labor” philoshophy.

The temple houses the Samadhi of Sharana Basaveshwara at the center called the garbha gudi. It has a lake adjacent to it which attracts many devotees and tourists. The lake is currently undergoing renovation and Rs. 1 Crore has been allocated for its development.A chariot festival, Jatra, is held every year in honor of Sharana Basaveshwara; it attracts huge crowds.This temple has a history of 400 years.

Sharana Basaveshwar Temple is located in Gulbarga City and can be reached by auto, city bus.

Khwaja Banda Nawaz Dargah : Syed Muhammad Hussaini, commonly known as Hazrat Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesu Daraz (July 13, 1321 -November 1, 1422), was a famous Sufi saint from India of the Chishti Order, who advocated understanding, tolerance and harmony among various religious groups. The 14th Century Sufi saint was a disciple of Hazarath Khwaja Pir Naseeruddin Mahmood also popularly known as Chirag of Delhi. Khwaja Bande Nawaz played an important role in preaching Islam in India during the 14th Century. Khwaja, who had his formal education in Islamic and Koranic studies, Arabic grammar, prophetic traditions, theology, law and jurisprudence, philosophy, and Sufism under the watchful eye of Chirag of Delhi, also underwent training in the mystic path and mastered it at a young age. The Sufi saint settled down in Gulbarga on the invitation of Bahamani King Firuz Shaha Bahamani. For the next 22 years, till his death at the age of 105 years, Khwaja made Gulbarga his home and spread the message of universal brotherhood from here.

This magnificent building was built in the Indo-Saracenic style and very clearly exhibits the varying styles of these two cultures. While the arches are a specialty of Bahmani architecture, the paintings on the walls and the domes are Turkish and Iranian in style. The Dargah Library stocks as many as 10000 books in Urdu, Persian and Arabic on eclectic subjects ranging from history and literature. The mosque near the tomb has been ascribed to Aurangzeb.

Khwaja Banda Nawaz Dargah is located in Gulbarga City and can be reached by auto, city bus.

Buddavihar : The Buddha Vihar is located 6 kms from district headquarters on Sedam Road near Gulbarga University. Spread over 18 acres, it has a main building, a meditation centre at the cellar and a Lord Buddha chaitya (temple in Pali) on the ground floor. The dome of Buddavihar which is built on traditional Buddhist architecture is 70 ft in height and 59 ft in diameter. The main dome is tiled with marble for a grand look. The dome has an ornamental spire made of panchaloha with a kalasha on top of it also made of panchaloha. Buddha Vihara is surrounded by four 48ft tall Ashoka pillars in the four corners in honour of King Ashoka the Great.

The prayer hall is 15,625 sq ft with 170 pillars and 284 blocks. Each block has a carving representing the architecture of Buddha temples of Ajanta, Ellora, Nagpur, Bodh Gaya, Saranath, Rajgir, Lumbini, Kusinara, Thailand, Singapur, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Japan and Rome. The floor of the hall has a seating capacity of 1500. There are 28 huge ventilators named after Buddhas of various eras. The other attractions are 100×100 ft open-air theatre with a 2,500-seat capacity, four large Mahadwaras (arches) known as Sanchi gates and a group of 11 cement statues led by a bronze statue of Dr B R Ambedkar indicating the Dhamma Kranti Yatra of 1956. Another feature is the U-shaped Dhamma complex housing a dormitory, a library, study centre, kitchen, dining hall, conference hall, exhibition hall and guest rooms.

Buddavihar is 6kms from District Headquarters and can be reached by auto,taxi, city bus

Chandrampalli Dam : The Chandrampalli Dam is constructed across river Bhima. The dam is located in Chandrampalli village of Chincholi taluk. The dam was constructed in the year 1973 and has 6 spillway gates each having a size of 9.14m x 5.64m. The release gates are located at the southern end of the dam. At full reservoir level (FRL) the dam has capacity to store water up to 493.16 ft. The maximum water level (MWL) of the dam is 496.21 meters. The dam has a height of 28.65 meters above foundation and the length of the dam is 926.54 meters.

Chandrampalli dam is situated amidst abundant natural beauty. Located between two mountains, the dam is surrounded by the Gottam Gotta forest at the back. This dam which is built on Bhima River has an island in it. This island and the area surrounding this dam offer a beautiful camping site for the trekkers. A hanuman temple situated on the adjoining hill can be easily reached through a flight of steps from the island. The dam is a preferred destination of the locals as well as the tourists for spending some time in the vicinity of nature.

Chandrampalli Dam can be reached via Gulbarga. Tourists can reach Gulbarga and then proceed towards Chandrampalli Dam by road.

Yetipote Nala : The yeti poth nala and Nazarapur falls are located in the Konchavaram Wild Life sanctuary in Chincholi Taluka of Kalaburagi District. There are two water falls formed by the flow of seasonal rivulet yetipote. The first waterfalls, about 200 metres from a bridge on the road between Gopunayaka Tanda and Sangapur, is a small fall where water cascades from black stones. The milky white water in the background of dark stones is a amazing view. The second waterfalls is 2000 metres away from the first and water falls from a height of 40 feet from rocks. The water cascades from three points giving a impression of three waterfalls. While the discharge of water from one point is more than the other two. The rocks surrounding the falls add to the beauty.

From Chincholi tourist can take Kunchavaram – Gopunayaka tanda route and reach till Sangapur road and then take left deviation near the bridge to reach the waterdfalls. It is advised to carry suffiecient food items and drinking water

Gottam Gutta or GottamGota forest : is located at a distance of 7 kms from Chandrampalli on Telangana-Karnataka border. Surrounded by forests and backwaters of the Chandrampally reservoir on the river Bhima in Karnataka, the eco-tourism project will endear the tourists. The Karnataka government had constructed the project in Chandrampally village in Chincholi taluk of Gulbarga district. It’s a beautiful forested area where anybody would love to camp and thoroughly enjoy a night of adventure.The tourist spot is situated amidst the thick green trees and natural beauty makes it an ideal place for trekkers and adventurers. There are also some historical temples nearby. This place has a gorgeous waterfall and beautiful tiny temples

Gottam Gutta Forest can be reached via Gulbarga. Tourists can reach Gulbarga and then proceed towards Gottam Gutta Forest on Karnataka-Telangana border by road. Also tourists can reach the place from Hyderabad which is about 135kms.

Upploan Hills : Around 10 km from Gulbarga. It is highly suitable place for to visit in and around Gulbarga City.

Kesaratagi Garden: Kesaratagi Garden in the city will delight anyone looking for a breather and some open space with beautiful stretches of lawns and well-manicured gardens with lovely swings to tempt the little ones.

Appa Lake Garden, Haft Gumbad, ESI Hospital, Sai Mandir, Ram Madir are some other places which are in the vicinity of Gulbarga city.