The Forgotten Hill Temple of Penukonda

Penukonda, a name that evokes echoes of the Vijayanagara empire. Once a flourishing capital, it still cradles the remnants of its regal past, fort walls that rise and fall with the contours of the hill, gopurams that once touched the sky, mandapas that whispered chants, and stepwells that quenched both thirst and spirit.

Penukonda Narasimha Swami Tempe

A winding road inside the fort takes one toward a lesser-known but expansive temple complex perched high on a hill, the Narasimha Swami Temple. Though the deity’s sanctum remains silent today, the ruins carry a profound voice of their own.

As one ascends the curvy path through gateways, hairpin bends, and dusty tracks, one is greeted by fragments of fortifications that once stood watch. A solitary gateway marks the entrance to a small plateau, and from there, the temple’s grand ambition unfolds.

Penukonda Narasimha Swami Tempe

The complex sprawls generously, a massive gopuram, several mandapas, a mukha-mandapa, and a stepped well (Kalyani) form its skeletal remains. 

The main shrine is raised on a commanding platform, with a broad stairway leading to what once must have been a proud gopuram. Its architectural choices suggest grandeur in intention.

One mandapa lies opposite the main shrine, another, possibly for open-air rituals, faces the hills. Most pillars bear scars of time and human interference. The mukha-mandapa still shows signs of recent community engagemen. The inner sanctum lies quiet and unentered.

Penukonda Narasimha Swami Tempe

Close by, a stepped Kalyani lies, serene, mysterious. Though some steps have collapsed and parts of the structure are missing, the water still glimmers deep and calm. Around the perimeter, remnants of pillared shelters can be seen.

The silence is thick, pierced only by the occasional rustle in the bushes and the crunch of dry pebbles underfoot. Every broken beam and displaced stone seems to cry out not just from the burden of centuries, but from the greed of treasure hunters who ravaged what time left intact.

Yet, the site still breathes in the quiet dignity of its ruins, in the memory of rituals once held, and in the solitude it offers the modern visitor.

Penukonda is more than a forgotten fort,it is a living museum of a chapter in history when kings dreamed big, even atop remote hills, hoping their devotion would echo across empires.

Happy travelling.