Lord Ventakeshwara Swamy Temple at Tirupati, in the Chitoor District of Andhra Pradesh, is one of India’s holiest pilgrimage sites. The temple and its eponymous deity attract millions of visitors annually, and yet surprisingly few of them stop at Chandragiri Fort, a gem only 14 kilometres before Tirupati on the highway towards Bangalore.

Coming from the highway, a village road leads through the fort. First on the way is a Hanuman Temple, surrounded by Chandragiri Fort’s mighty walls. The first gateway has elaborate yalis, mythical lion-like composite creatures, forming a guard of honor. The road continues past another gateway and ends at the Raja Mahal, which was once home of the Vijayanagara Kings. 

According to Indian history, the Vijayanagara Empire ended with their defeat at the Battle of Talikota in 1565. But that isn’t where the story ends: the weakened empire continued at Penukonda, but facing constant threat from the North, it moved further southeast to Chandragiri, which became their third capital until 1646, when it passed into the hands of Golkonda and later fell to Hyder Ali. 

The Raja Mahal is considered amongst the finest examples of Vijayanagara architecture: this imposing three-storied palace was constructed with stone, brick, lime mortar and is devoid of timber. Three graceful pyramidal towers roof the building. The palace now houses a museum with a delectable collection of bronzes from the late Chola and Vijayanagara periods. 

The delicate aesthetic balance of the Raja Mahal was evoked in 1951, when it became the inspiration for the design of the new Karnataka State Legislature. Thus Bangalore’s Vidhana Soudha, known as one of India’s finest post-independence buildings, was inspired by a palace of Andhra Pradesh, and not Karnataka.

Adjoining the Raja Mahal is Rani Mahal, which features intricate stuccowork in the shape of beautiful processions of ducks that border the arches on the ground floor. Both the buildings are in Indo-Saracenic style, notable for its profusion of arches and inspired by the Islamic architecture.

The enclosure also has a large rainwater harvesting tank behind which rise the sheer rock face of Chandragiri Hill. Defended by cyclopean walls, bastions and turrets, the 180 meter high rock was a final resort during times of siege. 

In spite its sumptuous mahals, its abandoned temples and mighty fort, Chandragiri’s tryst with Indian history lays in a remarkable, yet little known climax: it's in the Raja Mahal that, in 1639, the British East India Company purchased a strip of land on the  Coromandel Coast from the last Vijayanagara king. On that land they built Fort St. George and founded a new city: Madras.