Gulbarga District, Karnataka

Location: Gulburga is located in the northern part of Karnataka. It shares boundary with Bijapur district and Sholapur district of Maharashtra in the west, Bidar and Osmanabad district of Maharashtra in the north, Raichur district in the south, and Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh in the east.

District Headquarter: Gulburga

Distance: 613 km from Bangalore, 120 Km from Bidar, 220 km from Hyderabad, 130 Km from Bijapur

Journey time: 14 and 1/2 hrs by train and 12 – 13 hrs by bus

How to reach there: By KSRTC buses from Bangalore, Mysore etc. There are private luxuary available from Major cities of karnataka. By train from Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Tiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore etc.

Nearest Airport: Hyderabad. Recently, a new airport in Gulburga is under construction.

Route: Bangalore-Tumkur-Sira-Hiriyur-Chellakare-Bellary-Lingsur-Sindhnur-Shorapur-Shahpur-Jewargi-Gulbarga

Where to stay:

1. Hotel Mayura Bahamani
Public Gardens, Gulburga

2. Hotel Aditya
# 2-224, Main Road,
Opposite Public Garden.
Gulburga
Phone: (008472)-424040 – 44, 435661‎

3. Kadamba Hotel
Dr. Jawali Complex Supermarket
Gulbarga

4. Pariwar Hotel
1-73/1, Station Road
Gulbarga

5. Southern Star Hotel
S-B Temple Road
Supermarket, Gulbarga

6. Shri Nagarjuna Hotel
Old Jewargi Road
Gulbarga

7. Panchami International Hotel
Dr. Jawali Complex Supermarket
Gulbarga Dist

8. Sanman Hotel
Behind New Vadiraj Bhavan
Main Road, Gulbarga

Where to eat:

1. Megha Darshini

2. New Country Side Restaurant

3. Raj Rajeshwari hotel

4. Hotel Pariwar

Language spoken: Kannada, Hindu, Urdu, Marathi.

Gulburga was earlier known as kalaburgi. It is said that the modern city of Gulburga was constructed by Bhamini Sultan Bhaman Shah in the 14 century. But Gulburga’s history dates back to 6th century talking about rule of Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Kalachuri, Yadavas of Devagiri, Hoysalas, Kakatiya dynasty Warangal. Then to Muslim sultanate of Delhi. Follwing a revolt by the governor of the Delhi ruler – Bahmani Sultanate was founded in 1347 by Hassan Gangu. He choose Gulbarga as his capital and renamed as Ahsenabad during his period.

Following the demise of Bahmani dynasty, the kingdom disintegrated into 5 independent states – Bijapur, Bidar, Berar, Ahmednagar and Golconda. All this states were late conquered by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. In the late 18th century, when the Mughal empire was on a decline, Asaf Jah a governor of Aurangzeb declared independence and founded the state of Hyderabad under the name of Nizam rule. A large part of Gulburga was included in his territory. Nizam rule continued till 1948. After India’s independence the state of Hyderabad was merged with India and in 1956 during re-organization of states, Gulburga went to Karnataka (then Mysore state). However, its two taluks were left with Andhra Pradesh.

What to see:

1. Gulburga fort: Gulburga fort was originally built by Raja Gulchand and renovated by Ala-Ud-Din Bahmani of Bahmani kingdom.

Jama Masjid: The Jama masjid is located inside the Gulburga fort. It was built by Feroze Shah duplicating the architecture of the great mosque of Cardova in Spain.

2. Aiwan Sahi guest house: This is building built by the Nizams for state visits or royal visits.

3. Shri Sharana Basaveshwara Temple: The temple is dedicated to Saint Sharanabasaveshwara, who served the people of this region during a famine.

4. Khwaja Bande Nawaz Darga: One of the most popular and important sightseeing in Gulburga is the darga of sufi saint Khwaza Syed Mohammad Gesu Daraz, popularly known as Khwaza Bande Nawaz. It is visited by both Hindus and Muslims.

5. Budhha Vihar

6. Aurobindo Ashram

7. District science center

8. Haft Gumbaz: This is the tomb of 7 rulers of Bahmini kingdom.

9. Kesaratgi Botanical garden

10. Museum

11. Naganahalli Training center

12. Ram Mandir

13. Shiek Roza Minar

Shorapur:

1. shree venugopalswami temple

2. Raja Venkatappa Nayak fort: Raja Venkatappa Nayak was a Beder king who revolted against the British and waged war. The fort located at the outskirt of Surpur city stands testimony to this.

Around Gulburga:

Malkhed: Malkhed is believed to an old Jain religious center. Located around 40 km from Gulburga city, Malkhed was once the capital of Rashtrakutas. One can see the Jain temple Shri Malkhed Tirth. It was earlier known by the name Manyakheta and is situated on the banks of Kagina river.

Narayanpur Dam: The Narayanpur dam is a major dam on river Krishna. This is around 10 kms long and built for irrigation purposes. It is located around 120 km from Gulburga city and one can see here Jaladurga falls formed by river Krishna. The dam was opened in 1982.

Ganigapur: Here one can visit the temple of Shri Narasimha Saraswathi or Dattatreya temple. The idol here is a three faced Bramha, Vishnu and Maheshwar. Nearby you can see Kalleshwara temple and Sai temple. You can take an auto to reach Sangam, the confluence of river Amreja & Bhima. People take holy bath here. One should me careful, as there is mild undercurrent at the confluence.

Sonthi: Sonthi is a popular religious place. It houses the Chandralamba temple located on the bank of river Bhima. The deity here are Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Saraswathi.