Penukonda
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Penukonda is a small town in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh state. This city was established by early Hoysala kings, who were Jains, They built the fort. The later taken over by the Vijayanagar Kings which is still present. Literal translation of Penukonda is " Big Hill" as you can see from the photograph.
Once it was a capital of mighty Vijayanagara Empire ,though for a brief period.It is a melting pot of different religions. This region was under control of Hoyasalas, Chalukyas, Vijayanagara Kings, many Nawabs, Maratha chieftain Murarirao,Tipu sultan, Nijam for a brief period of time and eventually came under British rule as the present Rayalaseema districts were 'ceded' to British by Nijam.
We can see a lot of buildings from that period which bear distinct British Raj style like local court building, Police station etc.
Coming to religious places it is one of the most revered place for Jains.there are many Jain temples here. We can also see many Hindu temples. The most famous Babaiah dargah makes this place venerable to muslims and hindus alike.
Hazrath Baba Fakruddin is a great Sufi saint of 12 th century.Before coming to Penukonda, he was a king of Sistan and Shahpur in Iran. Legend says that he was searching for a place to settle and his Guru gave him a dry twig and said to him wherever this twig will bloom to a big plant stay there. He planted the twig and slept under atree only to awake and saw it become a beautiful plant and he stayed there.
He is called Babaiah by the local people and thousands of man have taken his name over centuries with love and respect to this great saint.We can find lots of Babaiahs if we move around the surrounding villages or for that matter anantapur district.
Presently it is under the dreaded shadow of factions, which is the continuum of Palegalla rule long back from Vijayanagara kingdom.
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