Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Grinding Stones, Citradurga Fort

Once one crosses the fourth gate of the Chitradurga Fort, an interesting area is to see is massive stone grinder popularly known as Grinding Stones.



It is made of masonry of 3 metres depth and about 7 metres diameter. It has four massive grinders with teeth or slots. These were rotated either by elephants or bullocks standing in the central circular space.



It is believed that these grinding stones were used for preparing gun powder. Each of the four grinders have their own independent collection points to collect the explosive gunpowder.


29 comments:

Al said...

What an amazing old machine - I wonder what it would look like in operation.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

shall love to see the elephants at work at this narrow space.

A Colorful World said...

I LOVE this! I can just see the bullochs turning in a circle to grind the grain. Wonderful historic piece.

Jeevan said...

Interesting grinders! Great knowing its usage and work pattern

Anonymous said...

What an interesting place to visit.

I like your Indian facts on the side. :-)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Impressive! From the title of the post I was expecting to see something like the stones that our ancient indiginous people used to grind grains for bread. Should have known yours would be a bit more advanced. (Although I'd rather have bread than gunpowder!)

Enjoyed the beautiful lacy towers in the temples in the post below. As always.

Anonymous said...

A fascinating piece of history.

HansHB said...

Great photos, well done!

Ellen said...

That's very impressive. I've never seen anything like it. Thanks for sharing!

sunshine said...

A stunning place.

Sylvia K said...

Fascinating captures, Rajesh!! Thanks for sharing! Have a great weekend!!

Photo Cache said...

wow very interesting.

My SKYWATCH

Forest Dream Weaver said...

Fascinating history.....looks as though this construction will last for a very long time.

Happy weekend!
Ruby

Leovi said...

It is certainly interesting that massive stone grinder, precious pictures.

Thomas Lee said...

grinding stones,very unique.

Linda said...

Impressive! They are huge!

robin. said...

thanks for adding the people in for a perspective of the size of this area. amazing!!

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

Interesting! I assumed their purpose was to prepare food, not one so destructive.

Kathe W. said...

without the people in the photo it would be hard to grasp the scale of this! Amazing- thanks!

Unknown said...

A very interesting old place.

Tom said...

They are HUGE! Tom The Backroads Traveller

Joanne Olivieri said...

Fascinating spot and what a great capture

Ruth Kelly said...

Thanks for sharing. I've never seen anything like it before.

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

I would have loved to have seen the elephants at work!

6WS and Shadow Shot

Prashanth said...

I remember visiting this fort when I was a kid. WOuld love to explore this fort again.

What do you reckon is the best time of the day to explore this fort, considering the fact that it gets heated up by noon?

Ravish Mani said...

Interesting innovation brilliantly captured. :)

Abhijit Ray said...

Fascinating! Great pictures.

Sri Kri said...

Very interesting.Thanks for sharing the info.


http://www.srikri.com

Anonymous said...

Vrey nice