Guntur: A manuscript on ancient Kondaveedu Fort written by historian Kalli Siva Reddy was released at Guntur by minister for civil supplies Mr P. Pulla Rao at Zilla Parishad meeting hall on Sunday. Mr Pulla Rao stated that the government proposed boating tourism on the Kondaveedu hilltop and further stated that ghat road works leading to the Kondaveedu Fort will be completed by the end of December. “Government is planning to transform the Kondaveedu Fort into a prominent heritage tourist place resembling the pride and glory of the Kondaveedu kings,” Mr Pulla Rao said.
The minister said that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is working for heritage, historical and spiritual tourism development in the state. “To develop Kondaveedu fort Rs 60 crore is allocation. Out of it, already Rs 40 crore worth works are ongoing and tenders will be called for the rest of the allocated fund at the earliest,” the civil supplies minister said. He said that Mr Naidu will visit the Kondaveedu fort after completion of ghat road works and ‘Kondaveedu Utsavalu’ will be held on the hilltop next year. He praised the efforts of Mr Siva Reddy for presenting the history of Kondaveedu and in his book, titled, ‘Kondaveedu.’
Guntur West MLA M Venugopala Reddy stated that Kondaveedu hills spread in 7,000 acre land can attract tourists from all over the world and assured his total cooperation in developing it into heritage tourism centre. Stapathi Dr E. Siva Nagi Reddy briefly spoke about the history of Kondaveedu. Historian Siva Reddy said that he was very much attached to beauty and style of the fort from childhood and conducted vast research about the Kondaveedu Fort.
“The fort was built during Reddy kings regime and was later ruled by Odisha Gajapathis, Vijayanagara Kings and Golconda Nawabs. Reminiscences of this glorious past can still be found in Kondaveedukota village,” he said. He said there were temples, mosque and dargah on the fort but treasure hunters dug these ancient structures. “There are six caves and three ponds, where water will be available all 365 days. There are many interesting historical facts that I presented in simple language.”
