Khilla Ghanpur Fort

Khilla Ghanpur lies about 25 km from both Mahabubnagar and Wanaparthy and 111 km from Hyderabad. Its hill fort was built in the 13th century by Gona Ganapa Reddy and the Recherla chief Singama Nayaka I, joining two hills, and the Ganapa Samudram lake was dug by the Malyala king Gundanna during Rudrama Devi's reign. The village, once Naginenipally, was renamed after the Kakatiya ruler Ganapathi Deva. Prataparudra, the last Kakatiya king, is said to have married Gona Ganna Reddy's daughter here. The fort later saw wars between the Bahmanis, Vijayanagara, Bijapur and the Qutb Shahis.

The fort spreads over about 4 square km of rocky hill. Cannons still sit on the highest point, and ruins of the palace and ministers' houses remain, along with the Veerabhadra, Narasimha and Chowdeswari temples, caves to explore and two ponds that once supplied the garrison. Two secret tunnels are believed to exist. The rocks suit rappelling and climbing, the surrounding hills offer trekking, and the fort overlooks Ghanpur Lake.