Ratnagiri Fort, Andhra Pradesh

Ratnagiri Fort is a hill fort in Sri Sathya Sai district, at the village of Ratnagiri near Rolla, close to the Andhra Pradesh–Karnataka border in Rayalaseema. Also called Seema Golconda, it is a Monument of National Importance. Historians link it with a village named in a 7th-century inscription of the Chalukya king Vikramaditya I, and the area grew in importance under the Pandyas and Cholas. Local chiefs held it in the 17th and 18th centuries, then Mysore; when its chief rebelled in 1792, Tipu Sultan laid siege for six months and left the fort devastated.

The fortifications spread over two hills, Ratnagiri and Venkatagiri. Within them are the ruined Pattrappa temple and a large stepwell, or kalyani, made for a queen to swim in, with a Krishna shrine at her old bathing area where she worshipped after bathing. A second stepwell, Pala Bavi, is used by devotees of the goddess Kolhapuramma at her temple, and an old Jain temple lies nearby.