Awsa is located just 19 odd kms from Latur. We started from Latur at about 3 30 after having a awesome lunch at my uncles's place. The fort closes at 5 and we managed to get there just in time.There is an old doorway at one point which seems to be part of the old walls surrounding the village below the fort. The wooden doors here are still standing and have iron spikes on them to deter an assault using elephants.
There is a person from the dept. Of archeology present here and you need to do an in & out entry in a log book present with him. Also Note that you need to take permission from the archeology offices in Pune if you want to do any serious photography here. Since we didn't know about this earlier, we were reduced to taking a few odd snaps on my phone. This in my opinion is an idiotic rule made by the archeology department since none of the remnants will be affected by flashes. If there any other reasons, they are not apparent.
It seems a lot of efforts have been taken by the dept. at some point to develop the fort and a garden inside it but at present its in a pretty bad condition. Overgrown would be very much be an understatement. The big plus is that there are are quite a large number of peacocks in the fort and the surrounding area and they are pretty tame too.
Just after entering the fort there is a large courtyard and a number of cannons are placed here. Further ahead there is a large courtyard under which is a underground chamber supposedly used for secret meetings.Going on further ahead there is a well called as katori which means bowl in hindi. This well can be accessed by stairs on two levels.
There are 5 cannons on the various bastions on the fort. One of them is a Pancha dhatu one (alloy of 5 metals) and one is pretty long. Another nice feature is the 'chandrakoni wihir' - a well in the shape of the crescent moon.
Just above the coutyard there is a tower which has a nice view of the fort. There a peculiar feature here which I saw for the first time were round pillars made of brick.
Comments
Are i come to Latur quite a lot. My Brother is from there. Will definitely give you a call i come next ! Send me your number