Bellary is noted for two rocky hills that make up its geography. Ballari Gudda and Kumbara Gudda (Gudda means hill in Kannada) are the dominant features of the city, and are visible from every part of the city. You can stopover at Bellary enroute to Hampi and the Tunga Bhadra river sightseeing.

The most famous tourist attractions in Bellary are:

Ballari Gudda

Ballari Gudda has a circumference of nearly 2 miles and a height of 480 feet. The length of this rock from north-east to south-west is about 1150 ft. To the East and South lies an irregular heap of boulders, but to the west is an unbroken monolith, and the North is walled by bare rugged ridges. This hill is also said to be the world's second largest monolithic hill.

Kumbara Gudda

The other hill is called Kumbara Gudda. This hill, when viewed from the south-east looks like the profile of a human face and is also known as Face Hill.

Other rocky outcrops

Apart from these two hills, there are a number of other smaller granite hills within the city, the prominent among them being:

• The Kaate Gudda: Kaate Gudda is located opposite the Municipal Junior College, which also houses a water tank & pumping station. This is also nicknamed Kaage Gudda, for its teaming flocks of Crows (Kannada: kaage=crow)
• The Eshwara Gudda, behind the Anaadi Lingeshwara Temple in Parvati Nagar-Shastri Nagar area. This has now been quarried extensively and almost flattened.
• The rocky hillock housing a water tank, adjacent to the Bellary Central Jail
• Adjacent to St. John's High School in the Fort Area

It is also very common to find small boulders and rocks at numerous places within the city.

Bellary Fort

The Bellary Fort is built on top of the Ballari Gudda or the Fort Hill.

The Fort was built round the hill during Vijayanagar times by Hanumappa Nayaka.

Hyder Ali, who took possession of the Fort from the Nayaka family in 1769, got the fort renovated and modified with the help of a French Engineer.

The lower fort was added by Hyder Ali around the eastern half of the hill. Legend has it that the unfortunate French Engineer was hanged, for overlooking the fact that the neighbouring Kumbara Gudda is taller than Ballari Gudda, thus compromising the secrecy & command of the fort.

The fort is divided as the Upper Fort and the Lower Fort.

The Upper fort

The upper fort consists of a citadel on the summit of the rock at 1976 feet, guarded by three outer lines of fortification, one below the other. It contains several cisterns, excavated in the rock.

Outside the turreted rampart is a ditch and covered way. There is only one way up to the fort, which is a winding rocky path amongst the boulders. On the top, outside the citadel is a small temple, the remains of some cells and several deep pools of water.

Within the citadel are several strongly constructed buildings, and an ample water supply from reservoirs constructed in the clefts of the rocks.

Muzzaffar Khan, the Nawab of Kurnool, was confined here from 1823 to 1864 for the murder of his wife.

The Lower fort

The Lower fort lies at the eastern foothills and measures about half a mile in diameter. It consists of a surrounding rampart numerous bastions, faced by a deep ditch and a gentle slope.

The entrance to the lower fort is via two gates, one each on the western and eastern sides. Just outside the eastern gates of the lower fort is a temple dedicated to Hanuman - the Kote Anjaneya Temple Now the lower fort contains a number of private and public buildings, government offices, schools & educational institutions and churches.

Colonial Buildings

There are several colonial buildings belonging to the British period in typical English style.  Some of them are the Bellary Central Jail, Wardlaw High School, St. Philomena's School, The D.C.s Office, Courts, and Railway Stations etc.

Famous personalities of the freedom movement were imprisoned in Bellary Jail such as C.Rajagopalachari, V V Giri and Tekur Subramanyam. "

Check out the world-famous ruins of Vijayanagar empire in Hampi and learn about Bellary's history