in the fort area. The other structures in the fort, include another large granary (used for storing food and grains late back), a magazine, a graceful 'pigeon tower' with fretted windows and an extensive palace built by bricks with some plastered decorations and some wells. There is an old cannon lying in the fort. There is the 'Rayalacheruvu' with its perennial springs irrigating some lime and plantain gardens. It is said that this 'Cheruvu' was connected to a fountain in Jamia Masjid by pipes, traces of which can still be seen. There were other gardens and springs. There is an undated inscription on a boulder, near the 'Nagajhari' outside the fort, recording the gift of two gardens at the place to the temple. There was a garden called 'Parebagh' with a waterfall at the foot of the hills, on the bank of the Penneru. There are multiple camping areas outside the Fort and on the banks of the Penna (Pennar) river. The other main attractions at the fort includes House of the Drum (drums were used to alert the army in case of invasion), Charminar, Jail (where in the prisoners were held captive) and Red Koneru (Also known as pond of Swords, The huge lake in front of the mosque, where the warriors used to dip their swords in this lake and the waters used to turn blood red after the war). Access and transportation The nearest railway stations are Muddanuru which is 26 km (railway code: MOO) and Jammalamadugu (JMDG) in Kadapa District. There are number of trains from Gooty Junction. Recently the town of Jammalamadugu which is closest to Gandikota fort also got railway connectivity due to the completion of Nandyal–Yerraguntla section railway line. However frequency of trains on this line is very low. There are buses available from Jammalamadugu Old Bus Stand (Gandhi Statue Junction) to Gandikota. Inside the fort there is no means of transportation except to walk by foot. It is ideal to engage a guide as the fort area is huge. There is a good downhill trek through the canyon that leads to the riverbed. There is a dam upstream (Gandikota Dam) and a dam downstream (Mylavaram Dam). There is a Haritha hotel run by Andhra Pradesh Tourism department which has lodging facilities. However the facilities are limited during the weekdays as the visitors during weekdays are low Developments In November 2015, Andhra Pradesh