The twin discoveries of royal emblem of Gondwana tribal kings and pre-historic pictographs with Sindu (Harappan) script in Gondi dialect on boulders atop a hill near Taalrighatta, adjacent to the river Tungabhadra, have excited researchers as they show the world heritage site of Hampi is not only linked to the 15th century Vijayanagar Empire, but also to Dravidian tribes who may have migrated here from the Indus Valley, where civilization flourished between 2500 BC and 1750 BC.
About 30 km from Hampi is the historic village of Hale Daroji. Visitors here spy a fort on the Daroji hill. Located 674 metres above the sea level and spread across five acres, the rocky fort has become a topic of great interest to researchers as the royal emblem of the Gondwana tribal kings is found carved and filled with colour on a boulder in its grounds. Nearby are remanants of an ancient palace and ponds. Today, the area is a natural habitat for sloth bears, leopards and other wild animals protected by the Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary.
