Durgaastamana

The story follows the epic battle between Madakari Nayaka and Hyder Ali of Mysore in 1779, as the latter lays siege to the fort, and the events and political intrigues leading up to it.

Prior to his undertaking the writing, general opinion about Madakari Nayaka was that he was a vengeful, bloodthirsty and often lecherous ruler and that he had been betrayed by the erstwhile prime minister of the kingdom, KaLLi Narasappayya.

TaRaSu's research led him to the conclusion that these were concocted stories and that Madakari was a strong but benevolent ruler who was forced into battle by the designs of Hyder.

The young king is trained in the art of kingship by KaLLi Narasappayya, the able prime minister of Chitradurga, and Obavvanaagati, mother of Kasturi Rangappa Nayaka II, and soon blossoms into a capable administrator and fearless warrior.

He weds Bangaravva (daughter of the Nayaka of Jarimale) and Padma, while also maintaining a concubinal relationship with a young woman named KaDoori and her sister Nagavva.

With time, however, the Marathas become disunited and their internal strife leads to Hyder Ali gaining an upper hand once again.

Soon, however, the representatives of Hyder Ali in Chitradurga are discovered (by Madakari's brother, Parashurama Nayaka, an apprentice to Narasappayya) to be spying and collecting confidential information about the fort, its strengths and weaknesses, the army, the weapons in the Durga arsenal and other sensitive areas.