A guide to Gingee fort, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The privilege of lounging on Monday afternoons is reserved for loafers and lovers. You shouldn’t have to take my phrase for it. Ask one in all a number of hundred people who find themselves scaling Gingee fort at first of the week, and you’d know I’m proper.

Ever since Gingee fort, a part of the Mighty Maratha Landscape encompassing 11 different forts, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site final week, footfall has shot up from between 600-700 individuals a day to about 1,700 over the weekend.

Gingee fort, first stated to have been constructed within the twelfth Century by Ananda Kon, a chieftain of the Konar (Yadava) group, lies 160 kilometres from Chennai, in Villupuram district. The fort stands on three hills in a dramatic triangular formation — Rajagiri, Krishnagiri and Chandragiri. Within the partitions of the three hills, as soon as lay hidden pathways, crocodile-filled moats, golden thrones, barracks, sacrificial stones, and the illusive promise of treasure.  Everyone who’s scaling the citadel immediately, is making an attempt to discover one thing — privateness, gold cash, or respite.

An aerial view of Gingee fort.
| Photo Credit:
Ragu R

Kesavan M and Sarguna Ok, as soon as younger lovers, have been which means to go to because the time they have been courting. “We are from Melmalayanur, not too far away from Gingee. I moved to different parts of the State and we somehow never found the time. The UNESCO announcement is a matter of pride for us. It is why we decided to swing by here on a Monday afternoon. We have waited nine years to climb to the top together. We are married today, but this has been a dream since 2016,” says Kesavan.

I’d like to assume that doing the four-hour drive from Chennai, and getting misplaced within the a number of granaries, magazines, and watch towers of Gingee fort, is among the most interesting methods to go time. The fort brims with tales of romance, battle, famine and deceit over 800 years by its a number of distinct rulers — the Nayaks, Marathas, Mughals, Carnatic Nawabs, the French and British. It begets retelling.

History 101

Contrary to UNESCO’s declaration of the ‘Senji’ fort being a Maratha bastion alone, the citadel has swapped arms between a number of kings. Its hottest rulers have been the Nayak of Gingee, chieftains of the Vijayanagara empire, who succeeded Krishna Kon, a ruler who fortified and expanded the fort past Rajagiri, establishing Krishnagiri at round 1240 CE.

Writer TS Subramanian in his essay, The Impregnable Troy of the East in a e book titled Forts of Tamil Nadu by The Hindu and the Department of Tourism, Tamil Nadu, says that it was the Nayaks who helped add the great constructions we see atop Rajagiri, the strongest a part of the triangular citadel, standing at about 800 toes. Their rule was a largely peaceable interval that noticed a number of architectural developments.

A canon halfway by way of the climb up the Gingee citadel.
| Photo Credit:
Ragu R

As we stroll in, one is handled to pleasant sights of the traditional kalyana mahal, constructed within the type of the Vijayanagara college. “In Kalyana Mahal, there is a beautiful bathing tank with steps all around, made for the royal women,” writes CS Srinivasachari, the creator of A History of Gingee and its Rulers (printed by Annamalai University, 1943).

Besides this, there are mosques, temples, magazines the place weapons have been saved, granaries, gymnasiums, treasuries, bell towers and secret escape pathways contained in the fort, added by subsequent rulers. The Mughal affect on a number of the domes and archways contained in the fort are unmissable, significantly a treasury constructed within the Indo-Islamic type. You may also spot two mighty cannons on the fort. Touch the iron on each and picture what it might need been like to hearth at enemies close to and much.

Archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) unearthed a mighty throne with a backrest made from polished granite and water pipes and tanks that capitalised on the spring water obtainable atop the fort. Although ASI would possibly need us to consider that the a number of rooms close to the throne-like construction are simply horse stables, some historians consider that it is usually the place the harem lies.

After taking within the sights on the base of Rajagiri, the ascent to the highest of the citadel begins. A well-meaning guard means that we feature sticks. Troops have now been changed by grasping monkeys who loot and plunder baggage stuffed with snacks and goodies. If you’ve gotten been indulging in cardio, the 800 toes climb to the highest needs to be a piece of cake, taking underneath two and a half hours to climb up and are available again down. This is particularly so if you’re participating in a petty competitors to scale the highest with two younger boys from Bengaluru who you beg for water from each now after which.

As we stroll in, one is handled to pleasant sights of the traditional kalyana mahal, constructed within the type of the Vijayanagara college.
| Photo Credit:
Ragu R

A Nithin and Madhan, brothers who’re 9 and 14 years of age, who’ve been impatiently ready for his or her mom to be part of them on the high of Rajagiri, say that they’ve been watching YouTube movies incessantly to put together for his or her trek. Sitting exterior the treasury, Madhan laments, “The videos promised treasures. I can’t seem to find any even near the treasury. I am excited to go down the hidden pathway at the top but I hear it is blocked. Come on, Nithin, let’s go,” he says, slicing our interview brief.

Gingee’s tryst with the Marathas started in 1677 when Chhatrapati Shivaji captured the fort from its then Mughal governor. It remained underneath Maratha rule till about 1677-1698 when the generals underneath the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb captured it. It was Shivaji who known as the fort the Troy of the East, deeming it impregnable. Whilst in battle for seven years, the Marathas typically employed using a drawbridge on the high of Rajagiri, inflicting opposition troopers to fall to their demise in the event that they tried scaling the fort.

The fort additionally prospered underneath Swarup Singh, a Bundela chief deputed by Aurangazeb in 1700, to take cost of the fort. When he died, his son, the fabled Raja Tej Singh (popularly and incorrectly known as De Singh) dominated Gingee for 10 months, from January to October 1714. He tried to battle the Carnatic wing of the now fragmented Mughal kingdom, and take over his father’s throne. Several Tamil ballads rejoice his heroic demise within the battle in opposition to the Nawab of Arcot, particularly since he left behind a lovely younger spouse who dedicated sati after he perished in battle.

A water tank contained in the fort advanced.
| Photo Credit:
RAGU R

The French and the British then started supplying weapons to native armies, ultimately vying for the fort’s seize. It was additionally briefly held by Hyder Ali. The British forces established a number of magazines and launched weapons to the provides on the fort.

Whilst standing on the very high between the bell tower and the Ranganatha tower and taking within the breeze, it’s simple to conjure up pictures of battle right here, particularly as a result of a temple procession using lakshmi vedi passes by.

As I prepare to go away, a group of males who’ve bunked school, fellow loafers, stand by the drawbridge on the high of the fort and ask for a image. “Selfies do not capture the might of the fort. But promise us that you won’t publish it in the paper,” one in all them says.

At the bottom of Rajagiri from which an 800 toes climb to the highest of the citadel awaits. One can see horse stables, harems, the kalyana mahal and the seat of energy.
| Photo Credit:
RAGU R

Sepia-tainted pondering tells me that 800 years in the past, a comparable group of loafers might have made their means up the hill. This time although, they could have been burdened with the burden of a kingdom and never simply of school attendance.