Gingee Fort

Gingee is a small town 68 km from Pondicherry. It is famous for the Fort that spans across 3 hills and one of the few surviving forts in Tamil Nadu. So well fortified was this place that Shivaji ranked it as the "most impregnable fortress in India" and it was called the "Troy of the East" by the British.

Originally the site of a small fort built by the Chola dynasty in 9th century AD, it was later modified by the Vijayanagar empire in the 13th century to elevate it to the status of an unbreakable citadel to protect the small town of Gingee. It was also the head quarters of the Gingee Nayaks, during the Nayak domination in Tamil Nadu. The fort was built as a strategic place of fending off any invading armies.

The fort was further strengthened by the Marathas under the leadership of Shivaji in 1677 AD, who recaptured it from the Bijapur sultans who had originally taken control of the fort from the Marathas. During Aurangzeb's campaign in the Deccan, Shivaji's second son who had assumed the throne, Chhatrapati Rajaram escaped to Ginjee in the distant South and continued the fight with Moghuls from Ginjee. The Moghuls could not capture the fort for seven years in spite of laying siege.

The fort was finally captured in 1698, but not before Chhatrapati Rajaram escaped. It was later passed on to the Carnatic Nawabs who lost it to the French in 1750 before the British finally took control in 1761 despite losing it to Hyder Ali for a brief period.

We stopped at the Fort on our way back from Pondy. We left Pondicherry at 7 a.m. and were at the Fort at around 8 30 after stopping for breakfast at a small town in between. This is where we learned that the Fort is open to the public only at 9 a.m. and we had to wait for half an hour. The entry for Indians is Rs. 5, but for “others” is Rs. 100!! And this differentiation is clearly displayed on the notice board at the entrance… I kinda enjoyed this discrimination ;D

The place is massive – Krishnagiri Hill, Rajgiri Hill and Chakkilidurg are the 3 hills that this Fort spans over. The outer fort covers close to 3 miles in circuit. Within this outer fort there are inner fortress separating each of the above said 3 hills making each one a different fort. Within each fortress lie separate citadels and temples! So overall the fort was a 3 level security!

The fort we scaled was not on our list of places that we planned to visit, but it just caught our fancy while driving through! But absolutely splendid!
the publicity given to this beautiful fort is absolutely nothing! No guide available here. There is a small board on the main road showing the direction as Gingee Fort & nothing else!

I’d like to thank “Prashanth”, fellow blogger whom I don’t know, but borrowed some facts and figures from!!! :)