17th November 2019.
Visit to this Gingee fort was a part
of Thirumukkudal Temples Visit scheduled on 16th and 17th
November 2019. We had been to the fort little earlier to take the morning
photographs of Sadatullah khan Mosque and
Venkataramana temple of the fort before the ASI’s Fort office opens. It was
learnt that the visitors will be allowed only after 09.00 Hrs. Since the Fort
will be open throughout the day, decided to
come back after visiting temples at Singavaram, Nedungunam and
Devikapuram. It was around 15.20 Hrs when we returned back to the Rajagiri
Fort. Since we, scheduled to leave for Chennai and Erode, around 16.30 to 17.00
hrs decided to see only the ground level monuments of the Rajagiri fort. The Rajagiri Fort top and the Rani Fort will
be covered in the next opportunity.
HISTORY
OF GINGEE FORT.
According to the legend the Gingee
or Senji obtained the name from Senji Amman, a virgin goddess of Gingee. The
original fort was founded by Ananda Kon-I, the chief of Konar Community is 1200 CE and the Krishnagiri was fortified by his successor Krishna Kon around 1240 CE The other buildings and
structures were raised by the successive
rulers of Gingee belonging to the Vijayanagara, The Nayaka, Maratha, Mughal,
Carnatic Nawabs, the French, and British
during the period from 1383 to 1780 CE.
The Vijayanagar Emperor Krishnadevaraya posted Krishnappa as a Viceroy who later become the founder of the
Nayaka line of Gingee. In 1677 CE Chatrapati Shivaji the great Maratha ruler
had captured Gingee, It remained under the Maratha rule till about 1691CE, when
the generals under the Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb captured the Fort. Raja Desingh ( 1714 CE ) who was a
subordinate ruler under the Nawabs of Arcot become famous for his historic
refusal to pay tax to his overlords. Important structures were added between 1383 to 1780 CE.
RAJAGIRI
FORT
The fort Rajagiri, rising to a
height of 800 feet is quite inaccessible on the three sides as the rock rises from the sheer base to a great height vertically and on the fourth side a ravine/
steep raise gives a difficult access in
to the fort with a wooden bridge thrown across. The fortification wall rises to a height of 25 feet built
during different periods. The thickness of the wall is 5 feet built up of
granite stone filled with rubbles inside. There are two gates in this fort namely Pondicherry / Puducherry
gate on the east and Arcot or Delhi Gate on the north side. Rampart has
barracks at intervals and guard rooms are also constructed.
During Krishnappa Nayak period this
Anandagiri hill was called as Rajagiri. Kamalakanni Amman and Bala Ranganathar
Temples are on the way to Rajagiri hill
top. The Granary and Ranganatha temple ( added during Vijayanagara
Period ), Ranganatha Bell tower, a pillared mandapa, Treasury ( an indo-saracenic
Style ) and a cannon are on the top of the hill. The foot of Rajagiri fort is
known as inner fort is with stepped well & Kalyana Mahal, Horse Stable,
Elephant bath tank, Elephant stable, Granary with vaulted Chambers, A Magazine,
Flag staff, an unusual building which
served as audience hall, Gymnasium, Venugopala Swamy Temple also known as
Bajanai Koodam and some excavated structures. Behind the Kalyana mahal are a
series of cells which served as
Barracks. The lower fort has the Venkataramana Temple, Sadathullah Khan Mosque,
A Shiva Temple, Ambal Temple,. Chettikulam, Chakkrai kulam, Raja Desingu’s
funeral platform, etc,. The walls of this fort were further strengthened by
Marathas and several watch towers were constructed on the three hill.
RAJA DESINGH’s FUNERAL PLATFORM
On this platform measuring 5.5
meters in length and 4.25 feet in breadth located near the Chettikulam, Raja
Desing’s body ( the hero who fought gloriously with Nawab of Arcot and died on
the field ) is said to have been cremated by the order of the Nawab with full
honors and orthodox Hindu style.
SADATULLAH KHAN
MOSQUE
The Mosque was built during Mughal
period faces east but its prayer hall is with seven arched doorways faces west
and is oriented towards the holy city of
Mecca, which lies to the west of India. There are two minarets in the northeast
and southeast corner of the Mosque. It has a central square courtyard which is
used by the devotees to clean their feet with water before prayer. It was built
with brick and lime mortar. Above the entrances of the prayer hall there are
calligraphic inscriptions in Persian and on a marble slab it is recorded that
the mosque was built during 1717-1718 CE. From Arcot dargah inscription records the death of Malik Saadat Allah Khan in 1144 CE ( whether both are same ... ? ).
STEPPED
TANK
The stepped tank, surrounded by the
cloister mandapa is next to Kalyana mahal is of Nayak Period. This tank is
within a closed compound with the
entrances on north and south. The south entrance connects the Kalyana mahal and
it might be used by the ladies or Royal Family who are staying in Kalyana
Mahal. There is a square pillared platform in the center of the stepped tank.
KALYANA
MAHAL
This kalyana mahal is the
architectural treasure of this place and is the most conspicuous and attractive
monument. The mahal consists of a large square court surrounded by rooms for
the ladies of the Nayaka and in the middle of the rooms rises a square tower of
seven storeys with a pyramidal roof . The plan of each storey is the same and
consists of a single room of about 8 feet square, surrounded by a veranda built on arches from which very narrow
and steep stairway leads both upwards and downwards. Father Pigmenta a
Portuguese traveler, recorded that the Queen’s residence was called as Kalyana
Mahal and it was a 7 floors structure
surrounded by houses tenanted solely by women and most of the buildings
inside the fort Rajagiri were destroyed by
Mughals. The interesting feature in the building is a number of earthenware
pipes leading even to the upper story through which water supplied from
Chakraikulam.
GYMNASIUM
It is a long hall in east-west
direction constructed out of granite stone. It has vaulted roof surrounded by
brick border like design. The two flights of steps on either side of the
entrance, leading to the platform above., might have been constructed in latter
period as one of the stone blocks has the sculpture of female placed wrongly ( horizontal
position ) instead of straight position. The size of this structure is 26 metre
x 9 metre. It has thick walls measuring 1.20 metre.
ELEPHANT
TANK
It is located to the east of
Gymnasium. It has stone steps on all sides and is surrounded by a cloister
mandapa. It has a big arched entrance on it’s southwest corner. It is believed
that elephants took bath in this tank. Architecturally this tank may be dateable
to Nayaka Period.
HORSE
STABLE
This is an Indo-Islamic structure
having 110 cells to accommodate horses. The structure is built of brick and
lime mortar having an arched entrance for every cell. This horse stable might
have been used for keeping the horses of royal members of the palace. Horse
stable was an important aspect during Mughal period. The Mughals gave care and
importance to their horses and they imported good horses from other countries.
To maintain the horses in healthy condition horse stables were constructed in elaborate manner. The rulers of
Vijayanagara, Nayaks and Maratha used
the mandapa near the Gymnasium as horse
and elephant stable.
GRANARY
The Granary was built by Krishnappa
Nayaka and is the biggest granary of this Gingee fort. The storing capacity of
this Granary is 150000 Kalam of grains. The outer wall of the granary is built
of granite stones and is positioned in to four rooms having vaulted roof. The
centre room is a long hall having three flights of steps leading to north,
south and west sides connecting to other
three long rooms. Two rooms on either
side of the main room face east-west
direction and the third one is in
north-south direction. There are two flights of steps leading to terrace of the
granary. The size of the granary is 32
metre x 29 metre.
VENKATRAMANA
TEMPLE
Venkatramana Temple was built by
Muthiyalu Nayaka ( 1540- 1550 CE ). The temple is facing east with a 7 tier
Rajagopuram with a Deepa sthambam. The Temple complex consists of Sanctum
sanctorum, ardha mandapa, a mukha mandapa
surrounded with prakara. There are mandapas out side the temple and
inside the temple. The Utsava mandapa, Kalyana mandapa are inside the temple.
The temple was elaborately constructed and pillars are carved with floral
designs and sculptures depicting the Vishnu mythology. Some of them are Lakshmi
Narasimha, Anjaneya etc,. The inner entrance walls of the Rajagopuram has
various sculptures like Gajalakshmi, Brahma, Vishnu, Lord Shiva worshiped by the devotees and saints.
Churning of milk ocean, Lord Shiva with Parvati sitting kailash worshiped
by Devotees and saints, Dasavathara
scene, Ranganatha, Venugopala etc,. When the ASI took over there was no deity
inside the temple. An inscription found on the
wall of this temple record the
grant given by Achuta Vijaya Ramachandra Nayaka. The temple was known as
Thiruvenkatamudaiyaan. Some of the monolithic Pillars were taken away from this temple to Pondicherry / Puducherry during French occupation. The same pillars
are installed around the Dupleix statue, the Governor at Pondicherry in 1761 CE.
ANJANEYAR
TEMPLE
This Anjaneyar is in the form of a
bas-relief carved on a boulder. Later a mandapam was built around the boulder.
Since Vijayanagar Nayaks are ardent followers of Vishnu and Anjaneyar this
bas-relief was carved during their period.
EKAMBARESWARAR
SHIVA TEMPLE
This Shiva temple is on the way to
the Gingee fort from Main road. The Shiva temple is facing west and Ambal
sannidhi is facing South. The Shiva’s shrine is built with padabandha
adhisthana, The Shrine consists of sanctum and artha mandapam. The sanctum walls
koshtas are empty and in thorana squatting lions are carved. The prakaram is
common for Shiva and Ambal’s sannadhi and the roof stones are missing many
places.
NOTE
TO THE VISITORS:
This monument Gingee fort will be
kept opened between 09.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs. Entry tickets will be issued from
09.00 hrs to 16.30 hrs. Entry is restricted after 16.30 hrs. Climbing of the
hill will be stopped after 15.00 hrs. The entry ticket costs Rs 25 for Indian
Citizens and Rs 300 for the foreigners.
Photography with stand, commercial
purposes and Video may be taken after
getting permission from ASI on payment of Rs 10000.00
HOW
TO REACH:
About 2 KM from Gingee Town.
Gingee is on the way to
Tiruvannamalai from Tindivanam.
Nearest Railway station are
Tindivanam and Villupuram more or less having same distance of 27 KM.
LOCATION: CLICK HERE
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---
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