Gingee Fort

The Gingee Fort is one of the best surviving medieval forts in Tamil Nadu. The celebrated Maratha king ‘Shivaji’, mentioned this fort as one of the ‘most impregnable fortresses in India’. It was praised as the ‘Troy of the East’ by the British. Glancing across some of the ancient books, Gingee was said to be under the rule of chieftains, Anandha Kon, Krishna Kon and Pullia Kon even though there was no epigraphical evidence to justify it. By foreign sources, we come to know that Anandha Kon built ‘Ananda Giri’ and afterwards it became ‘Raja Giri’. His son Krishna Kon built ‘Krishna Giri’. According to historian Narayan, a small village called Melacheri, located around 5 KM away from Gingee has traces of fortifications from about 1200 AD. Ananda Kon of the shepherd community (Konar) accidentally found a treasure in one of the cavities of the western hill while grazing his sheeps. Making himself as the head of a small group, he defeated the petty rulers of the neighbouring villages and built a small fortress on Kamala Giri, which he renamed Anandagiri after himself. He was then succeeded by one Kobilingan, who belonged to the Kurumbar caste and ascended the throne. It was later modified by the Vijayanagar empire in the 13th century to elevate it to the status of an unbreachable citadel to protect this town. The fort was also the headquarters of the Gingee Nayaks of north Tamil Nadu. One of the accounts mention that the fort was built during the 15–16th century by the Nayaks of Gingee. It later went into the hands of Maratha community under the leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1677 AD, then successively to the British in 1761. The fort complex is on three hillocks Krishnagiri to the North, Rajagiri to the West and Chandrayan Durg to the Southeast. The fort walls measure around 13 km and the three hills are connected by walls enclosing an area of 11 sqkm. It was built at a height of 800 feet and protected by an 80 feet wide moat. The complex has a seven-storeyed marriage hall, granaries, prison cells, and a temple dedicated to its presiding Hindu goddess called Chenjiamman. The fortifications contain a sacred pond known as Anaikulam. The fort is under the maintenance of the Archaeological Survey of India.