Gingee Fort
Encyclopedia
Gingee Fort also known as Chenji or Jinji in Tamil Nadu
, India
is one of the few surviving forts in Tamil Nadu
, India. It lies in Villupuram District,160 kilometres (99.4 mi) from the state capital, Chennai
, and is close to the Union Territory
of Pondicherry. 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
.
The nearest town with a railway station is Tindivanam
and the nearest airport is Chennai (Madras)-150 kilometres (93.2 mi)
from where Hanuman
got the life saving herb, the Sanjeevini Booti for Lakshmana
when he was lying unconscious during the war between Rama
and Ravana
. The Sanjeevi herb is the panacea of Indian mythology
. It has been explained as the combination of two roots, Sam (pleasure) and Ji (life). The name has also been traced to Singavaram the neighbouring Vaishnavite
shrine, whose lord is considered the guardian deity of the place.
The local tradition has another explanation to offer. The legend runs that seven virgin sisters once lived here and one of them was known as Senjiamman. Their modesty was threatened with the possibility of violation of their chastity. Even though a valiant man named Thadikara Virappan rescued them from danger, they could not survive the insult and so committed suicide. Their spirits are even now believed to be haunting the place and considered the genii loci. Each of the sisters has got her own little shrine still existing and attracts votaries from the neighbourhood. It is very probable that Senjiamman who is worshipped on top of one of the hills gave her name to the particular hill and this afterwards came to be the common designation of the whole circle of hills and villages below.
Another of the sisters, Kamalakanniamman, has a shrine dedicated to her at the base of Rajgiri, which, on certain days in the year attracts a great number of worshippers. This hill was originally known after the goddess as Kamalagiri. Gingee also had an earlier name known as Krishnapura. This name was possibly given to it by its first ruling dynasty that were of shepherd class and whose tutelary deity was Lord Krishna. However, it is possible that it might have received the name from its powerful ruler, Krishnappa Nayak.
in 9th century AD, it was later modified by Kurumbar
while fighting the Chola and again by the Vijayanagar empire in the 13th century to elevate it to the status of an unbreachable citadel
to protect the small town of Gingee. It was also the headquarters of the Gingee Nayaks, during the Nayaka
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 Maratha
s 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. Raja Desinghu ruled Chenji an he was one of the famous kings to be known when it came to Chenji. He also worshipped Singavaram Sri Ranganatha Temple located in between Chenji and Melmalayanur. The temple is full of rock sculptures.
The Bijapur Nawabs who held the fort from about 1660-77 AD called it Badshabad, while the Marathas who succeeded them called it Chandry or Chindy. The Mughals, on their capture of the fort in 1698 A.D. named it Nasrat Gaddah in honour of Nawab Zulfiquar Khan Nasrat Jang, the commander-in-chief of the besieging army. Later, the English and the French called it Gingee or Jinji. The early Madras records of the English give the spelling Chingee or Chengey.
The chief source for the first two hundred years of the history of the place is the "Complete History of the Carnatic Kings" among the Mackenzie manuscripts. One Narayan, who claimed to be a descendant of the Ananda Kon Clan of Gingee, compiled it, after a consultation with numerous authorities, both Hindu and Muhammadan. According to Narayan, Gingee became a fortified place only about 1200 AD. Ananda Kon of the shepherd community, accidentally found a treasure in one of the cavities of the Western hill while grazing his sheep. Making himself the head of a small band of warriors, he defeated the petty rulers of the neighbouring villages and built a small fortress on Kamalagiri, which he renamed Anandagiri after himself.
The Kon dynasty ruled Gingee from 1190 to 1330 AD, and was succeeded by the chief of a neighbouring place called Kobilingan, who belonged to the kurumba caste and ascended the throne of Gingee. He was a feudatory of the powerful Cholas. This way Gingee came into the hands of various ruling dynasties of South India
, starting from the Cholas.
Places inside Rajagiri fort
Kalyana Mahal
Mohammed Khan Mosque
Elephant tank
Servants room and Royal Palace
Magazine
Gymnasium
Granery
Venugopala Swami Temple
Places atop the Rajagiri fort
Balaranganathar Temple
Pond and Mandapa
Kamalakanni Amman temple
Ranganathar Temple
Bell tower / Watch tower
Cannon
Draw Bridge
Places around Rajagiri fort
Architecture of Jumma Mosque
Temple of Seven Maidens
Funeral place of Desing Raja
Chakkarai Kulam (Tank)
Anjaneyar Temple
Prisoners' well
Chetty kulam (Tank)
Venkataramana Temple
Gate way of Pondicherry
Sad-Ullah Khan Mosque
Gate way of Vellore
Temples of Lord shiva and Amman Shrine
The fort consists of three hills, connected by walls enclosing an area of 7 square kilometre. It was built at a height of 800 feet (243.8 m), and protected by a 80 feet (24.4 m) wide moat
. It had an eight-storeyed Kalyana Mahal (marriage hall), granaries
, prison
cells, a military gymnasium
and a temple dedicated to its presiding Hindu goddess called Chenjiamman. The fortifications contain a sacred pond
known as Aanaikulam. The walls of the fort are a mixture of the natural hilly terrain comprising the Krishnagiri, Chakkilidrug and Rajagiri hills, while the gaps were sealed with the main wall that measures 20 metres (65.6 ft) in thickness. It was thus an impressive sight where the defender could seal himself indefinitely.
culture was that of the tragic tale of Raja Tej Singh, popularly known in Tamil
as Thesingu Raasan. The true life story of Tej Singh and his general, Mehboob Khan (aka Maavuthukaran), who were friends, has inspired many poems, street plays, and countless other stories. Son of Swarup Singh, he revolted against the Nawab of Arcot, and was defeated and killed in the war that followed. Though Gingee became a part of the Nawab's territory in 1714, the young and courageous Tej Singh became a legend and his life, love and brave but tragic end were eulogised in various ballad
s.
one had to cross the chasm with the help of a small wooden draw bridge which was drawn only after getting a signal from the sentries on the parapets that a friend was approaching.
The naturally strong rock where the fortress further strengthened by the construction of embrasure
walls and gateways along all possible shelves and precipitous edges. It forms the principal fortification. Seven gates have to be traversed before reaching the citadel. This citadel contains many important buildings apart from the living quarters of the royalty, like the stables, granaries, and meeting halls for the public, temples, mosques, shrines and pavilions jostling each other.
The lower fort consists of the following important monuments:
The inner fort consists of the following important buildings:
There is a site museum at the entrance of the fort set up by the Archeological Survey of India containing sculptures pertaining to various periods and many dynasties that ruled Gingee. There are also guns and cannon balls made of stone, strewn about the fort.
In order to reach the top one has to undertake a trek for over an hour. School children love to trek to Gingee Fort.
road. It is smaller in size and height compared to the Rajagiri fort. A flight of steps of granite stones leads to its top. Another fort connected with Rajagiri with a low rocky ridge is called Chandrayan Durg, Chandragiri or St. George’s Mountain. The military and strategic value of this fort has been relatively less, but it has some interesting buildings of later period.
The third fort for some reason is called Chakkiliya Durg or Chamar Tikri - meaning the fort of the cobblers. It is not known why it had acquired such a name. Probably the royal saddlers and military shoemakers had set up their workshops here, as Gingee obviously was a military encampment. There is also a smaller and less important fourth hill, the summit of which is also well fortified. There is nothing much-left of Chandrayan Durg and Chakkilli Durg. Their flanks are now completely covered with thorny shrubs and stone pieces. However, they provide challenging trekking opportunity to the visitors to Gingee.
temple. The deity of the shrine is Ranganatha
. Ranganatha is seen reclining on the serpent with his head turned to a side. The expression on his face is benign and charming. The Gingee Ranganathan is ranked as one of the most beautiful Vishnu idols anywhere.
The place where the Singavaram rock cut exists seems to have been originally a centre
of Jainism
. Several small and large Jain rock cuts and monoliths are found around the temple. Gingee, hence, has emerged as an important surviving link of the Tamil Jain
tradition. Singavaram hill is visited both by Hindu and Jain pilgrims.
According to legend, it is the original image of Ranganatha from the famous Srirangam
temple, which was taken away, from Srirangam and hidden in Gingee, for the sake of safety, during the plundering of Srirangam at the hands of the Muslim
invader Malik Kafur
. Ranganatha is said to have been the tutelary Lord of Gingee and the personal deity (iṣṭa-devatā) of Raja Desingh. There is an underground tunnel that connects the Rajagiri fortress with the temple and is supposed to have been used by Raja Desingh and his queen to visit the temple unobserved. The existence of the tunnel itself is an indicator of the authenticity of the image. The fact that the idol was hidden among the rocks in a discarded Jain rock cut cave and was being worshipped unobserved by the public is enough proof of the idol being a very ancient and important one.
This tunnel is supposed to actually connect two towns, the great and little Gingee, surrounded by a wall. This wall is three 3 miles (4.8 km)in circumference and encloses the two towns and five mountains of rugged rocks on the summit of which were built five strong forts. The fifth mountain is Singavaram hill - in addition to the four already mentioned forts, namely, Rajagiri, Krishnagiri, Chandrayan Durg and Chakkili Durg. According to E. Scott Waring, Great Gingee referred to the whole area including Singavaram, and little Gingee was very likely to be Gingee proper, i.e., the area covered by four other mountains. There were two separate towns known as Sheo Gingee (Siva Gingee) and Vishnu Gingee (Vishnu Gingee - the latter being regarded by him as a popular and flourishing town) surrounded by walls of considerable circumference. The court of Sheo Gingee was formed into a citadel with basements and battlements and consequently thinly inhabited; Vishnu Gingee was flourishing and the resort of a large number of pilgrims, hence it can with great probability be identified with Singavaram. A visit to Gingee would be incomplete without a visit to Singavaram to see the reclining Vishnu and the Jain rock cuts.
fare and bravery that it witnessed. The fort is well maintained by the Archeological Department, the surrounding looks clean and good, and it's a must-visit place in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
is one of the few surviving forts in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India. It lies in Villupuram District,160 kilometres (99.4 mi) from the state capital, Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, and is close to the Union Territory
Union Territory
A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal government; the President of India appoints an Administrator or...
of Pondicherry. So well fortified was this place that Shivaji ranked it as the "most impregnable fortress in India" and it was called the "Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
of the East" by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The nearest town with a railway station is Tindivanam
Tindivanam
Tindivanam is a town and a municipality in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Important roads from north to south Tamil Nadu pass through Tindivanam and similarly from west to east.-History:Tindivanam is a Selection grade Municipal Town...
and the nearest airport is Chennai (Madras)-150 kilometres (93.2 mi)
Etymology
The actual name of Gingee is 'Sengiri' meaning perhaps the "Red Hill" in Tamil that has got corrupted into Gingee. Some say that the name Sengiri originated from 'Sanjeevi' the hill mentioned in RamayanaRamayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
from where Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
got the life saving herb, the Sanjeevini Booti for Lakshmana
Lakshmana
Lakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana...
when he was lying unconscious during the war between Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
. The Sanjeevi herb is the panacea of Indian mythology
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
. It has been explained as the combination of two roots, Sam (pleasure) and Ji (life). The name has also been traced to Singavaram the neighbouring Vaishnavite
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
shrine, whose lord is considered the guardian deity of the place.
The local tradition has another explanation to offer. The legend runs that seven virgin sisters once lived here and one of them was known as Senjiamman. Their modesty was threatened with the possibility of violation of their chastity. Even though a valiant man named Thadikara Virappan rescued them from danger, they could not survive the insult and so committed suicide. Their spirits are even now believed to be haunting the place and considered the genii loci. Each of the sisters has got her own little shrine still existing and attracts votaries from the neighbourhood. It is very probable that Senjiamman who is worshipped on top of one of the hills gave her name to the particular hill and this afterwards came to be the common designation of the whole circle of hills and villages below.
Another of the sisters, Kamalakanniamman, has a shrine dedicated to her at the base of Rajgiri, which, on certain days in the year attracts a great number of worshippers. This hill was originally known after the goddess as Kamalagiri. Gingee also had an earlier name known as Krishnapura. This name was possibly given to it by its first ruling dynasty that were of shepherd class and whose tutelary deity was Lord Krishna. However, it is possible that it might have received the name from its powerful ruler, Krishnappa Nayak.
History
Originally the site of a small fort built by the Chola dynastyChola Dynasty
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...
in 9th century AD, it was later modified by Kurumbar
Kurumbar
Kurumbar or Kurumans or Kurubaru caste are shepherds of South India. They are indigenous people of India. Even though they are called in different names like 'Kurumans', 'Kurumbar' or 'Kuruba' and these names are synonyms and one and the same. They speak Kuruman tribal Kannada language. Their God...
while fighting the Chola and again by the Vijayanagar empire in the 13th century to elevate it to the status of an unbreachable citadel
Citadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
to protect the small town of Gingee. It was also the headquarters of the Gingee Nayaks, during the Nayaka
Nayak (ethnic group)
-History and origin:The word nayak means a head of a regiment. This word is derived from the Sanskrit senanayaka, which means head of a regiment. The community trace there descent from the Vaghela Rajputs who converted to Islam in the 12th Century. They established a number of petty states in...
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 Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
s 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
Nawab of the Carnatic
Nawabs of the Carnatic , ruled the Carnatic region of South India between about 1690 and 1801. They initially had their capital at Arcot,vellore city...
who lost it to the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1750 before the British finally took control in 1761 despite losing it to Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers...
for a brief period. Raja Desinghu ruled Chenji an he was one of the famous kings to be known when it came to Chenji. He also worshipped Singavaram Sri Ranganatha Temple located in between Chenji and Melmalayanur. The temple is full of rock sculptures.
The Bijapur Nawabs who held the fort from about 1660-77 AD called it Badshabad, while the Marathas who succeeded them called it Chandry or Chindy. The Mughals, on their capture of the fort in 1698 A.D. named it Nasrat Gaddah in honour of Nawab Zulfiquar Khan Nasrat Jang, the commander-in-chief of the besieging army. Later, the English and the French called it Gingee or Jinji. The early Madras records of the English give the spelling Chingee or Chengey.
The chief source for the first two hundred years of the history of the place is the "Complete History of the Carnatic Kings" among the Mackenzie manuscripts. One Narayan, who claimed to be a descendant of the Ananda Kon Clan of Gingee, compiled it, after a consultation with numerous authorities, both Hindu and Muhammadan. According to Narayan, Gingee became a fortified place only about 1200 AD. Ananda Kon of the shepherd community, accidentally found a treasure in one of the cavities of the Western hill while grazing his sheep. Making himself the head of a small band of warriors, he defeated the petty rulers of the neighbouring villages and built a small fortress on Kamalagiri, which he renamed Anandagiri after himself.
The Kon dynasty ruled Gingee from 1190 to 1330 AD, and was succeeded by the chief of a neighbouring place called Kobilingan, who belonged to the kurumba caste and ascended the throne of Gingee. He was a feudatory of the powerful Cholas. This way Gingee came into the hands of various ruling dynasties of South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, starting from the Cholas.
Kalyana Mahal
Mohammed Khan Mosque
Elephant tank
Servants room and Royal Palace
Magazine
Gymnasium
Granery
Venugopala Swami Temple
Places atop the Rajagiri fort
Balaranganathar Temple
Pond and Mandapa
Kamalakanni Amman temple
Ranganathar Temple
Bell tower / Watch tower
Cannon
Draw Bridge
Places around Rajagiri fort
Architecture of Jumma Mosque
Temple of Seven Maidens
Funeral place of Desing Raja
Chakkarai Kulam (Tank)
Anjaneyar Temple
Prisoners' well
Chetty kulam (Tank)
Venkataramana Temple
Gate way of Pondicherry
Sad-Ullah Khan Mosque
Gate way of Vellore
Temples of Lord shiva and Amman Shrine
Structure
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
. It had an eight-storeyed Kalyana Mahal (marriage hall), granaries
Granary
A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
, prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
cells, a military gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
and a temple dedicated to its presiding Hindu goddess called Chenjiamman. The fortifications contain a sacred pond
Pond
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
known as Aanaikulam. The walls of the fort are a mixture of the natural hilly terrain comprising the Krishnagiri, Chakkilidrug and Rajagiri hills, while the gaps were sealed with the main wall that measures 20 metres (65.6 ft) in thickness. It was thus an impressive sight where the defender could seal himself indefinitely.
Legends
Perhaps the most enduring legend in TamilTamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
culture was that of the tragic tale of Raja Tej Singh, popularly known in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
as Thesingu Raasan. The true life story of Tej Singh and his general, Mehboob Khan (aka Maavuthukaran), who were friends, has inspired many poems, street plays, and countless other stories. Son of Swarup Singh, he revolted against the Nawab of Arcot, and was defeated and killed in the war that followed. Though Gingee became a part of the Nawab's territory in 1714, the young and courageous Tej Singh became a legend and his life, love and brave but tragic end were eulogised in various ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s.
Three hills, three citadels
The Gingee Fort complex is on three hillocks. In fact all the three hills together constitute a fort complex, yet each hill contains a separate and self-contained fort. The first hill, where the main fort is, is called Rajagiri. Originally it was known as Kamalagiri as well as Anandagiri. The fort here is most impregnable. It is about 800 feet (243.8 m) in height. Its summit is cut off from communication and is surrounded by a deep, natural chasm that is about 10 yard wide and 20 yard deep. To gain entry into the citadelCitadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
one had to cross the chasm with the help of a small wooden draw bridge which was drawn only after getting a signal from the sentries on the parapets that a friend was approaching.
The naturally strong rock where the fortress further strengthened by the construction of embrasure
Embrasure
In military architecture, an embrasure is the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle...
walls and gateways along all possible shelves and precipitous edges. It forms the principal fortification. Seven gates have to be traversed before reaching the citadel. This citadel contains many important buildings apart from the living quarters of the royalty, like the stables, granaries, and meeting halls for the public, temples, mosques, shrines and pavilions jostling each other.
The lower fort consists of the following important monuments:
- Vellore Gate
- Pondicherry Gate: probably improved by the French during their occupation (1751–1761).
- The Prison on top of Pondicherry Gate.
- Royal Battery: probably erected by the French.
- Venkataramanaswami Temple: probably built during the Vijay Nagar period. The original tall, graceful monolithic pillars from the temple are said to have been carried away to Pondicherry by the French and to have been fixed around the Place de la République, near the old pier.
- Pattabhi Ramaswami Temple: architecturally very important.
- Sadatulla Khan’s mosque, contributed by the Nawab of Arcot.
- Chettikulam and Chakrakulam tanks.
- Platform where Raja Desingh’s (the hero of Gingee who fought gloriously with the Nawab of Arcot and died on the battle field). His body is to have been cremated by the order of the Nawab with full honours and in orthodox Hindu style, while his young Rajput wife committed sati.
- A large stone image of Hanuman.
- Prisoner’s well where the prisoners condemned to death were thrown and left to die of starvation.
The inner fort consists of the following important buildings:
- Kalyana Mahal, perhaps the living quarters of the queens.
- The Royal Stables.
- The Royal palace that is in ruin. It has two large slabs of polished stones that had served as bathing platforms for Raja Desingh and his Rani.
- Gymnasium
- Anaikulam tank
- Granaries
- Magazine
- Shrine of Venugopalaswami, where the sculpture of Lord Krishna playing on his fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
is accompanied by two female figures. They are supposed to be his two wives, Rukmani and SatyabhamaSatyabhamaSatyabhama is the third wife of Lord Krishna, known for her strong will and tantrums.She is believed to be a partial avatar of Bhudevi.-Marriage:...
. This is the best piece of sculpture in the place. It is amazing to see that even the top of the fort is well provided with water supply and several wells, sumps and storage tanks are in the fort complex at various levels.
There is a site museum at the entrance of the fort set up by the Archeological Survey of India containing sculptures pertaining to various periods and many dynasties that ruled Gingee. There are also guns and cannon balls made of stone, strewn about the fort.
In order to reach the top one has to undertake a trek for over an hour. School children love to trek to Gingee Fort.
Krishnagiri fort
The second important hillock with an imposing citadel is known as Krishnagiri. It is also known as the English Mountain, perhaps because the British residents occupied the fort here, for some time. The Krishnagiri fort lies to the North of TiruvannamalaiTiruvannamalai
Thiruvannamalai is a pilgrimage Temple city and special grade municipality in Thiruvannamalai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Thiruvannamalai district. Thiruvannamalai is home to the Annamalaiyar Temple located at the foot of the Annamalai hill and...
road. It is smaller in size and height compared to the Rajagiri fort. A flight of steps of granite stones leads to its top. Another fort connected with Rajagiri with a low rocky ridge is called Chandrayan Durg, Chandragiri or St. George’s Mountain. The military and strategic value of this fort has been relatively less, but it has some interesting buildings of later period.
The third fort for some reason is called Chakkiliya Durg or Chamar Tikri - meaning the fort of the cobblers. It is not known why it had acquired such a name. Probably the royal saddlers and military shoemakers had set up their workshops here, as Gingee obviously was a military encampment. There is also a smaller and less important fourth hill, the summit of which is also well fortified. There is nothing much-left of Chandrayan Durg and Chakkilli Durg. Their flanks are now completely covered with thorny shrubs and stone pieces. However, they provide challenging trekking opportunity to the visitors to Gingee.
Sri Ranganatha temple
Any account of Gingee should include a description of the rock-cut shrine of Singavaram, situated about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the fortress on a fifth hill called Singavaram hill. It is a unique VishnuVishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
temple. The deity of the shrine is Ranganatha
Ranganatha
Ranganātha , also known as Sri Ranganatha, Ranganathar, or Ranga, is a Hindu deity, more well known in South India. The deity is a resting form of Lord Vishnu, one of the foremost of Hindu Gods. His consort is Goddess Lakshmi, also known as Ranganayaki, Thayar...
. Ranganatha is seen reclining on the serpent with his head turned to a side. The expression on his face is benign and charming. The Gingee Ranganathan is ranked as one of the most beautiful Vishnu idols anywhere.
The place where the Singavaram rock cut exists seems to have been originally a centre
Tirtha
In Jainism, a tīrtha |ford]], a shallow part of a body of water that may be easily crossed") is used to refer both to pilgrimage sites as well as to the four sections of the sangha...
of Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
. Several small and large Jain rock cuts and monoliths are found around the temple. Gingee, hence, has emerged as an important surviving link of the Tamil Jain
Tamil Jain
Tamil Jains or Camaṇar are a Tamil people from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu who practice Digambara Jainism . They are a micro-community of around 85,000...
tradition. Singavaram hill is visited both by Hindu and Jain pilgrims.
According to legend, it is the original image of Ranganatha from the famous Srirangam
Srirangam
Srirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
temple, which was taken away, from Srirangam and hidden in Gingee, for the sake of safety, during the plundering of Srirangam at the hands of the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
invader Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, General , or Chand Ram as his name was originally, was a slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat...
. Ranganatha is said to have been the tutelary Lord of Gingee and the personal deity (iṣṭa-devatā) of Raja Desingh. There is an underground tunnel that connects the Rajagiri fortress with the temple and is supposed to have been used by Raja Desingh and his queen to visit the temple unobserved. The existence of the tunnel itself is an indicator of the authenticity of the image. The fact that the idol was hidden among the rocks in a discarded Jain rock cut cave and was being worshipped unobserved by the public is enough proof of the idol being a very ancient and important one.
This tunnel is supposed to actually connect two towns, the great and little Gingee, surrounded by a wall. This wall is three 3 miles (4.8 km)in circumference and encloses the two towns and five mountains of rugged rocks on the summit of which were built five strong forts. The fifth mountain is Singavaram hill - in addition to the four already mentioned forts, namely, Rajagiri, Krishnagiri, Chandrayan Durg and Chakkili Durg. According to E. Scott Waring, Great Gingee referred to the whole area including Singavaram, and little Gingee was very likely to be Gingee proper, i.e., the area covered by four other mountains. There were two separate towns known as Sheo Gingee (Siva Gingee) and Vishnu Gingee (Vishnu Gingee - the latter being regarded by him as a popular and flourishing town) surrounded by walls of considerable circumference. The court of Sheo Gingee was formed into a citadel with basements and battlements and consequently thinly inhabited; Vishnu Gingee was flourishing and the resort of a large number of pilgrims, hence it can with great probability be identified with Singavaram. A visit to Gingee would be incomplete without a visit to Singavaram to see the reclining Vishnu and the Jain rock cuts.
Current condition
After the fort passed into British hands, it did not see any further action. The fort at Gingee was declared a National Monument in 1921 and was under the Archeological Department. Recently, the Tourism Department of India has tried to popularise this remote and oft-forgotten fort. Gingee today, with its ruined forts, temples and granaries, presents a different picture from the glorious splendor of its bygone days. But the remains of that glorious past speak volumes about the numerous invasions, warWar
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
fare and bravery that it witnessed. The fort is well maintained by the Archeological Department, the surrounding looks clean and good, and it's a must-visit place in Tamil Nadu.