Gingee [Pronounced as Chee-n-jee here] Fort.
Historians strongly believe that the Jains lived in Gingee from 200 B.C. to 500 A.D. Then Pallavas from 600 AD to 900 AD. Then under Cholas from 900 AD to 1103 AD. Then Gingee came under the supermacy of Pandya, Pallava and Hoysalas from 1104 AD to 1330. Therafter Gingee was under the sway of chieftains, Anandha Koan, Krishna Koan and Pullia Koan and Anandha Koan built "Anandha Giri" and afterwards it became "Raja Giri" His son Krishna Koan built "Krishna Giri" . Hence there are actually two forts -Rajagiri Fort and Krishna Giri Fort. The Chennai-Gingee road passes through the middle with two fort areas on both sides of the road. Then Vijayanagar Kings ruled the fort in 1400 AD. Then Nayakka Rulers for 150 yrs. Then Bijapur Sultans attacked and took over the fort in 1649 AD. Then Marathas in 1677 AD. Then Mughals in 1700 AD to 1750. Then the French took over in 1750 AD.
I could not reach the top of the Rajagiri Fort because it takes two hours to walk up, see and come down. You can estimate the height of the Hilltop portion of the Fort from this picture.
And the next two are shot by Telephoto at 300 mm from the road outside the fort
The next one was shot from outside the fort area against the sun with a telephoto again.
Where Eagles Dare ..Oops! Where crows dare!!
I reached Gingee via Tiruvannamalai but this can be reached from Chennai via Tambaram-Chengalpattu-Tindivanam (here one road goes to Pondycherry via the NH-45 and is 160 kms from Chennai. Visiting hours is 9 am to 5 pm. Try to reach before 2 pm if you want to visit the top. Old people may find it tough to walk that much. Youngsters will enjoy.
A terrace and the stairs to get onto it.
A water Tank. All Indian Forts have this type of tanks for bathing etc. The stairs to go down into it.
No comments:
Post a Comment