On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, bombs and weapons internationally fell silent as Germany signed an armistice settlement with the Allies, signalling the tip of the First World Conflict.
At Chennai’s fort St. George, the one bomb-proof shelter within the premises — St. Mary’s Church — bells tolled and a sign gun was fired. Again then, this British citadel with the the oldest Anglican church east of the Suez, remembered the fallen, with hardly any acknowledgement to the 74,000-odd Indian troopers who fought at Somme and Flanders fields. But, life inside the fort went on, a tough fought freedom from the British coloniser was received, and a State Legislative Meeting discovered house inside its bastions.
100 and 6 years after today, in 2024, the pulpit of the St. Mary’s Church was embellished in poppies. Solemn wreaths had been laid, hymns had been sung in reward of the courageous, and conflict veterans who fought in Kashmir, discovered themselves elevating their arms in a salute.
For some transient minutes, the Church got here alive, displaying us its battle scars. Because the bugles performed in the course of the service, one was transported to a time when the fort partitions noticed hard-fought battles with the French and rulers like Hyder Ali within the 1700s. A stroll down Charles Road contained in the fort premises previous the homes as soon as inhabited by Arthur Wellesley, first duke of Wellington, and Robert Clive, first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency, took one again to days when busy officers traded, maintained data, and loaded weapons right here.
On Armistice day, fort St. George turned sepia.
Citadels typically have this transmutative energy. Inside their thick ramparts and parapets, are tales ready to be instructed. A advantageous day throughout Chennai’s transient month-long winter is maybe one of the best time to go history-hunting by Tamil Nadu. Seize your water bottle, carry a snack, put on a cap and strap in your sneakers, as Workforce MetroPlus curates an inventory of forts to move to after a quick drive.
Gingee Fort
The majestic Gingee Fort
| Photograph Credit score:
Shivaraj Mathi
A drive down the street from Tindivanam to Tiruvannamalai, reveals the formations of a fortress rising from a hill. The Gingee fort complicated encompassing three hills, Chandragiri, Rajagiri and Krishnagiri, stands as if forming a triangle. Inbuilt 1200 CE by Ananda Kon I, the chief of the Konar (Yadava) group, the fort was subsequently developed by the fort’s eventual inhabitants together with the Nayaks, Marathas, Mughals, Carnatic Nawabs, French and the British between 1383 and 1780CE. Many movies have been shot on the website and the grave of mythologised conflict hero Raja Tej Sing (De Singh colloquially), additionally lies right here. One can see early gymnasiums, watch towers, granaries, cannons, a shocking Kalyana Mahal, royal harem, a throne and temples on the location. A definite drawbridge which allowed the Marathas to retain management of the fort for a number of years, typically inflicting enemies to plummet to loss of life, is without doubt one of the the explanation why it’s known as the Troy of the East.
Gingee fort is 160 kilometres from Chennai through street. The closest bus cease and railhead at Tindivanam.
Sadras Fort
A view of Sadras Fort was established as a part of Dutch Coromandel.
| Photograph Credit score:
VELANKANNI RAJ B
If you happen to swerve a bit off Kalpakkam’s Atomic energy station and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Analysis, you will see that your self observing two cannons situated on the imposing entrance of Sadras fort. In response to J Thirumoorthy, former Assistant Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), in the course of the interval of the Sambuvarayars (native feudatories below the Cholas), Sadras was known as Rajanarayanan Pattinam after a Sambuvarayar chieftain who dominated the area. Finally, it was known as Sadras by the Dutch who took over the fortress. The fort, over time, discovered itself within the midst of a tussle between the British and the Dutch with the ultimate occupation and eventual abandonment by the English. Muslins, spices, magazines and Chinese language porcelain are a number of the a number of treasures that had been unearthed from the location. The ASI even discovered Delft Blue crockery, Gouda smoking pipes and arrack glasses from the placement. There’s additionally a cemetery with exquisitely engraved granite tombstones and inscriptions, telling tales of the useless.
Sadras fort is 70 kilometres from Chennai through street. The closest railhead is Chennai.
Vellore Fort
Moat by Vellore Fort
| Photograph Credit score:
VENKATACHALAPATHY C
The partitions of this sixteenth century have sheltered many males, girls, weaponry and prisoners. Vellore fort, with maybe one of the spectacular moats in Tamil Nadu. Till just a few years in the past, the waterway surrounding the citadel housed crocodiles. Considered one of many excellent specimens of navy structure in South India, the fort, based on historian Robert Orme, was ‘the strongest fortress within the Carnatic [Southern India]’ in the course of the seventeenth and 18th centuries. It proved to be the nemesis of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan in additional methods than one. It was right here that Lord Cornwallis assembled the historic military that led to the primary British victory over Tipu in 1792. Within the siege of Srirangapatna in 1799, when Tipu died valiantly preventing Lord Wellesley’s military, Tipu’s household was imprisoned at two mahals a part of the fort. The fort immediately is inclusive and is unfold over 133 acres with gardens, the well-known Jalakanteshwara temple (accomplished in 1550), an Indo-Saracenic mosque (1750) and the St. John’s chuch (1846). Take a stroll within the gardens and picnic on the moats to catch a pleasing night breeze.
Vellore fort is situated 138 kilometres from Chennai. The closest railhead is Katpadi junction.
The Hindu not too long ago revealed Forts of Tamil Nadu: A Stroll-Via with the Division of Tourism, Tamil Nadu. To buy a duplicate of the guide, contact bookstore@thehindu.co.in or 1800 102 1878. With inputs from T S Subramanian and T Ramakrishnan.
Printed – November 13, 2024 07:28 pm IST
