Tiruchirappalli Fort can be traced along West Boulevard Road in West, East Boulevard Road in East, Butter-worth Road in North and Gandhi Market to the South. Tiruchirapalli Fort Railway Station lies opposite the Main Guard Gate and Tiruchirapalli Town Station lies towards its Eastern Entrance. Tiruchirappalli Fort is strategically situated on the bank of the Kaveri River in southern part of India. This fort is about 56 miles from the sea. Tiruchirappalli Fort was the third most important fortified post in the Madras Presidency, after Fort St. George and Fort St. David. The rectangular fort of Tiruchirappalli was built to enclose the Rock, one of several natural outcrops of volcanic gneiss which rise abruptly from the plain. The greater part of the Tiruchirappalli Fort was built under the kingdom of Viswanatha, King of Madurai from 1559. Thus it can be said as the fort in medieval India. With the construction of Tiruchirappalli Fort, there formed a small fortified settlement. His grandson, Choka Nayakkan, was responsible for making it the capital city of his kingdom. In the mid-eighteenth century the city was a frequent centre of conflict between the soldiers of French East India Company and British East India Company for the power to control Southern India. The city also suffered attacks during the Mysore Wars of the second half of the 17th century. The Rock of Tiruchirappalli Fort is said to be one of the oldest igneous metamorphic formations in the world. It is 3.8 billion years old, making it as old as the rocks in Greenland and older than the Himalayas. Quartz, used in glass making, and feldspar, used in ceramics, are found in this rock formation. It is also the highest and the largest single rock on Earth that is a tourist attraction. The Rock Fort Temple near the Tiruchirappalli Fort is situated on 83 metre-high outcrops. The Pallavas rulers at that time initially built this temple, but the Nayaks made use of its naturally fortified position and designed it again. It is a long climb up the 437 steps to cut into the stone to the top. In Tiruchirappalli Fort, there are three temples built during Pallava eras. These are Manikka Vinayakar temple, Ucchi Pillayar Temple and Taayumaanavar Koyil Shivastalam. These temples are dedicated to Lord Ganesha and the saint of Nayaka era Taayumaanavar. Mathrubutheswarar is dedicated to Lord Shiva, has a lingam which is a projection of the rock itself. It is reached by a flight of steps on the way to Ucchi Pillayar Temple. The rock-cut temple in the hill temple complex was built during the time of Pallava Dynastical rule and is named Lalitankura Pallaveswaram, with several inscriptions attributed to Mahendravarman I. The Chola rulers, the Vijayanagar rulers and the Nayaks of Madurai have made extensive contributions in the Rock Fort Temple of Tiruchirappalli Fort. The two-storey-tall Taayumaanava temples are considered to be a masterpiece of Pallava-Nayaka and Vijaynagar construction. |