Situated 160 Kms away from Chennai, a unique fort in the northwestern corner of Arcot district in the centre of Gingee Taluk,the Gingee Fort is a cool place to hangout with friends. Apart from being a unique architectural feat it is also one of the few forts in Tamilnadu. The town of Gingee is surrounded by several hills made of barren volcanic rocks. Each of these hills has a very jagged summit and a central stratified rock, topped with huge rounded boulders. Even though the land is dry and barren, the landscape of Gingee is unique and marvelous.
We four freaks myself(Vivek), Mayank, Kailash & Anant decided to conquer this on our wheels. Yes…. we had something in common - a passion for biking. To tell about Mayank & Kailash, they never say no to any bike trips… after all how can they. When I sent out the invitation mail, the reply was immediate - Yes…count us in. Anant also loves traveling and biking. He was coming with us for the first time.
We started our journey from Kandanchavadi, OMR , Chennai at 5:45 AM sharp. Everyone was on time. This was the route we followed :
Kandanchavedi > Pallikkarni > Tambaram > Vandalur > Guduvancheri > Take a right before reaching Tindivanam > Gingee fort.
First Pit stop
From Left: Kailash, Mayank & Anant
They are coming………………………
Around 7:30 we decided to have breakfast. We stopped near a small hotel beside the highway. I don’t remember the name, but if we ride this route again, for sure we will have breakfast at the same place… Idily, vada, dosa , sambar & chutney…it was awesome. We ate like pigs….too heavy.
3 idiotsSun was already in full swing…damn hot…we kept riding. After crossing a railway gate, something interesting caught my eyes & I had to stop for photographing. Anant, kailash & Maynak were ahead of me, didn’t notice me stop. I made a phone call n asked them to come back. What I saw there was a farmer ploughing his paddy field with his bullocks…. It was muddy, but I decided to go in and take some photographs. On seeing him I realized how lucky we guys were to sit and work in a/c …..…
After some 15-20 minutes we jumped back to our wheels and started. Few more Kms passed by and we could see the landscape changing. As I said before about Gingee, I was able to see hills with huge rounded boulders. We were almost near. We stopped our bikes for a break.
This was photographed near the place where we stopped.
Mayank: Miles to go before I sleepAt around 10 am we reached. Let me tell you something more about this fort. Gingee has three famous forts situated in a triangular set up known as Rajagiri, Krishnagiri and Chandragiri within a striking distance of one another. While Rajagiri is the primary fort, the other two forts are feminine parts of it with a low profile and fewer visitors than Rajagiri. A fort wall stretching and encompassing all these forts had also been built and it still remains as a standing monument. These three forts are said to have been built during the period between 1200 A.D and 1240 A.D.Thereafter, Gingee had been ruled over by Nayaks of Vijayanagara Empire and the Marathas and then came under the influence of the Moghuls. In the year 1791, the Gingee Forts were captured by the French East India company; some of the rock pillars of the forts were dismembered and taken away by the French soldiers as a mark of their victory over Gingee.
Entry fee was just Rs 5/- + Rs 5.- for parking. With this you can visit Rajagiri & Krishnagiri fort. No proper route is there for Chandragiri fort.
Krishnagiri fort view
In front of Krishnagiri fort: Anant, Kailash & Me(Vivek) before we started climbing
Krishnagiri fort climb
The Landscape
Krishnagiri Conquered. Celebrating the Victory. (Anant, Kailash & Mayank)
The batman begins: Anant in action
I am always in style: Kailash
View of Rajagiri fort from Krishnagiri fortAfter an hour we started to descend. We all had apple and lots of water which we had brought. It was too hot n we totally got dehydrated. When we reached down we decided to buy more water from a shop nearby and started to climb Rajagiri. It was lunch time, but we decided to have lunch after conquering Rajagiri fort.
Near the entrance of Rajagiri fort
Near the entrance of Rajagiri fort
The Rajagiri Fort: The King of all
Somewhere in the middle of Rajagiri fort. That’s meeeeee…..After climbing for an hour we conquered Rajagiri fort. Really this was the highest among the 3 ….the Raja of all. We all had a tough time, but it was worth.
Top of Rajagiri fort
Top of Rajagiri fort
A view from top of Rajagiri
A view from top of Rajagiri
Definitely it required a very good stamina; a healthy mind and a body; a trouble free heart; otherwise it would have been a risky venture. The only advantage we had was that we carried lots of water. We had our lunch around 4:30 pm near Gingee and reached back Chennai around 8 PM. On entering OMR, Mayank’s tyre got punctured. Mayank parked his bike in my flat and we all dispersed. Yet again we all had a nice time together and enjoyed every moment.
In history, Gingee fort was conquered by Nayaks, Marathas, Moghuls and then by French East India company…I still wonder how they did it……
Writeups: Vivek
Photos: Vivek
Participants: Anant, Kailash, Mayank & Vivek
Bikes: Pulsar 150cc, ZMA 220cc, Hunk 150cc, RTR 150cc
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