A trip to Gingee (Senji) Fort

While on our way to attend a friend’s marriage in Villupuram, Tamilnadu, four of us (the youths in the group ) decided to visit the historic Gingee (Senji) fort which gets its name from the place where it is located viz., Gingee (Senji). It is located about 160 kms away from Chennai and was apparently once termed by the Maratha ruler Shivaji as the “most impregnable fortress in India”.

To reach the fort from Chennai, one has to take National Highway no. 45 (NH45) and proceed till Tindivanam from where there is a road going towards the right which connects to NH66. The road till Tindivanam is awesome and it is just the opposite after Tindivanam. The Gingee fort is located about 25kms from Tindivanam, on either side of this road that leads to Tiruvannamalai.

The fort is supposed to remain open from 8AM to 5PM. One is not allowed to climb up the hills to reach the top in case one comes after 4PM. It is preferable to avoid the climb if it rains as the rocks and the steps can get pretty slippery.

Here are some snaps from the trip (please click on the thumbnails to get the enlarged view):

There was not much sign of human life at the entrance to the fort. Just when we parked our vehicle, the parking ticket guy emerged out of nowhere. These parking-walas are just present everywhere:

Information about the fort:

Snaps from the fort:

Kamalakanni Amman Temple, located en-route to the top:

Hanuman ji on a rock:

View from above:

Thats Raam (not me, the other Raam in our group, whom we call Honda) on the roof of one of the buildings at the top of the fort:

Sri Ranganatha Temple (there is no idol inside) at the top of the fort:

This I think is the watch tower at the top:

The snap below shows an adjacent hill that houses one more part of the fort. When seen carefully, one can observe a wall running from the portion of the fort from which this snap has been taken to the other portion on top of the hill in the centre of the snap and then to one of the hills on the right side:

View from the top of the fort of the monuments housed in and around the fort:

… and now the team of youths that scaled the peaks, despite discouragement, lack of enthusiasm and non-participation from the lazy oldies in the group , to reach the top of the fort:

(L to R:) Raam (not me), Ram (thats me), KR and Suresh

(Top to bottom:) KR, Ram (thats me) and Suresh

… and to sum it all up, the topmost point in the snap below is where we reached:

More information on the fort can be found in the links below:

1) Wikipedia

2) Villupuram district tourist places