Hillocks, dry river, hot sun. If there is a place where you can find it, no wonder almost every part of our country looks the same. But apparently, the first place recognized with such trademarks would definitely be Vellore. 8'o clock in the morning was when we were reaching Vellore. A two and half hour drive from Chennai on the Bangalore Highway by a car is well enough to reach. Vellore is known for its fort built by the Subordinate king Sinna Bommi Nayak, who was a subordinate of Vijayawada Kingdom's Sadasiva Raja, then later of Sriranga Maharaja of Vijayanagar dynasty.
Vellore is not famous for any specific attractions except the Fort and the Jalagandeswarar temple within the fort premises. We took an auto to reach Vellore Fort from our Hotel and it costed nearly 70 Rupees prior to the random 100 rupees bid of the auto driver. A little bit of bargaining saved 30 rupees but still our Hotel and the Fort will be less than 5 kilometers. By 11 o clock we reached the Fort. Covered by a large garden space which is separated by a lake from the fort. The right hand side hand aplenty of water while the other was dry enough to saunter. We walked through a narrow gate entrance and a few yards ahead, we saw steps to be taken to see the entire fort. Entry was free and there were no ticket counters as at other places.
The pathway was literally the protecting wall of the King's paradise. For every 10 meters or so there were small hut made of stone with an iron gate and a large space for soldiers to keep a check at alien entries into the town. The presence of buildings in the present age are definitely stopping the eye sight to go further than the fort periphery and surroundings. Some couples were seen under shelters of trees too, while on the other hand families thronged for their weekend bonanza in the hot sun. The front side of the wall there were guards holding a long sharp edged stick taller than them definitely.
I wondered, if guarding of a fort is quite well known to the enemies wouldn't they simply find-out the loop holes? But the rulers of that era are obviously clever enough, which I realized when there were secret passages to view enemy entries. After a walk of nearly 100-300 meters, there was a view point, from where one can get a broader view of the town and its nearby places. On our left stood the magnificent temple of Jalagandeshwara with an off white paint.
Then we went through similar structures on all the four sides. There were sculptures of Narasimha, Ganesha, Shiva etc. on some places very rarely. At one point, I found a raised platform with a rock that seemed similar to the one where a guilty persons head is chopped off. Then I kept on walking for some distance and found steps to get down and when I wondered what place it was, I knew it is the same place I started from.
Temple will open only by the evening so I went back to my room and came to the same fort by 6 o clock in the evening. So now the time has come for the temple visit. People have thronged to the temple as it was an auspicious day. There were queues to worship. But I cannot wait in the queue for a long time. So I took a quick rendezvous around the temple and found some people curiously looking into something like a well kind of. When I went closer I realized it was definitely a well. The well had small steps kind of thing that was visible to some extent. A group of 10 people got involved in a competition. It was to figure out whether the coins you through into the well falls on the stone steps or not. If it falls on the steps, then you win. If not you lose. I inducted myself as a 11th competitor. Unlikely, 7 out of 11 members lost and the fact is I was among the remaining who won.
Now it is time for dinner. I was not able to figure-out a proper restaurant that is quite well known regionally until, someone else guided me to go for Gyan Vaishnav Punjabi Dhaba opposite CMC Hospital. Gyan Vaishnav Punjabi Dhaba were the first ones to launch a Punjabi Dhaba in a place like Vellore. CMC being a central government entity, entertains many students to students through-out the country to study and the taste bud of those students entertains launching of a Punjabi Dhaba obviously. We had some couple of Rotis with Paneer Butter Masala followed by Pulav and finally Lassi. We walked back to our Hotel that is some 2 kilometers ahead from Punjabi Dhaba.
The next day morning we were heading towards the Bus Stand to take up a bus to Chennai. But meanwhile one of our group member wanted to have a typical South Indian breakfast. So we went to Alankar Hotel (a famous South Indian Restaurant in the Town) to fill our stomach. Then now we boarded our bus to Chennai. On our way, we discovered some dilapidated structures on the top of some hillocks. Some people sitting next to us said that it was a fort. Nothing can be as bad as this. We missed out something. But apart from that we enjoyed our trip, which was not like the usual hill station holiday.
Vellore is not famous for any specific attractions except the Fort and the Jalagandeswarar temple within the fort premises. We took an auto to reach Vellore Fort from our Hotel and it costed nearly 70 Rupees prior to the random 100 rupees bid of the auto driver. A little bit of bargaining saved 30 rupees but still our Hotel and the Fort will be less than 5 kilometers. By 11 o clock we reached the Fort. Covered by a large garden space which is separated by a lake from the fort. The right hand side hand aplenty of water while the other was dry enough to saunter. We walked through a narrow gate entrance and a few yards ahead, we saw steps to be taken to see the entire fort. Entry was free and there were no ticket counters as at other places.
The pathway was literally the protecting wall of the King's paradise. For every 10 meters or so there were small hut made of stone with an iron gate and a large space for soldiers to keep a check at alien entries into the town. The presence of buildings in the present age are definitely stopping the eye sight to go further than the fort periphery and surroundings. Some couples were seen under shelters of trees too, while on the other hand families thronged for their weekend bonanza in the hot sun. The front side of the wall there were guards holding a long sharp edged stick taller than them definitely.
I wondered, if guarding of a fort is quite well known to the enemies wouldn't they simply find-out the loop holes? But the rulers of that era are obviously clever enough, which I realized when there were secret passages to view enemy entries. After a walk of nearly 100-300 meters, there was a view point, from where one can get a broader view of the town and its nearby places. On our left stood the magnificent temple of Jalagandeshwara with an off white paint.
Then we went through similar structures on all the four sides. There were sculptures of Narasimha, Ganesha, Shiva etc. on some places very rarely. At one point, I found a raised platform with a rock that seemed similar to the one where a guilty persons head is chopped off. Then I kept on walking for some distance and found steps to get down and when I wondered what place it was, I knew it is the same place I started from.
Temple will open only by the evening so I went back to my room and came to the same fort by 6 o clock in the evening. So now the time has come for the temple visit. People have thronged to the temple as it was an auspicious day. There were queues to worship. But I cannot wait in the queue for a long time. So I took a quick rendezvous around the temple and found some people curiously looking into something like a well kind of. When I went closer I realized it was definitely a well. The well had small steps kind of thing that was visible to some extent. A group of 10 people got involved in a competition. It was to figure out whether the coins you through into the well falls on the stone steps or not. If it falls on the steps, then you win. If not you lose. I inducted myself as a 11th competitor. Unlikely, 7 out of 11 members lost and the fact is I was among the remaining who won.
Now it is time for dinner. I was not able to figure-out a proper restaurant that is quite well known regionally until, someone else guided me to go for Gyan Vaishnav Punjabi Dhaba opposite CMC Hospital. Gyan Vaishnav Punjabi Dhaba were the first ones to launch a Punjabi Dhaba in a place like Vellore. CMC being a central government entity, entertains many students to students through-out the country to study and the taste bud of those students entertains launching of a Punjabi Dhaba obviously. We had some couple of Rotis with Paneer Butter Masala followed by Pulav and finally Lassi. We walked back to our Hotel that is some 2 kilometers ahead from Punjabi Dhaba.
The next day morning we were heading towards the Bus Stand to take up a bus to Chennai. But meanwhile one of our group member wanted to have a typical South Indian breakfast. So we went to Alankar Hotel (a famous South Indian Restaurant in the Town) to fill our stomach. Then now we boarded our bus to Chennai. On our way, we discovered some dilapidated structures on the top of some hillocks. Some people sitting next to us said that it was a fort. Nothing can be as bad as this. We missed out something. But apart from that we enjoyed our trip, which was not like the usual hill station holiday.
