Gingee Fort

From here on we retrace our route to which we originally took to Puducherry. We'd make a stop at Gingee to have a quick tour of the Gingee fort (details in a separate post). We took around couple of hours exploring Gingee fort (we could only explore the King's fort though, would certainly return to explore the Queen's fort which is on the opposite side). For a December it was quite hot, humid and dry out here. The road till Ambur was again a scenic drive, cutting through numerous agricultural fields & rural settlements. Once near Ambur we were meticulously looking for the original Star Briyani amidst the multitude of Star Briyani's and similar restaurants that have mushroomed in Ambur. Ambur style of Biryani is quite a popular one and the one we were stepping in was the origin of this sumptuous Biryani. 5pm is altogether late for a lunch and quite a few popular side items weren't available now. Luckily enough though the Biryanis were available. And in comes mutton & chicken biryanis, along with host of sides, like mutton veja, tandoori, mutton ghee roast. Taste so good that we even took parcels of the Biryani just in case if we feel hungry at night after reaching home.

Trip : Chennai - Gingee by self driven carGingee is hillfort destination in Tamilnadu - 134 kms from Tambaram (Chennai). Gingee fort is popular tourist destination, to know about history of the region as well as the architecture being practiced then to win wars and protect people.One can take the GST (Grand Southern Trunk - NH) and drive all along till Tindivanam. Around 7 kms before Tindivanam, take left and one can reach Gingee in around 35 kms.Gingee fort has 3 hillock forts - one for the king (Rajagiri), one for the queen (Krishnagiri) and one for soldiers (Chandrayandurg). Gingee fort is well fortified and built by Anatha Kon of Konar Dynasty. It was then passed on the Marathas, Bijapur Sultans, Moghuls, Nawabs and British. The fortifications of Gingee are amazingly done and this has been a great asset of the fort - described by every ruler.Firstly, we visited a Shiva temple before entering Rajagiri. The Shiva temple is on the left side of the road leading to Rajagiri. The Shiva temple was built in the period of Desingu Raja, who was a king of Gingee Fort for a period.

These two forts are around 75 kms apart. A bike trip to the ruins of Alamparai fort along the East coast road is a great experience early in the morning. A not so famous destination, this place offers the perfect tranquil during early mornings or late evenings with a shallow backwater coast along the fort.