Tirumala, Tiruchanoor, Vellore and Sripuram.
Vellore fort…
We drove back to Vellore and went ahead towards the last place on our list for this trip… Vellore Fort.
Here is a satellite pic of the fort. [Though the fort still has a moat surrounding it on all sides, one half is silted up and overgrown with grass and shrubs. The other half of the moat is being used for boating. Would have been great if the entire moat could be restored and a typical boating trip could be around the fort…
Excerpts from the Wikipedia about the Vellore fort :
"Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in Vellore city near Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It was built by the Nayakar governors of the Vijayanagara Empire and was constructed with large granite blocks. The fort is known for its grand ramparts, wide moat and robust masonry. The fort is considered to be among the best of military architecture in Southern India and is known for its grand ramparts, wide moat and robust masonry. This 13th century fort was opened up to tourists and is now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, and is well maintained compared to other monuments."
Source: Wikipedia.
Parked the car and started our walk into the fort. Though it is a little dirty at some places, we walked alongside and sometimes on the fort walls, thus completing a full circuit and checking out the places along the way. Took a pic of the fort map to help us cover all the places to see…
The moat around the fort, now being used for boating…
The fort walls…
A plaque near a stadium pavilion within the fort…
Some of the dilapidated buildings within the fort are being reclaimed by nature…
History of the ‘Jalakanteshwara’ temple within the fort…
The temple entrance gopuram…
A mandapam inside the complex…
The pillared pavilion surrounding the temple…
The three gopurams…
Ganesha…
Since this is a Siva temple, I assume that these are idols of the 63 Naayanmaars (Saivaite Saints)…
We finished our trip and headed out…
Another pic of the fort…
Found our way to the Bangalore highway and headed back towards home. This pic should probably go into the classic commercial vehicle thread. A Fargo truck…
Sunset on the highway back to Bangalore…
This is one sign board that had me confused enough to slow down for a second look. Only to realize that there is a ‘Bagalore’ and there is a ‘Bangalore’…
Reached Bangalore by around 9.00pm, stopped for a quick dinner, bough some ice-cream at the Airport road corner house before heading back to pavilion to get a good night’s rest.
PS: On the way back from Tirupati to Chittoor, we came across this scene where someone had set fire to a hollowed out tree. The tree was actually burning inside-out, with the hollow branches producing a blow-torch effect. Sadly the tree was still alive I guess since it still had some green foliage. Since the camera was out of action, took this pic on a phone cam…
