Logo

Contents: FORT ST GEORGE: Where 'modern India' began, GINGEE FORT: The Impregnable Troy of the East, SADRAS FORT: Going the Dutch route, THIRUMAYAM FORT: A fortress from the chieftains, ALAMPARAI FORT: Ruins along the Coromandel, VANDAVASI FORT: Clash of the colonisers, VELLORE FORT: Majestic walls by the water, SANKAGIRI FORT: One way climb to a spectacle, THARANGAMBADI FORT: This Danish fort stands strong, RANJANKUDI: The battle call of Valikondah, KRISHNAGRI FORT: A stronghold of the North, DINDIGUL FORT: From the hills of the South, FORT ST. DAVID: By the 'gundu gramangal', TIRUCHI ROCK FORT: Worshipping a storied past, RAYAKOTTAI: Through the garrisons, NAMAKKAL FORT: Namakkal from a vantage point.

History is best understood through the study of its physical manifestations, Fort H structures designed for primary defence are markers of the passage of time and history, told through tales of (bloody battles, unexpected coups, and military strategies. Tamil Nadu is home to multiple such forts that tell curious stories of succession, feuds and even unexpected friendships.

The storied past etched on these structures proves to be a reference point for a closer understanding of the region's history. While forts like Gingee and Vattakottai charted the course of the territory's interaction with its colonisers, Rayakottai and Dansborg at Tharangambadi are testaments to the myriad possibilities of strategic architecture in warfare

Apart from standing witness, and sometimes mute spectators, to pivotal moments that changed the course of history, they also served as facades that carried a quiet cultural revolution all around. Some house temples that are thronged by hundreds even today, while others wear relief art, inscriptions and laudable architecture on their expansive walls.

The Department of Tourism, in collaboration with The Hindu Group (THG), has produced this curated collection of well researched articles and telling pictures that take one on a walk through the historic structures housing tales worth centuries.