Vattakottai Fort (or 'Circular Fort') is a seaside fort near

Kanyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

the southern tip of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It was built in the 18th century as a coastal defence-fortification and barracks in the former

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. A ...

kingdom. It was constructed in the 18th century by Punachal/Elakkara Valiyaveetil Marthandan Chempakaraman Pillai for the kings of

. Marthanda Pillai was born in an aristocratic house in Punachal Elakkara near Kuzhikode near Palliyadi in Kanyakumari district. (Then South Travancore). The house was a house that was associated with the royal family. Marthanda Pillai was born in the month of May 903 in Bharani Nakshatra, the son of Neelamma Pillai, a member of the said house, and Iravikurup, the bodyguard of Marthanda Varma. Later it was modified under the supervision of Captain Eustachius De Lannoy, an ex-Dutch naval officer of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

, who became commander of the Travancore Army (the very army that defeated him in the

Battle of Colachel The Battle of Colachel (or The Battle of Kulachal) was fought on between the Indian kingdom of Travancore and the Dutch East India Company. During the Travancore-Dutch War, King Marthanda Varma's (1729–1758) forces defeated the Dutch East ...

) in the 18th century, after he earned the trust of the Travancore King

Marthanda Varma Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (Malayalam: ) was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore (previously Venadu) from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") (1758–98).Subrahman ...

. De Lannoy reconstructed Vattakottai, as part of the defence-fortifications he undertook throughout Travancore. The fort is made of granite blocks and, today, a part of the fort extends into the sea. It is a protected site under the Indian archaeological department. A major renovation of the fort was undertaken recently by the department, and the site is now a popular tourist spot. Vattakottai Fort commands a picturesque view of both the sea on the one side, and the hills ( Western Ghats) on the other. Another interesting feature near the site is a beach of black sands. It is about from

town.

Photo gallery

Image:Vattakottai Fort 2.jpg, Inside of the fort. Image:Vattakottai Fort - Highest Level Facing Sea.JPG, Elevated level of the fort, facing the sea. Image:Hill-View from Vattakottai Fort.JPG, View of the hills from Vattakottai fort. Image:View from Vattakottai Fort.JPG, View of the sea from Vattakottai fort. Image:Vattakottai Fort and Sea.jpg

References

External links

About Vattakottai Fort and Images

Vattakottai in 3D view
{{Forts in Tamil Nadu History of Kerala Forts in Tamil Nadu Kanyakumari Archaeological monuments in Tamil Nadu Star forts