I was looking for a place to go on a one day trip, it should be adventurous and exciting. After checking out few places like Thada falls, Yelagiri we fixed up on Gingee Fort (Chinji)
Its April and its going to be damn hot, climbing on those rocks in scorching heat is one hell of a tough task. We were up to it and well prepared. Packed with food and glucose water we hit the road as early as 7 in the morning.
We took Kelambakkam route and joined GST road at Vandalur. Driving in GST on early morning reminded me of my memorable first drive to Nagercoil couple of yrs back. It past 8:30 in the morning, after crossing the toll gate we stopped for breakfast.
It was a nice shade along the roadside, under the tamarind tree we settled nicely. This is the first time Jane and I going out on a one day road trip packing food. Idly and chicken curry hell a good combination!
Its easy to miss the turn, just before the toll road ends you have to make a right turn towards Thiruvanamalai. We missed the turn, made a U-turn in GST and caught the way back towards NH66.
There was this railway gate immediately after the turn and we had to wait for a passing train. Couple of children were selling Sundal and ground nuts (boiled). For just Rs.5 they have given us hell lot of ground nuts, even while returning we were munching it!
We got in to NH66 and the signboard read Gingee 26 Km
We reached Gingee Fort around 10 am. It was totally deserted except for few monkeys jumping over the walls near the parking.
After parking the car we started walking towards the fort entrance. The sign board read, Entry for Indian Citizens Rs.5 and for all other Rs.100. What a discrimination, it happens only in India…!
This fort is known as “Krishnagri” also called as Rani Fort which is smaller of the two forts. It has around 650 steps and might be around 600 ft high.
Jane and I started hiking around 10:30. After climbing around 150 steps we found a place to rest and we have this kind of shelters in between till all the way up.
To give a brief about Chinji – Its one of the very few surviving forts in India. It was built by Cholas around 9 AD and later modified by Vijayanagar Empire. It is very strategically located defending any invading armies. It is called as “Troy of the East” by the Britishers.
You could also see the traces of moats around the fort and well formed walls on either side. You can very well visualize a war scene with soldiers defending it behind the walls, safeguarding Women and Children inside the fort!
After an hour of hiking we reached the top. We stayed there for some time clicking some good snaps.
We have to be very careful while climbing down as the steps are narrow and very steep. One wrong foot could end up in a fatal fall from that height…!
We reached the base and rested for a while. We could see lot of pairs hanging out in this fort, all were very young might be of school going or college beginners! There are lots of secret dugouts, perfect place for mischievous pairs.
We left to Rajagiri (Raja) Fort that is located around 1Km opposite to Krishnagiri (Rani) fort. On the way to the fort there is a Siva Temple and you need to go around that to reach the fort. This is the main fort built at a breath taking height of 800ft.
The fort was built around the Rajagiri hills, its historic touch and Majesty would tempt even a 70 yr old to climb up in quest of conquering it!
No wonder I wanted to climb up but by then Jane was completely exhausted and wanted to go back. With a long heave of sigh shot this video and we returned to the base. Will definitely come back one other day to realize this unfulfilled mission!
It was around 2 pm, just few mts away from the parking we found one big banyan tree and settled for lunch. Thanks to Jane for the chicken and rice, it tasted like heaven after that hell of an adventure!
The return journey was pretty relaxed and we were out to Kovalam beach to chill out. It was really worth a journey as we got some live Crabs & fish from the market over there and drove back home!
Route Taken: Adyar - Kelambakkam - Vandalur - Thindivanam - Gingee
Total Distance: 160 km
