Namakkal Fort
| Namakkal Fort | |
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| Part of Tamil Nadu | |
| Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India | |
Namakkal Fort
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 Namakkal Fort
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| Coordinates | 11°14′00″N 78°10′00″E / 11.233333°N 78.166667°E |
| Type | Forts |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Department of Archaeology |
Namakkal Fort is a historic fort present in Namakkal in Namakkal district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The fort was built during the reign of Thirumalai Nayak of Madurai in 17th century.The fort is located on the top of a hillock made of a single rock, 75 m (246 ft) tall. There is a temple and a mosque that are located within the fort, both of which are popular tourist attractions of the town. In modern times, the fort is under the control of the Archaeological Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
According to Hindu legend, the hillock on which the fort is located was carried by Hanuman, the monkey lieutenant of King Rama from the epic Ramayana. The hillock is known as Namagiri and also as Saligramam, the image of Vishnu in a divine stone. Hanuman was flying with the Sanjeevi Paravatha, the sacred mountain from North India to Sri Lanka. On his way, he saw the Kamalalayam tank and descended there to perform his morning worship. He placed the saligramam he brought from Himalayas and when he opened his eyes after the worship, he saw the stone grown to its current size. A divine voice asked him to leave the stone in the place itself. As per another legend, Narasimha, an avatar of Vishnu, after destroying demon Hiranyakasipu, was still in ferocious mood. Hanuman, brought him to the place where Mahalakshmi, the consort of Vishnu was doing penance.
The fort was built by the Madurai Nayaks during the 17th century. It is reported to have been built by Ramachandra Naik, the Poligar of Sendamangalam, during the reign of Thirumalai Nayak. The fort was captured by the British during in 1768, to be lost to Hyder Ali.
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