"the world": Vellore Fort - Jalakantheswar Temple

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Vellore Fort - Jalakantheswar Temple

Hi Readers,

Today, again I am going to describe my trip to Vellore. Its more of about the fort and the magnificent temple inside it.

View of the fort from boat in the moat.

The fortification consist of a main rampart broken at irregular intervals by round towers and rectangular projections. The main wall is made up of granite stone taken from nearby Arcot and Chittor. The main wall is surrounded by moat fed with water to make it even more defensive. This is one of the most perfect specimen of military architecture in India. Same as any other fort be it in south or north of India. The architecture depicts the same massive and huge walls surrounded by moat to make it more defensive.

The most interesting fact about this fort is there is a Hindu temple(Jalakantheswar temple), a mosque and a church inside its barricade. The fort also houses the famous "TIPU MAHAL", where Tipu Sultan is believed to have stayed along with his family during the war with Britishers.

There is a garden outside this fort and boating facility is there in the moat. Paintings of Demon faces, horses, elephants, gooses and human figure can be seen in the main wall of this fort. The cannon pointing outside with the cannon balls can still be seen.

Main entrance Jalakantheswar.

The Jalakantheswar temple is of same age as this fort. This temple is noted for its magnificent sculpture, and speaks about the highly skilled and efficient artisans of that age. The temple has a large wedding hall adorned with elegant reliefs of monolithic sculpture. The temple has double Gopurams and has many deities beside the Jalakantheswar Shiva to whom it is dedicated. The temple premises has Ganapati temple, Akhilanteswari temple and Navagrahas. There is a well, where they say to drop a coin and make a wish. It also displays the Gold chariot that is used to take the lord for Parikrama(trip to town) once a year.