Trichy - Rock Fort
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Trichy - Rock Fort
Rock Fort
The spectacular Rock Fort Temple, the landmark of the city, is on the shores of the Kaveri. It is perched on a massive rocky outcrop at an altitude of 83 m above sea level. The Thayumanaswamy Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva (the destroyer in the Hindu trinity), is situated halfway to the top. It has a 100-pillar hall and a Vimana covered with gold. On the southern face of the rock are several beautifully carved rock-cut cave temples of the Pallava period. The 83m high Rock Fort is the only outcrop in the otherwise flat land of the city. The rock is one of the oldest in the world-approximately 3.800 million years, which makes it as old as the rocks of Greenland and older than the Himalayas.
The sheer abruptness of its rise is a thrill in itself, but the actual centre of attraction is not the fort itself, of which very little remains, but the temple at the summit. 344 steps hewn out of rock lead to the top where there are inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century.B.C. Hardly anything remains of the ramparts but the Main Guard Gate is still intact. The fort played an important part during the Carnatic wars and according to an inscription, mainly contributed to lay the foundations of the British Empire in India. At the top of the rock is the Uchipillaiyar Koil, a temple dedicated to Lord Vinayaka from where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Tiruchirappalli.
A flight of steps leads to the Mathrubutheswarar of Thayumanaswami temple, dedicated to Lord Siva where the lingam is a projection of the rock itself. Below the Siva temple are the two Pallava cave temples that have beautiful sculptures of the 6th and 7th centuries. At the foot of the Rock Fort are a tank and a pavilion which are used during the float festival of the temples. Near the tank is the house where Robert Clive lived when he was in Tiruchirappalli and there is an 18th century Church built by Reverend Schwartz of Denmark. The Rock fort Hillock is said to be 230 crore years old. The materials like Quartz used in glass making and felspar used in ceramic are found in this Rock formation.
The city Tiruchirapalli is called as Rockcity. That is because of the rockfort . This was built during the Vijayanagar Empire by Vishvanatha nayaka. The importance of this rockfort temple is that, it is the oldest sediment fossil rock than the rocks of Greenland and great Himalayas. Archeologists say that the age of his rock is about 3800 million years. There are 300 steps laid of rock to reach the top. The stone carving seen here and engraved letters are dated to 3rd century B.C. on the top of this at its peak a temple iscalled as uchipillayar koil is found.From that place one can have a hawk’s view and can seen the entire town down.
In the middle of this mountain a shiva temple is seen. The deity is Lord shiva in the name Mathrubutheswara or Thayumanavar swamy underneath this siva temple two pallava caves are seen with extrinsic sculptures of ancient tamilnadu belonging to 6th and 7th centuries. At the basement of this Rockfort temple the temple tank called Teppakulam is seen. The house near that tank was the place of residence of Robert clive during the British rule. The place is entirely a wealth of beautiful sculptures and marvelous carvings. A museum is also there which is kept open all the days from 8 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 3 pm.
Trichy - Rock Fort
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