Research Paper

Volume : 3 | Issue : 6 | June 2014 • ISSN No 2277 - 8179 Tourism Ginjee Fort – A Tourism Icon of Villupuram KEYWORDS : Fort Tourism-Important centers in - Gingee Fort - Gnesis District in Tamilnadu – A Case Study

Mr. M.P. SENTHIL Assistant Professor, Department of Hotel Management and Catering KUMAR Tiruchirappalli – 620020, TamilNadu. Science, Jamal Mohamed College, Affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Dr.R.Kannan Associate Professor & Research Guide, Center for Tourism and Hotel

Introduction management, Madurai Kamarajdurg University, to the southeast. Maduri-21 The three hills together constitute a fort Gingee Fort or Senji Fort (also known as Chenji, Jinji or Senchi) in , India Tamil Nadu, India. It lies inVillupuram District complex, each having a separate and self-contained citadel. The the state capital, is one, ofand the is surviving close to fortsthe Unionin Territo- fort walls are 13 km (8.1 mi) and the three hills are connected of , 160 kilometres ,(99 the mi) from [1]aby 80 walls feet enclosing(24 m) wide an areamoat of 11 square kilometres (4.2 sq mi). king, ranked it as the “most impregnable fortress in India” and It was built at a height of 800 feetgranaries (240 m),prison and protectedcells, and by a itry wasPuducherry called the. “The fort is so fortified, thatShivaji. The nearest temple dedicated to its presiding. The complex Hindu goddesshas a seven-storeyed called Chen- and the nearest air- Kalyana Mahal (marriage hall), pondknown as port is Chennai (MadrasTroy of the East” by the British - town with a railway station is tions.jiamman. The The fort, in modern times, contain is maintained a sacred and adminis- ), located 150 kilometres (93 mi) away. dur- Aanaikulam.[1] On the top of the hillock, there are. The minor fort isfortifica one of th Kurum- the prominent tourist destinations in Villupuram district. Originallybar the site ofth a small fort built by the tered by the Archaeological Survey of India ing the 9 century AD,th Gingee Fort was modified, the by lietunants The Nawabs of the during the 13 century. and As perwho one later account, became the independ fort was- builtent kings. duirng The the fort 15–16 passed centuryto the Marathas by theNayaks under the leadership who held the fort fromMughals about, 1660on their to 1677 cap- of Empire , the Moghuls, Carnatic AD called it Badshabad, while the Marathas who succeeded Nawabs, Frenchand the - them called it Chandry or Chindy. The in 1677 AD, Bijapur sultans ture of the fort in 1698 A.D., named it Nusratgadh in honour of the Nawab of Arcot British in 1761. The fort is closely asso Nawab Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat-Jang, the commander-in-chief of ciated with Raja Tej Singh, who unsuccessfully revolted against the besieging army. Later, the English and the French called it The Gingee Fort complex and eventually is on three lost hishillocks: life in a battle. Gingee or Jinji. The early Madras[2][3][1] records of the English give the - spellingAs per Tamil Chingee or Chengey. durg to the southeast. The three hills together constitute a fort known in Tamil as Thesingu Raasan, is associated with the fort. Krishnagiri to the north, Rajagiri to the west and Chandrayan legend, the tragic tale of Raja Tej Singh, popularly - complex, each having a separate and self-contained citadel. The The true life story of Tej Singh and his general, Mehboob Khan fort walls are 13 km (8.1 mi) and the three hills are connected (aka Maavuthukaran), who were friends, hasNawab inspired of Arcot many, andpo bya 80 walls feet enclosing(24 m) wide an areamoat of 11 square kilometres (4.2 sq mi). wasems, defeatedstreet plays, and andkilled countless in the war other that stories. followed. He Thoughwas the Ginson- [1] It was built at a height of 800 feetgranaries (240 m),prison and protectedcells, and by a of Swarup Singh and revolted against the temple dedicated to its presiding. The complex Hindu goddesshas a seven-storeyed called Chen- Kalyana Mahal (marriage hall), pondknown as gee became a part of the Nawab’s territory in ballads1714, the. young - and courageous Tej Singh became a legend and his life, love and tions.jiamman. The The fort, fortifications in modern times, contain is maintained a sacred and adminis- brave but tragic end were eulogised in various Aanaikulam.[1] On the top of the hillock, there are. The minor fort isfortifica one of the prominent tourist destinations in Villupuram district. The main source for the first two hundred years of the history of tered by the Archaeological Survey of India the place is the “Complete History of the Carnatic Kings” among Gingee Fort or Senji Fort (also known as Chenji, Jinji or Senchi) the Mackenzie manuscripts. According to historian Narayan, a in Tamil Nadu, India Tamil Nadu, small village called Melacerri, located 3 mi (4.8 km) away from- India. It lies inVillupuram District Gingee is called[4] “Old Gingee” has traces of fortifications from the state capital, Chennai is one, ofand the is surviving close to fortsthe Unionin Territo- Westernabout 1200 hill AD. while Ananda grazing Kon his ofsheep. the shepherd Making himself community the head(Ko of , 160 kilometres ,(99 the mi) Maratha from nar), accidentally found a treasure in one of the cavities of the king, ranked it as the “most impregnable fortress in India” and itry wasPuducherry called the. “The fort is so fortified, thatShivaji. The nearest of a small band of warriors, he defeated the petty rulers of the and the nearest air- neighbouring villages and built a small fortress on Kamalagiri, port is Chennai (MadrasTroy of the East” by the British chiefwhich of he a renamedneighbouring Anandagiri place calledafter himself. Kobilingan, The Konarwho belonged dynasty town with a railway station is Tindivanam toruled the Gingee Kurumba from caste 1190 and to 1330ascended AD, andthe wasthrone succeeded of Gingee. by theHe ), located 150 kilometres (93 mi) away. dur- th Kurum- , starting from Originallybar the site ofth a small fort built by the Chola dynasty thewas Cholas a feudatory. of the powerful Cholas. Gingee came into the ing the 9 century AD,th Gingee Fort was modified, the by lietunants hands of various ruling dynasties of of the during the 13 century. andAs perwho one later account, became the independ fort was- Tourism in a broader sense has existed for a long time in builtent kings. duirng The the fort 15–16 passed centuryto the Marathas by theNayaks under the leadership the Himalayas: of , the Moghuls, Carnatic in the form of pilgrimage to Hindu sanctuaries that are located Nawabs, Frenchand the - Shivaji in 1677 AD, Bijapur sultans th the Nawab of Arcot British in 1761. The fort is closely asso highestablished. up in the Examples mountains. for With these the foundations arrival of the are British Darjeeling, in the ciated with Raja Tej Singh, who unsuccessfully revolted against 19 century, summer resorts, the so-called Hill Stations, were The Gingee Fort complex and eventually is on three lost hishillocks: life in a battle. - Nainital, Mussoorie or Shimla. Nowadays, these Hill Stations are most frequented by members of the Indian and Pakistani Krishnagiri to the north, Rajagiri to the west and Chandrayan IJSRmiddle-class. - INTERNATIONAL “Modern” JOURNAL n region OF SCIENTIFIC – activities RESEARCH such as trekking,485 Research Paper mountainVolume : 3climbing, | Issue : 6 |sightseeing June 2014 • ISSNand Nowinter 2277 -sports 8179 – has been - tained its importance until the present day, being the capital of introduced only in the last few decades. These forms of west the Himachal Pradesh (Grötzbach 1996, p. 31). ofern and mass discuss tourism the have effects a huge of modern impact mass on the tourism environment on the local and on the local social structure. This paper will explain the history After some time, in the late 1830’s, the hill stations became sustainable tourism in this region. more attractive for the civilian residents of India (especially for society and environment and possible enhancements towards a the colonial middle and upper class), due to the fact that they History of Fort tourism in India – Some Important Centres were an opportunity to escape the hot pre-monsoon months and the summer monsoon, at the same offering a stay in a more pleasant region with a beautiful landscape (Grötzbach 1985, p. Tourism in the Himalayas, seen from a historicalth viewpoint, can 34). modernbe divided mass into tourism three distinct of the 20 phasesth or categories: the religious pilgrimages, the British hill stations of the 19 century and the Change started in 1947, when India became independent and century. the number of British tourists decreased dramatically. After a few years of crisis the number of tourists started to increase Pilgrimage to the Himalayas has played an important role for again: the Indian urban middle class had discovered the Hill anda long was time later in integrated several different into Hinduism. religions: The the worshippingwhole Himala of- ModernStations asmass an interesting tourism started vacation in destination. the 1960s and the num- holy rivers and nature deities has its roots in the Aryan culture ber of tourists visiting the hill stations increased by huge - numbers: yan region has an important spiritual meaning for as a natural“sacral space”features (Grötzbach or a beautiful 1994, landscape, p. 184). This but leadsa representation to a differ - ent, Hindu point of view of the Himalayas: not a collection of in Nainital, the number of visitors increased from 166000 in 1958 to 332000 in 1968 and to 560000 in 1988. In Mus of the divine. It is estimated that pilgrimage to the sanctuaries soorie, the number of visitors increased from 158000 in 1958 in the Himalayas started betweenst the 4th and 2nd century B.C. to 306000 in 19666 and 720000 in 1981 (Joshi 1990, p. 347;- The earliest written evidence for pilgrimage to the Himalayas is- Grötzbach 1985, p. 36). This enormous increase had, of course, nath)the Epos as pilgrimageMahabharata destinations. from the 1 Thecentury most B.C., important which mentions pilgrim- its negative side effects on the nature: Joshi, for example, de Hardwar and the sources of the Ganga (Badrinath and Kedar- Sukhatal,scribes the a situationsmall lake in northwestNainital as offollows: the town at an altitude of age destinations were and still are the sources of the rivers Gan ga and Yamuna (Figure 1), and, even more important, the lake 1960 m, has dried up and its bed is being used as a dumping- Manasarovar and Mount Kailash, the home of Shiva, in southern calground pollution for building and the debris.concentration […] The of waters coliform of andthe E-coli[Naini] bacte lake- Tibet. Vaishno Devi and Amarnath, two cave sanctuaries, are are no longer clear due to the increased turbidity. Bacteriologi- located in Jammu and Kashmir (Grotzbach 1985, pp. 30-31). Even though most of the sanctuaries in the Himalayas are Hindu ria in the lake are at unsafe levels. Similarly, the levels of chlo sanctuaries, there are also Buddhist and Bon sanctuaries such rine, lead and manganese are far beyond those considered safe.” Untilas the the Kongpo middle Bonri of the in 20centralth Tibet. Modern(Joshi 1990, Tourism p. 351) of the 20th century went on the arduous trek to one of the sanctuaries was rela- century, the number of pilgrims that- - gionModern popular mass nin region other startedparts of in the1950s world, after that Sir Edmund had until Hillary then tively low:th for example, about five to ten thousand pilgrims ar and Tenzing Norgay climbed the Mt. Everest and made the re ofrived the in 20 Badrinathth each year after a 30-day hike in the middle of the 19 century. But with the expansion of streets in the middle- more or less ignored the region (Walder 2000, p. 9). In the first century, Badrinath could be reached from Rishikesh years, the lack of transportation infrastructure limited tourism within one and a half day by bus. Since then, the number of pil to the Hill Stations and the Garhwal region. But soon after the grims arriving in Badrinath and the whole Garhwal region has Indian-Chinese border war in 1962, a huge number of roads- increased dramatically. were built in the Indian part of the Himalayas – until 1970, 10- - tion.000 kmAfter of theseroads. roads Although were theiralso opened purpose for was foreign primarily tourists, a mili the The total number of pilgrims arriving in the pilgrimage places regionstary one, close they to opened the roads the experiencedregion to modern an enormous mass transporta growth in of the Garhwal Himalaya (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Ya munotri, Hemkund) is still rising, too: from 355 000 in 1975 to - 751 000 in 1989 (Grötzbach 1994, p. 185). It is obvious that this tourism – in Ladakh, e.g., the number of visitors increased from development has an impact on the environment in this area: 0 in 1974 to 15.000 in 1982 (Grötzbach 1994). Nepal, too, wit Grötzbach reports on the fact that in Badrinath undeveloped nessed an enormous growth of tourism in the last 50 years. In areas are used as garbage dumps and even the water of the 1962, 6179 tourists arrived in Nepal. The growth in the number holy river Alakananda is contaminated with feces and sewage of tourists reached its climax in 1999, when 421 000 tourists The(Grötzbach British 1994, Hill stations p. 188). and Forts CONCLUSIONarrived in Nepal (Walder 2000, p. 13). th - The second stage of tourism had its beginning in the 19 century, The Himalayas offer the modern tourist a widespread range of when the British discovered the Himalayas as a recreation area.- possibilities: the activities range from visiting the unique cul After several military excursions of the British in the early 19th tural attractions, hiking, skiing, to the more adventurous types- century discovered the restorative effects of a stay in the Hima of tourism. In the last years, the modern (western) trend sports- layan hills, several sanatoriums were established to provide have been established in the Himalayan region: rafting, kayak services to members of the military. The first hill station was ing, canyoning, rock climbing, mountain biking, bungee jump Simla, founded in 1819. It was recognized as the government ing, paragliding etc (Nepal Tourism Board 2000, pp. 45-51).The and military summer headquarters for India in 1838 (which it- modern mass tourism has an enormous impact on the economy, stayed until the British withdrawal from India in 1947), thereby ecology and society in the Himalayas. gaining importance (Spencer 1948, pp. 640-641). Simla has re REFERENCE   - Eagles, P. (1995): Understanding the market for sustainable tourism. – In: McCool, S. et al. (1995): Linking tourism, the environment and sustainability. http://www.ecotourism.org/textfiles/eagles.txt , 11/02/03. | Eckholm, E.P. (1975): The Deterioration of Mountain Environ ments. – In: Science, vol. 189, September 5, pp. 764-770. | Grötzbach, E. (1985): Tourismus im Indischen Westhimalaya – Entwicklung und räumliche Strukturen. – In: Steinbach, Gurung, J.: Beiträge zur Fremdenverkehrsgeographie (=Arbeiten aus dem Fachgebiet Geographie der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt, Band 1). | Grötzbach, E. (1996): Tourismus und Umwelt im Himalaya und Karakorum. – In: HGG-Journal, Band 10. | Grötzbach, E.(1994): Hindu-Heiligtümer als Pilgerziele im Hochhimalaya. – In: Erdkunde 48(3). | H. (1998): Mountaineering in Nepal Himalaya: Some Reflections. Himalayan Association of Japan, Tokyo. | 486 IJSR - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH