PLACES OF INTEREST

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 3^rd 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.

    A 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 two Pallava cave temples that have beautiful sculptures of the 6^th and  7^th 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 an 18^th century Church built by Reverend Schwartz of Denmark. 

SRIRANGAM - Sri RanganathaSwamy Temple:

  This superb temple complex at Srirangam, about three kms from the Rock Fort is surrounded by seven concentric walls with 21 Gopurams and is probably the largest in India.  Most of them date back to the 14^th to 17^th centuries, and many people have had a hand in its construction, including the Cheras, Pandyas, Cholas, Hoysalas and rulers from Vijayanagar.  The largest Gopuram in the first wall on the southern side was completed as recently as 1987, and now measures 73m.

  The main temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.  Even muslims are said to have prayed here after the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire.  Non-Hindus are not allowed into the gold-topped sanctorum, but they are allowed into the sixth wall.  The whole place is fascinating.  Bazaars and Brahmin’s houses fill the space between the outer four walls, and you don’t have to take your shoes off or deposit your bicycle until you get to the fourth wall.  Just past the shoe deposit is an information center, where you buy the ticket to climb the wall for the panoramic view of the entire complex.  A temple guide will unlock the gates and tell you what’s what.  It’s worth engaging one of these guides as there is much to see and you could easily spend all day wandering around the complex. There’s also a small museum containing sculptures.   An annual Car Festival is held here in January during which a decorated wooden chariot is pulled through the streets between various walls.  In mid-December, the yathra, the Vaikunda Ekadasi or Paradise Festival will be celebrated in the Vishnu Temple.

TIRUVANAIKKOIL JAMBUKESWARAR TEMPLE (5Km):

This temple is situated 2kms east of Srirangam, this beautiful Siva temple steals the show from the larger Ranganathaswami temple due to its excellent architectural design.  The temple is named after the elephant, which is believed to have worshipped Lord Siva here.  Installed under an ancient Jambu tree, the lingam is partially submerged by water and is meant to represent God-incarnate as water.

ST.JOHN’S CHURCH:

SAINT LOURDLS CHURCH:

The Church of Our Lady of Lourdl, a hundred years old, is a case in point.  Built within the St.Joseph’s College complex, in gothic architectural style (it is said that a maistry from Tirunelveli, one Savarimuthu, was given intensive training in such construction by the missionaries so that he could supervise the building), the Church’s 200 ft tall spire is visible from a radius of 8 kms around it. The Church has not been a repainted outside as the administrators wish to preserve its antiquity.   The stained glass panels depicting stories from the Bible are truly beautiful.  Some 6000 people attend mass at the church on Sundays.

The Church, Our Lady of Lourd is 100 years old

  Tourists of every faith visit the church right through the year.  Local citizens, of all faiths, never fail to pause and fold their hands in prayer when they pass the gates of the church.

NATHARVALLI DARGAH:

Built around the monument of Muslim sage called Nagthar Ali Aulia, the dargah is beautiful to behold.  Said to have been a Syrian King, Aulia left his throne to spread Islam.  At the end of his travels through the middle east and Asia, he reached the south India and then Tiruchirappalli.  For some reason he liked the space and tarried here.  It became his habit to offer prayers from the top of the design, a huge rock rolled down towards where Aulia was getting ready to pray.  Aulia turned and stopped the rock with one hand, “proof” of his legend is said to be found on a rock on the Rock Fort, which has what looks like the impression of a palm on it. Hindus often pray at the Nagthar Ali Dargah  in Tiruchirappalli.

SRI KOKANESWARAR TEMPLE:

The rock-cut cave temple of Sri Kokaneswarar Brahadambal at Thirukokarnam is of Mahendravarma Pallava’s period.

GOVERNMENT MUSEUM: