A Trip To The Breathtaking Ruins Of Alamparai Fort
- Syed aakhil nawaz
- Dec 27, 2017
- 2 min read
The milestone says about 50 kms to Pondicherry, when I pass a fish market in Kadapakkam. I take a detour and drive through a lost hamlet surrounded by backwaters. I take another detour and enter the portals of a port lost amidst the ruins, located right next to the seashore. There is no one in sight. Coconut and palm grooves shelter the broken bricks as the rubbles resonate with the glory of the past.
We were not ready for the pathetic state the Alamparai fort was in.This is the 17th century Alamparai fort also called Alampara or Adamparai. Built during the Mughal era it was ruled by the Nawab of Carnatic and was later on gifted to the French for their support. The British eventually destroyed the fort and the dockyard which was more than 100 metres long.
The fort though in a very scenic location, near a natural lagoon and the adjoining village is inhabited by fishermen. But the fort is an example of the pathetic attitude we have towards our historical monuments. Full of sand in a very bad shape the fort is more of ruins and a source of bricks for the locals than anything else. There was not a single guard or tourist beside us, though we saw some bikes parked near the entrance which instead of a magnificent gate like most forts was just a big gaping hole in the wall. The parapet was broken at many places and one portion of the wall was lying on the ground. The whole wall had hundreds of bushes growing on it and at many places bricks were missing. It appeared they were being regularly removed by locals to construct their homes.
A rusted ASI board gives us more information. Alamparai, it says was the ancient land of Idaikazhunadu, mentioned in the literary work, Siruppanatruppadai. The sea port was used for trade by the Arcot Nawabs and zari , salt and ghee were exported from here. Coins were minted from here as well and later on the mint was shifted to neighbouring Pondicherry. The mint built on a highway near Alamparai here even housed a Shiva temple, a “choultry “ and a pond and was built for the benefit of the travelers coming down this route towards Rameshwaram.
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