Udayagiri Fort

There are two forts named Udayagiri Fort in South India.

Fort in Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari District)

The fort in Tamil Nadu is located at a distance of 14 km from Nagercoil town in Kanyakumari District. It had been originally built in the 1600s, and then rebuilt later by Maharaja Marthanda Varma of Travancore in the 18th century.

Enclosing an area of about 90 acres (36 ha), with an isolated hill 260 feet (79 m) high, the fort contains an old foundry which was used for casting guns.

The fort was rebuilt during the reign of Marthanda Varma, Venad King, during 1741-44 under the supervision of Eustachius De Lannoy, a flemish naval commander of the Dutch East India Company, who later served as the Chief of the Travancore Army.

In the early days, the fort was of strategic importance. Prisoners captured in the campaign against Tippu Sultan were confined in the fort for some time. In 1810, the East India Company's Army under Colonel Leger marched into the Travancore State through the Aramboly Pass to quell a rebellion under the leadership of Velu Thambi Dalavai.

In the later years, the English East India Company's troops were stationed there till the middle of the 19th century.

The fort is situated on the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil National highway at Puliyoorkurichi. This was the most important military barracks of the Travancore rulers, when Padmanabhapuram was their capital. The fort is built of massive granite blocks around an isolated hillock.

The tombs of the Dutch Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy, (in whose honour the fort was once called Dillanai Kottai— De Lennoy's Fort), and of his wife and son could be seen inside a partly ruined chapel in the fort.

De Lannoy's body was buried within the fort and a chapel was built at his burial site . De Lannoy's tomb in the fort is marked out by a stone cross planted on the top, with the inscription in both Tamil and Latin. His wife and son were buried by his side.

Recently, officials of the Department of Archaeology found an underground tunnel within the fort.

Presently, the fort has been turned into a bio-diversity park by the Tamilnadu forest department, with sites of historical importance, such as De Lannoy's tomb, remaining as protected archaeological sites under the Archaeological Department of India.

Fort in Andhra Pradesh

The fort in Andhra Pradesh state is located in Udayagiri Village in Nellore district. It is located 96 km from Nellore city. The fort was built by Gajapatis and Vijayanagara kings in the 14th and 15th centuries. The army of Krishna Deva Raya attacked the fort. Tthe fight lasted for an year and resulted in the end of Gajapatis rule from Telugu region. It was later ruled by chieftains of Nawabs of Golconda and Arcot.

The towering peak reaching a height of 994 m (3,261 ft) can be seen here, which is called Sanjiva Hill because a wide variety of medicinal herbs grow on it. Remains of several ancient temples, remarkable for their architecture are seen. It consists of thirteen fortresses, eight on the hill and three below. It covers an area of about seven miles.