Maiyakottai Fort (Fort of the Dead), Thuckalay, Kanyakumari

Maiyakottai Fort (Fort of the Dead), Thuckalay, Kanyakumari

Maiyakottai Fort is an ancient Fort located near Thuckalay Town in Kanyakumari District of Tamilnadu. The word Maiyakottai, which has evolved from its root word “Mayanakottai” which literally means “The Fort of the Dead”. The Fort was constructed during the reign of Bala Marthanda Varma, Travancore ruler, by his illustrious European General De Lannoy during the 1700's. As the name goes this fort was built for doing the last rites to the soldiers who were dead in the wars.

There were two types of rituals.  One, burning the corpse and the other way was to leave the corpse on top of a stone as food for the eagles. To make the latter one with ease this fort is built 350 feet above the main Sea level. The fort wall was made up granite stones measuring 3 to 5 feet in length, 30 to 40 cm in width and 25 to 30 cm in thick. The upper portion of the fort there is a wall cemented by lime and sand mixture. There was a heap of this mixture inside the fort.

The ramparts of the fort have about 44 gunpoints and on the front and there were two bastions. The total length of the fort was about 165 feet and the width of 95 feet. From this fort, one can see the enchanting natural scenery of Padmanabhapuram. The structural details of the fort indicated that this was one of the active forts during the time of Venadu Kings. The entrance of this fort stands 6 feet tall and welcomes you with its scary history of the past. This olden day graveyard so to say still has the ashes of the burned corpse to witness the past.

This place attracts no tourists because of its fanciful stories of ghost associated with and its very name “fort of the dead” which is more than enough to panic anyone. For youngsters with bunch of friends would find this fort worth visiting. The local folks would terrify you, not to pay a visit to this historical fort, but nothing will haunt you except the tons of liquor bottles you will get to see here.

To reach this historical place one should take right turn from “Marunthukkottai” junction. The Fort is located at about 1 Km from Marunthu Kottai Bus Stop, 14 Kms from Kulasekharam, 4 Kms from Thuckalay, 16 Kms from Colachel, 15 Kms from Nagercoil, 43 Kms from Kanyakumari, 8 Kms from Eraniel, 23 Kms from Boothapandi, 23 Kms from Suchindram, 16 Kms from Marthandam and 62 Kms from Thiruvananthapuram. Nearest Railway Station is located at Eraniel and Nearest Airport is located at Thiruvananthapuram.