Thirumayam Fort, Thirumayam –
The Fort Complex
The fort was originally a ring fort with seven concentric walls, only three enclosures remain now. The construction of the fort is of inferior quality as small blocks of stone were used along with bricks for the building of the fortification. The fort spreads over an area of about forty acres. The fort has three entrances. One entrance is in the north, another in the south and third in the east. Originally, the main entrance to the fort was from the south side. There are six cannons mounted in the north, south and east gates.
The fort was much larger than the present structure during ancient times. This can be affirmed by the fact that the main entrance to the old fort lies about one kilometer south of the present-day fort. This entrance to the old fort still stands. There is an elevated bastion situated on the top of the hill. A canon of British origin can be seen in this bastion. There is a natural pond situated to the south of this platform. There are ponds situated to the north east and south east of this platform.
There is storage area of ammunition on the right side halfway to the top of the fort. The fort also contain the remains of an abandoned jail. There is a moat around the lower wall. There are natural shelters and a rock boulder with prehistoric rock arts on the rocky hill. The shrines dedicated to Hanuman, Sakthi, Ganapathi, Karuppar (guardian deities of the fort) can be seen on the southern side and shrine dedicated to Bhairava can be seen on the northern side of the fort complex.
The temple found in the hill and the fort complex are
listed below;
