Vellore Fort needs facelift to woo more tourists

Lack of appropriate understanding between the State government, represented by the police department, and the Centre’s Archeological Survey of India (ASI), has resulted in the Vellore Fort, a prime tourist attraction in the heart of the town, languishing.

The fort is the only one to have a water-filled moat, though on the side abutting the Periyar park, a weed-filled stretch has ensured that water does not fully surround the structure.

System tanks in Vellore ensured that when the Otteri lake was full, surplus water flowed into Suryakulam near the fort, from where the excess would reach the moat. Additional water from the fort would then drain into the Palar river. Currently, the Otteri lake has no inflow due to encroachments, while Suryakulam has vanished. Only the moat has water. 

Built by Chinni Bommi Reddy and Thimma Reddy Nayak, who were local chieftains subordinate to Sadasiva Raya of the Vijayanagar empire, in 1566, the 133-acre fort is known for its robust masonry construction. The fort had a chequered history as it was under the Bijapur sultans (1656-1678), Marathas (1678–1707), Mughals (1707–1760) and the British (1760–1947) after which it was taken over by the ASI which maintains it now.

The fort was also the venue of the Vellore or Sepoy Mutiny in 1806 when local issues resulted in Indian soldiers of the Madras Army massacring 100 British soldiers, before the 800-odd rebels were routed by the British from nearby Arcot. It was this mutiny which laid the foundation for the freedom struggle later on.

In the last century, the fort housed the Collector’s office and those of the district SP and Vellore range DIG in addition to the Police Recruit School.

The DMK government built a five-storeyed Collector’s office on the Chennai highway at Sathuvachari 30 years ago, following which the offices of the Collector, SP and DIG moved out of the fort.

Today, other than the Collector’s former office, which has been converted to a sculpture museum (the firsts floor remains vacant), the SP’s and DIG’s former offices as well as the special branch office present a picture of total neglect. Enquiries revealed that the Police Recruit School was launched here in 1976 and trained all policemen. However, it now trains only constables, while the Chennai Police Training College trains sub-inspectors.

The Police Recruit School controls the Tipu and Hyder mahals, which earlier housed the family of Tipu Sultan after his death. Tipu’s mother Bakshi Begum (Hyder Ali’s wife), Tipu’s wife Padshah Begum and his sons and daughters were imprisoned here after his death in 1799, but were shifted immediately to Kolkata after the Vellore mutiny as Indian soldiers wanted the erstwhile royal family to lead them. Bakshi and Padshah’s tombs and those of the latter’s children are located a kilometre away on the eastern side of the fort. The fort also served as the prison for Vikrama Rajasinha (1798-1815), the last Tamil King of Kandy in Sri Lanka.

While the State government built a memorial for Rajasinha on the banks of the Palar, few, if any, visit it due to a total lack of initiative by the Tourism Department to attract tourists.

In fact, police school principal AV Madhi, who is to retire in a month, said, “I do not know anything about the fort or its history,” despite the fact that he hails from the district.

Police school sources revealed that while both Tipu and Hyder mahals were used to house arrested Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadre in the 1990s, local support for them soured when they attempted to kill a sub-inspector and burn centuries-old wooden structures since they were allegedly annoyed at not being allowed a free rein inside.

Today, while Hyder Mahal is empty, Tipu Mahal houses 300 police recruits. Asked what they intended to do with the SP and DIG’s former offices, sources revealed they were used to house additional recruits when the numbers crossed 300.

The Kandy Mahal, where Vikrama Rajasinha was imprisoned, was recently opened to the public by Collector SA Raman, but it’s hard to locate it as there are no signboards and even staff of the police school do not know where it is situated.

Thus, the ASI only manages the fort moat and ramparts while usable buildings inside are controlled by the police who have no idea of handing them over for the present. “We plan to renovate Hyder Mahal at an estimated Rs 3 crore cost as funds have been sanctioned. The work is to be done by the TN Police Housing Corporation, which has to ensure that only plastering is done without in any way altering the basic structure. To get the no objection certificate for this job, the ASI made us run from pillar to post and it took three years to get the document,” a source said.

The ASI faces different problems. It sanctioned Rs 4.5 crore to build two modern toilets, a reception centre and for renovation work. “As the funds are yet to reach us, we do not know when the work would start,” sources revealed. Recently, the ASI repaired a portion of the damaged moat wall on the town side.