Onnupuram Fort belongs to Vijayanagar era: History buffs

VELLORE: A team of 21 history buffs documented the remains of the Onnupuram Fort near Kannamangalam in Tiruvannamalai recently.

Lead by noted historian, philatelist and numismatist Tamilvanan, the team consisting of members drawn from Tiruchy, Salem, Dharmapuri, Puducherry and Chennai in addition to two doctors from Vellore’s CMC Hospital, undertook the task as documentation was necessary as for long there were doubts whether it belonged to the Nayak or Vijayanagar period.

Revealing this to DT Next, Tamilvanan said, “the fort can be seen from the Vellore-Tiruvannamalai Road when one crosses Kannamangalam. We were able to ascertain from local evidence that the fort belonged to the Vijayanagar period, but the exact date could not be found due to lack of evidence. The presence of sculptures of garuda and hanuman as also that of a conch and chakra revealed that the fort belonged to the Vijayanagar period.”

“There is a watch tower with enough space to hobble 10 horses near it, which also is the only source for water in the area. There is also evidence that a dungeon like structure would have been used either as an armory or as a mint,” he said.

Stating that the upper walls had space to house a canon, he said, “we now plan to send the collected evidence to the state Archeological Department for further investigation to fix the exact period.”

The team also found two hero stones, which are worshipped at a temple in Onnupuram in addition to documenting for the first time the existence of five Jain beds inside a cave there. “Locals call it ‘irul bondu’ as it is dark and the cave is not easily accessible. They also call it Panchapandavar Malai due to the five beds mistakenly dating to Mahabharatha period,” Tamilvanan said.