Monuments of Kerala

[minisoji]

Muniyara, Idukki

LocationMuniyara is part of Marayoor which is 40 km from Munnar, in Idukki district, central Kerala. A fascinating destination for anthropologists and archaeologists from all over the world, Muniyara has remnants of Dolmenoid cists belonging to the Megalithic age. Dolmenoids were burial chambers made of four stones placed on edges and covered by a fifth one called the cap stone. Some of these Dolmenoids contain several burial chambers, others have a quadrangle scooped out in laterite and lined on the sides with granite slabs. These are also covered with cap stones. Muniyara is part of Marayoor. Marayoor occupies a vast area on the slopes of the Western Ghats in Idukki district and is an important prehistoric site in Kerala. Apart from the Dolmenoid cists in Muniyara, Marayoor is famous for its natural sandalwood forests and prehistoric rock paintings. Getting thereMarayoorMunnar is 40 km and MunnarIdukki is 55 km by road.Nearest railway station: Ernakulam junction about 173 km away.Nearest airport: Kochi International Airport, about 199 km away.

[minisoji]

The Fort of Tipu Sultan

LocationIn the heart of Palakkad town. Tipu's Fort, also known as Palakkad Fort, stands in the heart of Palakkad town. Palakkad is a small town on the lower edges of the Sahyadri ranges of the Western Ghats, with patches of dense forests and crisscrossed with rivers. One of the well preserved forts in south India, Tipu's Fort was constructed in 1766 AD and is today a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. The sober majesty of the laterite walls of the fort reminds one of the old tales of valour. The fort was built by Hyder Ali (1717 1782), the emperor of Mysore province (now part of Karnataka State), supposedly to facilitate communication between both sides of the Western Ghats, (Coimbatore and the West Coast). He had captured the Malabar and Kochi regions which come under the West Coast area. His son Tipu Sultan (1750 1799), a warrior as well as linguist, was known as the 'Lion of Mysore'. Tipu waged a series of wars against the British colonial rule. In 1784, after an elevenday siege, the fort was captured by the British under Colonel Fullerton. Though it later fell into the hands of the troops of the Kozhikode Zamorin, it was recaptured by the British in 1790. Tipu Sultan lost his life in 1799 in an encounter with the British and the fort later came to be known in his name. Getting thereNearest railway station: Palakkad, about 5 km.Nearest airports: Coimbatore, about 55km, in Tamilnadu State; Cochin International Airport, about 140 km towards south.