The Manora fort is situated away from

Pattukkottai Pattukkottai () is a major town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and also important town in Delta districts and Commercial town of Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Pudukkottai district Coastal areas. The town came to prominenc ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

, India and away from

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the ...

. The fort was built by

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

ruler

Serfoji II Serfoji II Bhonsle ( ta, இரண்டாம் சரபோஜி ராஜா போன்ஸ்லே, mr, शरभोजी राजे भोसले (द्वितीय)) (24 September 1777 – 7 March 1832) also spelt as Sarabho ...

in 1814–1815 to commemorate the successful advance of the British over

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. It is an eight-storeyed,

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A ''regular hexagon'' h ...

al tower, which is 23 m high overlooking the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

. The fort derives its name Manora, from the word ''

Minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally ...

''. In December 2004, five monuments including the fort were damaged in the

Indian Ocean Tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern S ...

. It was planned in 2007 by the State Tourism Department to renovate the structure and improve its infrastructure by building several additional facilities including upgrading the children's park and building a tourist's shed.

History

The fort was built by Tanjavur Maratha ruler

(1777-1832 CE) in 1814–1815 to commemorate the successful advance of the British over

(15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) in the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh C ...

in 1815. The fort acted as a residence for the royal family and also as a light-house.

Architecture

The fort is located in away from

and away from

in a place called

Sarabendrarajanpattinam Sarabendrarajanpattinam also called Mallipattinam is a coastal village in the Pattukkottai taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of ...

in shores of

. The word ''Manora'' is believed to be derived from the word '' minar'' meaning tower. The fort is hexagonal structure and has eight storeys, raising to a height of tapering to its top. The tower is surrounded by a wall and a moat ant it resembles a fort. The monument looks like a

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoi ...

, with arched windows, circular staircase and eaves separating one storey from the other. Manora fort board

Renovation in modern times

The restoration and conservation of the monument was started in 2000 and completed in 2003. Tourists are allowed access up to the second level of the fort. A considerable part of the fort was damaged during the

Indian Ocean tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern S ...

in 2004. The Tamil Nadu state Tourism Development Corporation allocated for improving the infrastructure around the fort. The project was to develop children's park to have additional facilities, provide additional lighting, install display boards, plant saplings along the road, lay new road from Sethu Road to the fort and modify thatched umbrella roof structures on the beach. The fort is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the district.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manora (Fort) Forts in Tamil Nadu Thanjavur