The Vattakottai fort lies about 8km north of Kanyakumari. The word Vattakottai is a Tamil word meaning circular fort. But surprisingly, the fort is rectangular in shape. This fort was under the control of Travancore kings and the locals speak about a underground passage between the fort and the Padmanathapuram palace which is around 35 kms away from the fort. Not sure if we had technology to construct a underground secret passage for 35 kms during the time of the construction of the fort.

The caretaker of the fort is a Malayali as the fort is under the jurisdictions of Thrissur ASI circle and same is the case as Kanyakumari district falls under ASI Thrissur circle. The gateway to the fort holds the emblem of the Travancore kingdom. The fort has a pool, and couple of room like structures probably to hold some soldiers.

 The beach adjacent to the fort is beautiful, but its bit difficult to navigate to the beach from the entrance of the fort. The beach also looks deserted, so be cautious if you`re treading their.

References

• ASI Thrissur