ABOUT

Vattakottai Fort is a seaside fort near Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu the southern tip of India. It was built in the 18th century as a coastal defence-fortification and barracks in the erstwhile Travancore kingdom. It was constructed under the supervision of Captain Eustachius De Lannoy, an ex-Dutch naval officer of the Dutch East India Company, who became commander of the Travancore Army in the 18th century, after he earned the trust of the Travancore King Marthanda Varma. De Lannoy constructed Vattakottai, as part of the defence-fortifications he undertook throughout Travancore. The fort is made of granite blocks and, today, a part of the fort extends into the sea. It is a protected site under the Indian archaeological department. A major renovation of the fort was undertaken recently by the department, and the site is now a popular tourist spot. Vattakottai Fort, as the name goes, is a circular fort located about 6 kms to the north-east of Kanyakumari town, in Agasteeswaram taluk. The Fort, built entirely of stone, consists of watchtowers, rest rooms and a few weapon rooms. Many of the walls within the fort have carvings of a fish-like motif on them. Vattakottai Fort commands a picturesque view of the calm waters of the Arabian from one side of the parade ground of the fort, and the rough waters of the Bay of Bengal on the other. Another notable feature of the Fort is that near its site, there is a beach consisting entirely of black sands, located about 7 kms from the Kanyakumari town.