ABOUT TIRUCHI CITY
 
                        The most famous land mark of this bustling town is the Rockfort Temple, a spectacular monument perched on a massive rocky out crop which rises abruptly from the plain to tower over the old city. It is reached by the flight of steep steps cut into the rock and from its summit you get a fantastic view of the town plus its other main landmark, Sri Ranganatha Swami Temple ( Srirangam). Shrouded in a haze of coconut palms away to the north, Sri Ranganatha Swami temple is one of the largest and most interesting temple complexes in India, built on an island in the middle of Cauvery river and covering a staggering 2.5 square kilo meters. There is also another huge temple complex near by the Jambukeshwara Temple. 

                        Tiruchi itself has a long history going back to the centuries before the Christian era when it was a Chola citadel. During the first millennium AD, it changed hands between the Pallavas and Pandyas many times before being taken by the Cholas in the tenth century AD. When the Chola empire finally declined, Tiruchi passed into the hands of the Vijaya Nagar kings of Hampi and remained with them until their defeat, in 1565 AD by the forces of the Deccan Sultans. 

                        The town and  its fort, as they stand today, were built by the Nayaks of Madurai. It was one of the main centers around which the wars of the Carnatic were fought in the 18th century during the British-French struggle for supremacy in India. 

                        Monuments aside, the city offers a good range of hotels and an excellent local bus system which does not demand the strength of an Ox and the skin of an Elephant to use.

 
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