The fort is believed to be used as a granary and there were spaces for the elephant army as well. The secret tunnel from the cemetery is the highlight
Originally a weavers’ village, the town was immensely popular for its muslin cloth and also a flourishing brick-making industry
The fort includes a cemetery with many beautifully decorated graves that date to between 1620 and 1769
Further ahead are mounting blocks — most likely for the elephants — spacious and clean granaries with well-laid-out pipelines that indicate an advanced drainage system, and dining and dancing halls that are on the long road to some sort of restoration.
The first battle between British East India Company and the Dutch started here as Battle of Sadras
A walk past the structures for elephant mounts and the long-abandoned halls for dining and dancing will lead one to the ramparts of the fort overlooking the azure blue waters
Sadras was also a crucial supply point for bricks, which were used to build the other Dutch forts in both the Coromandel Coast and Ceylon. But Dutch hegemony in the area was not to last, and soon the English came out as the undisputed colonial power in these waters
Fashioned from bricks made at the local kilns, these tall fortifications still stand, even with the enemy long gone
It is now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India in efforts to contain further dilapidation of this great monument
In recent times, Sadras has found mention due to its proximity to the atomic power plant (Madras Atomic Power Station) and the atomic research centre (Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research – IGC
