Any account of Gingee would be incomplete without mentioning the rock-cut shrine of Singavaram, located approximately 2½ miles from the fortress. This site stands as an excellent example of a South Indian rock-cut shrine, accessible via a steep flight of steps. The recumbent deity, Lord Ranganatha, is believed to have been the tutelary god of Raja Desing.
The deity’s image, hewn from the living rock, measures around 24 feet in length and is depicted in the traditional reclining posture upon the coils of the serpent Ananta. Notably, the deity’s head is turned to the side. According to the popular ballad of Raja Desing, this is a sign of divine disapproval. When the king sought the god’s blessing before his ill-fated battle against Sadatullah Khan, the Nawab of Arcot, in 1714 A.D., the deity turned his head, signaling his objection to Desing’s headstrong haste.
The Two Gingees: Great and Little
Singavaram is likely the “Bishun Gingee” (Vishnu Gingee) referenced in 18th-century chronicles. According to Scott Waring, there were two distinct towns: “Sheo Gingee” (Siva Gingee) and “Bishun Gingee,” the latter being described as a popular and thriving town and a significant pilgrimage site. He wrote:
“The city venerable for its antiquity and supposed sanctity was entirely surrounded by Muslims who attacked it with great vigour and resolution. Gingee is one of the principal places of worship in South India. There are two great temples, the Sheo Gingee and Bishun Gingee surrounded by walls of considerable circumference. Within them are innumerable edifices of incredible value and also numerous and splendid temples. The breadth of the town is trifling, having only one street of shops with the houses and gardens of the inhabitants surrounding them. The tanks are numerous, faced with stony steps. Each tank has a separate name and a distinct season for bathing in it. The court of Sheo Gingee was formed into a citadel with basements and battlements and consequently thinly inhabited. Bishun Gingee was populous and flourishing and the resort of an immense number of pilgrims.”
Scott Waring’s “Bishun Gingee” can, with high probability, be identified with Singavaram, a renowned Vaishnava shrine. The idol is believed to be the original one from the great Srirangam temple, relocated for safekeeping during the sack of the temple by the first Muhammadan invaders under Malik Kafur. The idol at Singavaram is considered to be larger than the one currently at Srirangam, and it is a popular belief that this is the original sacred image. Scott Waring further noted that Singavaram fell under the jurisdiction of Gingee, which explains why some travelers referred to Gingee as consisting of two towns—”the great and little Gingee”—enclosed within a three-mile wall that also encompassed five rugged, fortified hills.
These five mountains likely included the Singavaram hill, along with the well-known Rajagiri, Krishnagiri, Chandrayan Drug, and Chakkili Drug. According to Scott Waring’s account, “Great Gingee” likely referred to the entire area, including Singavaram, while “Little Gingee” was the designation for Gingee proper, covering the region around the other four mountains.
Melacheri and Greater Gingee
The boundaries of “Great Gingee” would have also encompassed Melacheri, or the village of Old Gingee, which was also fortified. It served as the main village of the Gingee jagir, a land grant claimed to have been given by the Emperor of Delhi to a person named Sivanath. This jagir’s jurisdiction once extended over seven parganas (districts). The parganas were later removed from the grant when it was bestowed upon one Tejonath Singh by Lord William Bentinck, the Governor of Madras (1803–1807).
Greater Gingee, as described by keen observers like Orme, Pimenta, Branfill, and Scott Waring, covered a vast territory. Father Pimenta’s description of the fortress as “The Troy of the East,” while perhaps an extravagant simile, is nonetheless justifiable to some extent, given its monumental scale and historical significance.