Right in the middle of the capital cit of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, is located the Thiruvananthapuram fort. The fort houses the wealthiest temple in the world and is also full of stories.
The wall too tell of a wonderful story, one where the city was saved by the walls. Legend has it that Tipu Sultan the ruler of Mysore wanted to annex Thiruvananthapuram to his expanding empire after conquering the Malabar area. Catching wind of his plans to conquer the city the then ruler of Thiruvananthapuram asked his subjects to abandon the city taking with them all the food supply and water. The soldiers troop into the city and when the last of the soldiers marched in the king ordered the gates to be shut from the outside.
So strong was the gates and the walls that the soldiers who went in were trapped in the fort with no means of food or water...
As the days go by their supplies dwindle and soon they are weak without having any food. At this opportune moment the ruler of the land make a hole in the wall and storm the enemy from outside. The weak soldiers of the conquering king gave up without a fight and thence the king restored peace in the region...
Today that hole has been made into a grand gate in memory of that victory. The fort walls, which originally had just four entrances today houses five.
