Sangagiri Fort was constructed in several eras. Vettuva Gounder King Kunni Vettuva Raja constructed all four of the entrances prior to the fifteenth century, and the Vijayanagar kingdom did so subsequent to that time. It features fourteen fort walls encircling a hill, the last of which was constructed by the British. Kongu Nadu, which included the districts of Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Namakkal, Karur, and Dindukal, used the fort as a British tax storage facility.Another name for it is Guptha Giri.
Both Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company used it as a major military station. This is due to the fact that only one side of the hill can be ascended; the other sides are too steep. This includes cemeteries that were once used by forces stationed at the fort, a granary, two oil godowns, one explosives godown, two masjiths, two Varadharaja Perumal temples, and former British administration buildings.
The Thanjavur country was ruled by the Pandyas for around a century after the Chola dynasty ended in the 13th century. There was chaos in the Tanjore country after Malik Kafur's invasion. Before the Pandya chieftains reclaimed their independence, the Delhi Sultanate ruled for fifty years. But not too long after, the Vijayanagar Empire overran them. The Nayaks of Madurai, who finally overran Thanjavur in 1646, put an end to Vijayanagar's hegemony.The Thanjavur Nayak dynasty ruled until 1673, when Madurai's Chokkanatha Nayak invaded Thanjavur and assassinated Vijayaraghava.
After putting his brother Alagiri on the throne of Thanjavur, Chokkanatha was compelled to acknowledge Thanjavur's independence after Alagiri betrayed him in less than a year. The Bijapur Sultan was persuaded to assist a son of Vijaya Raghava in regaining the Thanjavur kingdom. To retake the kingdom from the new invader, the Sultan of Bijapur dispatched a force led by the Maratha general Venkoji in 1675. Venkoji easily vanquished Alagiri and took control of Thanjavur. Instead of following the Bijapur Sultan's instructions and installing his protégée on the throne, he took control of the country and crowned himself king. The Marathas took control of Thanjavur from that point on.
The Chettiar community assisted the Thanjavur monarchy in raising funds during this time to repel invaders. Marathas thus gave the order to find all of the Chettiar men guilty. The elder wisemen of the community organized the secret relocation of 500 Chettiar community children to the Sangagiri region in order to preserve their lineage. These individuals went under the name Five Hundred Kongu Chettiars. Devotees of Lord Shiva, the Chettiars erected their Shiva temple at Sunnambu Kuttai Limestone Pond, close to Sangagiri. Kopineshwar was the name of the temple's Lord Shiva, along with Angayarkanni.
These 500 people need to be pardoned in order to lessen the Maratha king's wrath, assuming the king is still alive. The god was also given the name Chettiars after the Thane-based Maratha lord Kopineshwar. When Silharas ruled Thane from 810 to 1260, it is when the temple was first constructed. General Chimaji Appa, a Maratha king, restored this temple in Thane around 1760.
The crumbling remnants of the Kopineshwar-Angayarkanni temple can still be seen when traveling to Idapadi. In 1982, Coimbatore resident Viswanathan Chettiar discovered this abandoned temple. He is able to recognize the temple's perimeter, its innermost chamber, and a few shattered stone statues. The area next to the temple was farmed, but because of its mystical influence, no one wanted to abuse this isolated piece of land.
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