A group of children playing inside the premises of a fort atop the Sarpanamedu Malai (hill) in Vellore, stumbled upon something interesting on Monday: a cannon, believed to be from the British period. The staff from the Department of Museums inspected it on Tuesday.
During the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, children from a village in the foothills of the hills, also known as Rani Malai, in Vellore, were playing inside a fort located at the top, at a height of 1,000 feet. “Amidst some bushes, they found a portion of the cannon. As they were not able to pull it out, they informed their elders, and we dug a little and were surprised to find a cannon. As this is a fort, we suspected such artillery would be there, but this is the first time we have come across one,” said Wasim, a village resident.
Officials from the Department of Museums then visited the site and checked the cannon. “It is made of cast iron and is nine feet long with a diameter of three meters. It has a thickness of six inches and weighs close to two tonnes. Its edges are broken so the carriage on which it was mounted is not there,” said K. Saravanan, Curator, Vellore Museum.
The museum officials claim that the site is in a reserve forest area. “The fort belonged to the Maratha Kings and later it was under the control of the Nawabs. I will submit a report to the Vellore district Collector and he will decided on what steps to take next,” he added
