Alamparai Fort, Coastal fort in Kanchipuram district, India

Alamparai Fort stands near Kadappakkam, about 50 km from Mamallapuram, covering 15 acres on land overlooking the sea. It is built of bricks and limestone, with tall walls around the perimeter and brick steps leading to the top. A mausoleum sits at its centre, and the watch tower gives a view of the surroundings; parts of the dilapidated fort lie under the sea.

Alamparai was a seaport of the Arcot nawabs before the fort was built in the Mughal era, between 1736 and 1740, under Nawab Doste Ali Khan. In 1750 Dupleix's services to Subedar Muzaffar Jung earned the fort for the French. After the Carnatic Wars the British took it and demolished it in 1760; the 2004 tsunami damaged what remained.

Alamparai was the main trading port of the Nawabs of Arcot, and its mint struck coins; Ananda Ranga Pillai, Dubash to Dupleix, mentions the port in his diaries. At the request of Governor Dumas, the mint workers of Alampuravi moved to Pondicherry and set up a mint there with the Nawab's approval. The 2003 Tamil film Pithamagan, starring Suriya and Vikram, was partly shot among the ruins.

The site lies about 50 kilometers south of Mamallapuram on the beach and can be reached year-round. The months from November to February bring cooler weather and less rain, making a visit more comfortable then.

The mint at Alamparai was important enough that, at the request of Dumas, governor of Madras Presidency, its workers moved to Pondicherry and set up a mint there with the approval of the Nawab of Arcot. Archaeologists later found coins struck under the Nawabs, along with arms and ammunition used by the Nawabs and the French.