Historic Vellore Fort, Government Museum, Science Park, Vainu Bappu Observatory, Amirthi Zoological Park, Religious Places like Jalakandeswarar Temple, Srilakshmi Golden Temple, Big Mosque & St. John's Church and Yelagiri Hill station are the among top tourist attractions in and around Vellore. Attractions Vellore Fort Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in heart of the Vellore city, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India built by Vijayanagara Kings. The Fort was at one point of time the headquarters of the Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire. The fort is known for its grand ramparts, wide moat and robust masonry. The Fort's ownership passed from Vijayanagara Kings, to the Bijapur Sultans, to Marathas, to the Carnatic Nawabs and finally to the British, who held the fort until India gained independence. The Indian government maintains the Fort with the Archaeological Department. During British rule, the Tipu Sultan's family and the last king of Sri Lanka, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha were held in as prisoners in the fort. The fort houses a Christian church, a Muslim mosque and a Hindu temple, the latter of which is famous for its magnificent carvings. The first rebellion against British rule erupted at this fort in 1806, and it is also a witness to the massacre of the Vijayanagara royal family of Sriranga Raya. Gallery Government Museum Government museum is located inside the Vellore fort in lakshmanswami town hall. It is a multipurpose museum having a great collection of different types of artifacts like archeology, history, geology and botany also. The museum is open all days except government holidays. Museum has 2896 exhibits, both displayed and reserved. Museum has 8 galleries which are District Gallery, Stone sculpture Gallery, Pre-History-Philately Gallery, Paintings Gallery, Zoology Gallery, Bronze Gallery, Coins Gallery and Anthropology Gallery. Science Park Vellore Science Park (also known as Vellore District Science Centre) located in sathuvachari east part of the Vellore City. This science centre is among the four centres in Tamil Nadu developed by Tamil Nadu Science and Technology centre. It has number of galleries including on environment; leather and physical science. Objective of the science park is to enable children learn science through play method. Science Park here had made it possible for the students and general public to view comet ISON with its telescopic facility on 28 November 2013. Science Park also conducts summer camps for students teaching them on physics, chemistry, maths, biology, environmental