A Decade of Travel - 7

2017 – Tranquebar

12^th January

Everyone knows that Britain ruled us for nearly 200 years. It is also fairly common knowledge that France and Portugal ruled parts of India, Pondicherry and Goa respectively. But how many know that Denmark also ruled a tiny part of India for well over 2 centuries? It was to this former maritime trading post of Denmark that I made a day trip on 12^th January. It would be one of the most rewarding journeys of my life, the reason for which will become clear at the end of this post.

120 kms south of Pondicherry, Tranquebar, or Tharangambadi (Land of the singing waves), as it is officially known today, is a sleepy village on the Coromandel coast. A Danish expedition, led by Admiral Ove Giedde arrived here in 1620 and established a fort – Dansborg. Danish officials and merchants lived inside this fort for more than 225 years, before ceding control to British in 1845. Dansborg, with a kitschy pink façade, is now a museum and houses some memorabilia and artefacts.

Tranquebar has another historic importance. It was here that the first Protestant church of India, the New Jerusalem Church, was established in 1718. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg, the Lutheran evangelist arrived in 1706 as an envoy of King Frederick. The first native Indians were administered baptism by Ziegenbalg in 1707 in the Zion Church. A shiny golden statue of the evangelist stands prominently with a black plaque listing 24 firsts to his credit, including translating Bible into Tamil.

We reached Tranquebar after a 2-hour drive from Pondicherry. After taking in Dansborg, we had a long leisurely lunch in the sprawling verandah of “Bungalow on the Beach”, a heritage property restored and converted into a luxury hotel.

After lunch we walked along the three streets of the village – King’s street, Queen’s street and Admiral street – admiring the restored facades of some of the old private mansions. The finest example of restoration work is the Governor’s residence with a façade of 8 imposing columns.

The maritime museum was a tiny nondescript structure. It was locked and even as we wondered if it would ever open, the caretaker materialised on a bike and admitted us in.

We also visited the Zion Church, where the pastor welcomed us warmly and showed us around.

We lingered on the craggy shoreline hoping to catch the moonrise; it was a full moon night. On the shore is the Masilamani Nathar temple dedicated to Shiva. It dates back to the Pandian era of 13^th C.

On the way back to Pondicherry, we made a brief stopover at Thirukadaiyur for a quiet moment.

Weeks after this trip, I wrote an article and The Hindu featured it spectacularly in its Sunday Magazine. Tharangambadi's tug-of-war with time

The article can be digitally accessed HERE.