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This month Rediff Travel presents a choice selection of unusual getaways for the summer traveller. We kick off the series, this week, with an overview of the tiny colonial town of Tranquebar in the heart of sultry Tamil Nadu. Enjoy!
Tranquebar
Nearly four hundred years ago Danish sailors arrived at the picturesque Tamil
coastal village of Tarangambadi. Its strategic location instantly made it attractive to the Danes as a
trading post. In 1620 they signed a treaty with the local ruler, Ragunath Nayak, on behalf of the Danish
king Christian IV. The town was colonised and renamed Tranquebar.
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This windy beach town is the only pocket of Dane culture on the Indian sub-continent. Faded Danish
landmarks give the place a strange but fascinating washed out charm. Along the grandly named King's
Road is a memorial at the spot where the Danes landed. The massive Dansborg Fort is morereminiscent of Aalborg rather than a somnolent little town in Tamil Nadu. In the churchyard of the pretty,
whitewashed New Jerusalem Church is buried Bartholomaus Zeigenbalg, a Danish missionary.
Comfortable accommodation is easily available nearby at
Chidambaram on the Coleroon river.
Hotel Saradharam, tel # 04144-21340 offers non-air conditioned rooms for Rs 390,
air-conditioned rooms for Rs 630, deluxe suites for Rs 870 and a presidential suite for Rs 1010.
Vegetarian, non-vegetarian and continental meals are available at their in-house restaurant.
Hotel Tamil Nadu, tel # 0416-20056, run by the Tamil Nadu Tourism offers non-air conditioned
rooms for Rs 189, air conditioned rooms for Rs 420, deluxe air conditioned rooms for Rs 550 and a suite for
Rs 660. Vegetarian meals are available at their in-house restaurant.
The Dansborg Fort, the New Jerusalem Church and the Danish homes off King's Road in
Tranquebar. The impressive temples of Chidambaram 50 km away. And the shrine of Velangani, a
important Christian pilgrimage spot, is 50 km south.
Tranquebar is about 280 km from Madras and easily accessible by road.
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