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Photo: Esben Agersnap, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A Danish 17th-century fort facing the coast. The construction of the fort began immediately after the arrival of the first Danish trading expedition and the establishment of a treaty regulating trading rights between the Nayak Raghunatha in Thanjavur and the Danish East India Company in 1620. Until the end of the 17th century the fort was used for residential and storage purposes; subsequent increase in population forced the Danes to move out and occupy surrounding areas as well. While it used to be crumbling away, the Fort has been renovated by Indian volunteers and Danish non-profit organisations. It houses a small museum inside that has some artifacts and a history of the Danish Settlement.
Fort Dansborg, locally called Danish Fort, is a Danish fort located in the shores of Bay of Bengal in Tranquebar (Tharangambadi) in the Mayiladuthurai District, state of Tamil Nadu. Fort Dansborg was built in the land ceded by Thanjavur king Ragunatha Nayak in an agreement with Danish Admiral Ove Gjedde in 1620 and acted as the base for Danish settlement in the region during the early 17th century. The fort is the second largest Danish fort after Kronborg. The fort was sold to the British in 1845 and along with Tranquebar, the fort lost its significance as the town was not an active trading post for the British. After India's independence in 1947, the fort was used as an inspection bungalow by the state government until 1978 when its archaeology department took control of the fort. The fort is now used as a museum where the major artifacts of the fort and the Danish colonial empire in India are displayed.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
The plaque commemorates the landing of the first Ev Lutheran missionaries to India. The plaque stands at the very spot where Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plutschau landed on 9 July 1706. It was erected in 1906 by the Leipzig Ev Luth Mission to celebrate the 200 years of landing. The plaque is mounted on an irregular mountain-like memorial topped with a cross. The plaque was severely damaged during the tsunami of 2004. In 2012 the monument was upgraded, with a stone-tiled floor and low octagonal boundary wall.
Small cemetery that holds the whitewashed graves of several Danish colonial officials and tradesmen. Don't expect a Danish style cemetery as found in Copenhagen. It is a small compound with a locked gate and several headstones standing forlornly in a barren patch of land.
The colonial bungalow once served as the residence of the Governor of Tranquebar. It overlooks the sprawling open space known as the parade ground. The Bungalow has been restored and there are plans to put it into some adoptive reuse.
Tharangambadi Maritime Museum is housed in the former residence of the Danish Commander. The 18th-century bungalow. It was restored by the Danish Tranquebar Association. It now houses the Tranquebar Maritime Museum. The museum contains a remains of an old ship along with boats and other maritime artifacts. Also, there is a section dedicated to marine creatures. A golden statue of Ziegenbalg stands at the entrance of the museum. The statue was put up in 2006 to commemorate the tercentenary of his landing. Plaques both in English and Tamil mention the achievements of Ziegenbalg.
Consecrated in 1701, it is the oldest Protestant Church in India. Prominent with its combination of colonial and Indian architectural features, its construction together with the fortification of the town marked the moving out and spreading of the Danish population into the surrounding settlement. The structure went through many reconstructions before it reached its present form.
The coastal town has its share of beautiful beaches. The beaches are rich in ozone and a 1960 Danish research puts Tranquebar as one the top ozone-rich beaches in the world. The beach has rocky outcrops and is unsuitable for bathing and swimming. The Dansborg fort towers above the beaches of Tranquebar.