Tharangambadi, also known as Tranquebar, is a town in Tamil Nadu that was a Danish colony from 1620 to 1845. It is located 15 km north of Karaikal on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The Danish East India Company founded Tranquebar in 1620, establishing a trading post and building Fort Dansborg, which served as the governor's residence and headquarters for over 150 years. Some historic buildings from the Danish colonial era that still stand include the 17th century Fort Dansborg, now a museum, and India's oldest Protestant church, the 18th century Zion Church.

1. Tharangambadi or Tranquebar
town of Tamil Nadu

2. Danish colony from 1620 to 1845
• Tharangambadi or Tranquebar is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam
district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, 15 km north of
Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary of the Kaveri River.
Tharangambadi is the headquarters of Tharangambadi taluk. Its
name means place of the singing waves. It was a Danish colony
from 1620 to 1845, and in Danish it is still known as Trankebar.
The earliest reference to Tarangampadi occurs in a 14th century
inscription, mentioning the place as Sadanganpade. Tranquebar was
founded by the Danish East India Company in 1620, when a factory
(commercial settlement) was opened and a fort, known as Fort
Dansborg, was built by a Danish captain named Ove Gjedde. This
fort was the residence and headquarters of the governor and other
officials for about 150 years. It is now a museum hosting a
collection of artifacts from the colonial era.

3. A view of Tranquebar Fort, built by Danish
settlers. The Danish enjoyed support of the
British and were more traders and missionaries
than military colonialists. They, however, had
their eye on the island of Nicobar.

4. The town gate, paint peeling off its
walls, welcomes visitors to the time capsule of
Tranquebar.

5. The centuries-old Zion Church in Tranquebar is India's oldest Protestant church and was built by
Danish settlers in 1704.

6. A view of the Gruendler House in Tranquebar.

7. A derelict building in Tranquebar
overgrown with vegetation.

8. The Governor's House in Tranquebar
being restored by INTACH

9. The cannons on the ramparts of Fort Dansborg
in Tranquebar have long been silent and were
probably never used, except ceremonially.

10. Danish architecture of Fort
Dansborg, Tranquebar.

11. The facade of Fort
Dansborg, Tranquebar.

12. BY
J.JAYAKRISHNAN