Down the Coromandel Coast
We spent a few days on the Coromandel Coast on the Bay of Bengal, visiting two towns that became colonies of France and Denmark in the scramble with Britain and the Dutch to establish trading footholds in the 17th and 18th centuries, namely the French enclave of Pondicherry (now Puducherry) and the previously Danish post of Tranquebar (now Tharangambadi, meaning ‘place of the singing waves’).
‘Pondy’ as it’s known locally, retains a very Gallic air in parts and its sobriquet, ‘the French Riviera of the East’, still feels apt, at least in places. The French only left in 1954 and it shows. The area known as White Town has street signs partly in Tamil, but they loudly proclaim ‘Rue de Groubert’, ‘Rue de L’eveche’ or ‘Rue de Surcouf’ and keep the French legacy very much alive. Areas of the city feel almost European with coloured or bright white facades, columned porticos and bougainvillaea blooming over high walls with elaborate gating.
On the Pondicherry promenade
We’d arrived on a local bus from Chennai, a four hour journey drenching in our own juices, ensuring we held on sufficiently to avoid falling out of the gaping hole where a door would usually be found. After navigating the local tuk tuk mafia to get a reasonable rate for our ride, we arrived at our local apartment in the north of the town (a fishing village called Kuruchikuppam), where the straight lines of the French district are replaced by warrens of tight alleys and vibrant orange, blue and lime green houses. People, mainly the elderly, come out to sit on their doorsteps as dusk approaches and to feed the stray dogs with rice & chicken’s feet for karmic merit. They greet you with a polite ‘bonjour’ or ‘ça va?’ if you make eye contact or say hello. First time I’ve heard French spoken in India.
Strays crunching on chicken bones
Kuruchikuppam backstreets
Locals and tourists alike like to promenade down the seafront and relax at Rock Point for the sunset, so we joined them, ambling past enormous statues of the Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and erstwhile French administrators. This section of the city doesn’t really feel Indian, but more like a colonial museum in a way, replete with expensive hotels and five star restaurants – very pleasant indeed, but in truth possibly too much style and not a great deal of substance…
That said, the ‘real’ India makes itself felt in many other ways. We joined the faithful of the Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar, a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Ganesha and famous for its elephant blessings and colourful, almost cartoon-like representations of the elephant headed, four-armed deity. Alas no elephants were around to bless on our visit, though by the looks of the wet straw and dirt we tramped though in bare feet I suspect one might have been there recently. Serious foot scrub needed. Equally, and not that incongruously in this part of India, we also joined a service at the church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, where it appears a local priest had just died and the congregation were giving him a rousing send off. According to a local man we got talking to, about 10% of the population of Pondicherry are Christian and there’s no animosity amongst the faiths. Everyone goes barefoot in church too.
Washing feet before entering the temple
Packed church in Pondy
We’re trying not to treat this trip as one long holiday and are watching our spend / weight closely (good luck needed with both of these). However we needed to take advantage of the nice eateries and the more relaxed alcohol laws in the town. You don’t expect to be munching on freshly baked almond croissants or sipping imported Pinot Noir here, but it would have been really rude not to. Helen was very happy to get her Malbec fix.
On to Tranquebar – a slightly less sweaty, but not by much, 3 hour local bus journey (we even had a door this time) and a stay at the rather plush ‘Bungalow on the Beach’, a lovely old colonial pile used by the British administration when the Danes sold them the settlement in 1845.
Tranquebar is truly lovely. It’s a really peaceful small town without much of the incessant honking of horns, midnight barking of dogs and street-hassle of elsewhere. People are really friendly here, stopping us on the street for impromptu conversations (always with a Cilla-esque “What’s your name and where d’you come from?”) and even sharing their food with us.
As busy as it gets in Tranquebar side streets
Local ladies in Tranquebar (who shared some of their lunch)
There’s a museum here dedicated to Bartlolomaus Ziegenbalg, a German tasked by the Danish court to set up a mission in the very early 1700s. Ziegenbalg initiated a process that not only established a native missionary education system, but also promoted the understanding of Tamil religious practices back in Europe – a rare and genuine attempt at cross-cultural exchange. There are several beautiful churches here dedicated to Ziegenbalg – modest, all-white affairs that seem to breathe tranquility.
The New Jerusalem church, Tranquebar
Zion church, Tranquebar
There’s also a 14th century Pandya temple next door to the Bungalow, sited on the shorefront and slowly being reclaimed by the sea. Work to keep it intact has meant a huge concrete buffer being built alongside, but it remains to be seen if it will work. Nowadays it only sees Indian day-trippers messing about in the surf nearby as it decays in the background.
The crumbling Sri Masilanathar Temple, Tranquebar
The highlight though is the rather forlorn but atmospheric 17th century Danish fort, now partly derelict due to the financially bereft Danes ripping out the fixtures and fittings to melt down and make into weapons to sell. Apparently it’s the second largest Danish fort ever constructed, the biggest being the one at Helsingor in Denmark, and we’ve now been to both! This is the kind of travel nerdy claim to fame we (really just me) get a weird kick out of….
The Danish Fort (Fort Dansborg), Tranquebar
Enjoying the beach at Tranquebar
Simon (1st April 2025)
Loving these updates and very jealous. Keep them coming….
Cheers Tom – there’ll be plenty more…..
Wow, I’ll be enjoying reading more of these if this one is anything to go by. Really well written and made me feel I knew what you’d been doing. Carry on enjoying. X
Thanks Alison – we’re loving it already!
Living the dream guys! Really is nice to read all about these little unique places. Don’t drink too much!
Ha ha, as if we would…. Have to make the most of it though. Once we reach Pakistan we’ll have a completely dry 6 weeks at least.
Good to see you finding the right balance, free food from the locals so you can splash out on wine. Sounds like you’re having a great start
I fear this might be the only Malbec I’ll have for quite some time. You’ll have to have my share for a while!
Had a sangiovese for you tonight
It’s like a history lesson meets a travel guide written with all of the Gleeson humour mixed in. Keep up the good work 🙂 and enjoy the wine x
Thanks, and I’m enjoying the wine whilst I can get it, but may be a while before my next glass
Late to the party, great to follow your journey, also rather educational (for my single brain cell) x
The exam will be next week