Plan Your Weekend: Drive out for a laid back holiday

Tharangambadi formerly Tranquebar is a town in the Nagapattinam district. Tranquebar dates back to the 14th century with the establishment of the Masilamani Nathar (Shiva) Temple built in 1306. In around 1620, when Tranquebar was under the Thanjavur Nayak Dynasty, the Dutch arrived, made a deal with the local king Raghunatha Nayak and built a fort to start a bilateral trade. The Danish government sold the colony of Tranquebar to the British East India Company in 1845. Until then an annual tribute had been paid by the Danes to the Rajah of Tanjore.

Tharangambadi is the headquarters of Tharangambadi taluk, while its name means ‘place of the singing waves’. One can see mixes of the Danish, British, German and French colonies that once made Tranquebar their home.

The peach-hued seafront Danish Fort dates from 1624 and was occupied by the British in 1801. It now houses a small but fascinating museum. The tiny town of Tranquebar is also where Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg translated the Old and New Testaments into Tamil, and imported a printing press, publishing the New Testament in Tamil.

The best way to reach Tharangambadi from Chennai is by train. Also, you can board bus number 324 from CMBT.

Location: Nagapattinam,Tamil Nadu

Distance from Chennai: 284 km

Dansborg Fort — the second largest Danish fort ever constructed

New Jerusalem Church - built in 1718, this church displays a mix of Indian and European styles

Masilamani Nathar Temple — the temple is a mix of Chinese and Tamil architecture, built possibly to attract Chinese traders to Tranquebar