Tranquebar (literally translated as “village of the dancing waves”) or Tarangambadi, as this little fishing village is called today, is 500 km from Chennai. After a long drive past lush green fields, I arrived mid-afternoon at this tiny village and walked through what looked like an old arch, a gateway to another time zone.

I was aware that Danish settlers ruled this area it from 1620 till the mid 19th century. They were given permission to erect a fortress at the small fishing and trading post of Tarangambadi at the delta of the Kaveri River. The original name was soon changed to Tranquebar or Trankebar in Danish. Around the beginning of the 1700s, two German missionaries traveled to Tranquebar with the goal of spreading Protestantism. After initially translating the Bible into Tamil, Batholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plutschen built the first Protestant Church in India. This church still stands, untouched by time, with beautiful German verses on the church walls. In the yard are the tombstones of the German settlers, their graves maintained lovingly by the people of the village. Further down, on the seashore, stands the Danish fort, now almost in ruins but I was told that renovation is planned. I climbed up the steps of the fort and looked at the sea, feeling part of a time long gone!

Above: The Danish Fort at Tranquebar