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New hope for
Tranquebar
I HAVE written often enough about the former
Danish settlement of Tranquebar and spoken about it at several
fora, urging that it be restored and developed as a heritage town,
having intact as it does the fort, churches and King and Queen
Streets, that have little changed since the 18th Century when it
was Denmark's chief overseas settlement.
With Denmark itself interested in its
restoration, with its location offering Sun, sea `n' sand, and its
comparatively quiet and undeveloped surroundings, it seemed that
it could be easily developed as a heritage resort that would
attract tourists, particularly from Scandinavia. Several years ago,
there was some progress in that direction, with the Taj Group of
Hotels showing interest, but then nothing more was heard about
what seemed like almost-finalised negotiations.
I now hear that, with Denmark again expressing
to the State Government its interest in helping out with any
restoration project, there have been discussions between the
State's tourism authorities and one of the country's leaders in
heritage hostelries. Apparently Aman Nath and Francis Wacziarg, a
Frenchman, whose Neemrana Group has given new life to several
palaces in Rajasthan and around Delhi, have expressed their
interest in restoring the Governor's House and another building
closer to the beach, in Tranquebar as heritage hotels if other
`public' heritage sites like the fort, the gateway etc. are
spruced up. If the negotiations are finalised, I hope Neemrana
will ensure that restoration is on classical lines, as recommended
by the Danes who have done much study of the area, and not on
functional lines.
The Neemrana team runs L'Orient in Pondicherry,
an old house restored beautifully as a heritage hotel. But its
Creole cuisine (what I call `Butler Cuisine') and service need
more life in them, and that can only come, in small `homes away
from home' like these, with the personal touch. Which is what is
making `The Bangala' in Karaikudi — which is trying to get
travellers to look at the mansions of Chettinad, something the
Neemrana team have also started to look at — talked about in
glowing terms and is resulting in an unexpected growth through
word of mouth.
S. MUTHIAH
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