Tranquebar – The Tale of the Submerged City
One can find a lot of information about Tranquebar on the internet. It’s historic Dansborg Fort, the 17th century British Collector’s Luxury Bungalow, its unique stretch of beach, colonial buildings and churches, Danish history and the 14th century Masilamani Nathar temple all get a lot of mention. But, there is something that you can find only when you visit this beach town in person. And that is the tale behind this submerged city.
The locals will tell you that about a kilometre and a half of the city lies submerged. And even better is when they show you the tied up boats in the open seas that mark the true boundary of this coastal town. The boats act as buoys that alert ships and fishing vessels about the danger underneath.
And all this because of rising sea levels worldwide. The locals don’t recommend anyone swimming within this cordoned area, but I was wondering if we could dive with our scuba diving equipment and get a chance to see how this submerged town looks from the inside. May be someone has done this. I am guessing that the Archaeological Society of India must have definitely done something on these lines.
If permissible, I would have loved to dive here, but didn’t find any infrastructure that allows such dives. And that is the tale of the submerged city, that used to be one of Denmark’s strongest colonies in India.
