The Hindu : Kerala News : For a walk in the park where history was shaped

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Monday, Feb 09, 2009
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For a walk in the park where history was shaped

Ignatius Pereira

Exploiting the sights and sounds of Tangasseri for tourism development

— Photo: C. Suresh Kumar

Plans for travellers: The upcoming park at Tangasseri in Kollam with the ruins of Fort Thomas in the background.

KOLLAM: Tangasseri, a landmark in history, is all set to find a more prominent place on the tourism map. With the ruins of the 16th century Portuguese-built Fort Thomas as the background, a landscaped park is coming up within the fishing harbour complex there.

The park is part of a comprehensive project aimed at tapping the historical and geographical tourism potential of Tangasseri.

The ruins of the fort will get a facelift, for which sanction from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is expected shortly. On getting the sanction, concrete steps will be taken, for the first time, to preserve and beautify the remains.

Colonial citadel

The fort, situated on the Tangasseri panhandle of Kollam, was once the citadel from where the Portuguese controlled the coastal belt from Kollam to Anchuthengu. During the latter half of the 17th century, they surrendered the fort to the Dutch. Towards the close of the 18th century, the fort came under the British.

A good portion of the fort was intact for years after Independence. But later, its huge laterite stone blocks found their way into the foundations of houses and compound walls. The ASI had to prop up the remains with brickwork.

P.I. Sheik Pareeth, Director of the Fisheries Department, told The Hindu that the project would be completed in two phases. The Harbour Engineering Department, with architectural consultancy from a Chennai-based firm, is carrying out the ongoing first phase, which will cost Rs.70 lakh.

In this phase, to be commissioned by March-end, tiles will be laid on the fort complex and lights and seats will be installed. The adjacent park will comprise a children’s enclave and a cafeteria. A tiled pathway will be laid to reach the 2.5-km-long breakwater.

In the second phase, lookouts into the sea will be constructed along the breakwater. There will be a pathway winding through the panhandle and leading to the inspection bungalow of the Harbour Engineering Department on the periphery of the century-old lighthouse built by the British. The first and second phases together cost Rs.1.9 crore.

Colourful habitat

The breakwater has become a marine attraction since it has developed into a reef and habitat of a fascinating range of marine life never seen in the Kollam waters before its construction.

However, there are allegations that large quantities of colourful marine life here are being poached regularly for creation of marine aquariums.

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