The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Heritage status for Tallarevu, Coringa ports

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Monday, Nov 23, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Heritage status for Tallarevu, Coringa ports

V. Raghavendra

The historic port cities will figure in INTACH list

The two port cities were compared to Calcutta and even Rangoon
A cyclone in 1839 swept away the ancient ‘City of Coringa’

KAKINADA: Coringa and Tallarevu, the historic port cities on east coast where sea-borne trade had flourished long before Kakinada port emerged as a commercial hub, will figure in the national maritime heritage database being prepared by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and Mumbai–based Vasant J. Sheth Memorial Foundation.

The local chapter of INTACH had started surveying potential heritage sites in the district around June 2008 as part of the project and it has shortlisted the Coringa-Tallarevu coastal belt. Such was the vibrancy of maritime activity in those bustling cities that they were compared to Calcutta and even Rangoon.

Interesting facts

It was in 1839, a devastating cyclone swept away the ancient ‘City of Coringa’ which was also known for ship building and repairing. Kakinada was an upcoming fishing village whereas trade was by then thriving in Coringa from where a wide variety of goods were exported to southeast Asian countries and ships from United Kingdom, France, Netherlands and Portugal were repaired.

The term ‘cyclone’ was said to be coined by Henry Piddington, a scientist of East India Company, to describe the destruction caused by a storm in Coringa way back in 1789.

Another town inextricably linked to Coringa is Tallarevu which was known for manufacturing of massive ropes, nails and, for ship building. This was where, according to historians, the British Royal Navy ships used to be anchored and operated from.

What today remains as a mute testimony to that hoary past, is the crumbling Coringa light house built in 1805. Nothing else can be seen today except the lush green landscape and some rare animals which together constitute the Coringa wildlife sanctuary.

These and other facts would not be known to future generations had the INTACH not taken up documentation of maritime heritage sites in India. INTACH district convener L. Seshu Kumari told The Hindu that the antiquity of oceanic trade along the coastal areas like the ones above are being laid out for education and research purposes under the joint venture.

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