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TIMEOUT

Seaside sojourn

Photos: Soma Basu

Danish charm Take in the sights of the waves and soak in the colonial ambience

THE BUNGALOW ON THE BEACH

TranquebarUSP: An idyllic getaway

near the sea

It is well past midnight when I enter the small beach town of Tranquebar, now called Tharangambadi. The drive in through a ‘Land Gate’, takes me to another age and time. I see Danish relics with their washed-out charm swathed in an enchan ting moonlight. Rows of colonial structures on the main King Street lead to the beach.

I pass by an elegant Zion Church (1701), an elaborate New Jerusalem Church (1718), the battered 18th-Century Danish Governor’s bungalow and the British Collector’s residence - this last building in the row is my night’s halt. Over 165 years old, it was in ruins till the Delhi-based Neemrana group transformed it into a heritage hotel.

What more can you ask for – a pretty little bungalow on a land of “singing and dancing waves”! Not just the tides of the Bay of Bengal mesmerize you here. But history stares from every angle. The “Dansborg”, a 17th Century Danish fort, is a beautiful square brick building standing majestic on the beach. The once grand now dilapidated Masilamani Nathar Temple built in 1305 A.D by Pandya King Kulasekaran, almost crumbles into the sea.

No other name would have fitted this property than simple and direct “The Bungalow on the Beach.”

I am the “only guest” in the elegant eight-roomed hotel. The lone staffer awake is keen to show me all the rooms.

Past midnight I am in no mood to explore. But the music of the waves flows into my ears and I request for one on the first floor facing the sea.

Sleep abandons me when I walk on a long verandah to check into my room. I throw in my luggage and plonk in one of the big arm chairs, my eyes fixed on the waves watching the inescapable moods of the sea.

When I finally go to bed, it’s in one of the many nautically titled rooms, named after ships that sailed from Denmark to Tranquebar between 1620 and 1708. Mine is “Queen Anna Sophia”. With the sound of the sea so close and the comfort of the rooms fitted with sheer single colour floor length curtains that billow like sails in the breeze, I simply “float off” to slumber.

In the morning I realize how charming my room is with everything antique from the Century old pillars and wooden ceilings, exquisitely carved wooden almirahs, reading table, the drawers, tall wooden four poster cot, the huge door – evoking the beauty of a past era.

I step out and see only ruins all around. A Danish settlement between 1620 and 1845, the Danish East India Company was formed mainly to export pepper from Tranquebar to Denmark. It transferred the settlement to British East India Company in 1845.

Though the English won over the Danes, they couldn’t win the heart of Tranquebar. Everything in Tranquebar has a Danish touch, and every building here stands in proud testimony to the town’s heritage.

Manager of “The Bungalow on the Beach”, Mr.Arun Kiran Elangovan, takes me around the property, a perfect example of intelligent conservation using minimum and carefully chosen vintage furniture, paintings and artifacts as an evocation of the past.

The huge wooden ceiling made of rosewood and teak in the reception and a new wooden staircase behind adds to the visual grandeur. The deeply recessed pillared verandah encircling the building on both ground and first floors looks attractive.

Over a filling breakfast of chocolate croissants, Danish wheat bread and fruit jam, cereals and fresh fruits, Kiran tells me how restoration of this property began in early 2003. The hotel was inaugurated on the eve of Christmas in 2004. But Tsunami ravaged the small, somnolent, wind-blown beach town the very next day after the restored property was inaugurated. It washed out the rooms in the ground floor of the hotel. Three months of repairs later, it reopened, yet again.

I walk on the streets and into the Danish Fort which holds a mini museum. Interestingly, I run into few Danes, all in search of history.

Apparently most of the buildings built by their ancestors are facing decay and efforts are on to restore them.

I return to the Bungalow for lunch and find chef Senthil has laid out an interesting menu of French and Danish mix. As a starter, I try the Potage Au Epinards — spinach soup with onion, garlic, buttermilk, flour, bay leaves, fine herbs, fresh cream and seasoning.

For a veggie, Senthil gets a plateful of pasta and macaroni mix, nicely whipped in tomato, onions, mayonnaise, tomato sauce and decorated with lots of boiled seasonal vegetables. For dessert, there is Mousse au Citron, made of eggs, lemons and fresh cream.

After this delectable meal, an afternoon siesta is ideal. But I choose to sit in the verandah watching the waves rise and recede in solitude, before taking leave of this exotic port town.

Tariff: All rooms are air conditioned and without television. Four rooms are available for Rs.5,000 each per night plus 12.5 per cent taxes.

Remaining four rooms are charged Rs.4,000 each per night plus the taxes.

Extra bed costs Rs.500. Food and beverages are charged separately.

For reservation and enquiries write to sales@neemranahotels.com or call 04364-288065, 289034-35-36

Simply relax in the lazy chairs on the first floor verandah forever, reading or watching the sea.

Relive marine history, visit the fort or the temples of Kumbakonam and Thanjavur.

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