Pulicat or Pazhaverkadu is a historic seashore town in

Chennai Metropolitan Area The Greater Chennai Metropolitan Area, or simply the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), is the third-most populous metropolitan area in India, the 22nd-most in Asia, and the 40th-most in the world. The CMA consists of the core city of Chennai, wh ...

at Thiruvallur District, of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It is about north of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and from Elavur, on the southern periphery of the

Pulicat Lake Pulicat Lagoon is the second largest brackish water lagoon in India, (after Chilika Lake), measuring . Major part of the lagoon comes under Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. The lagoon is one of the three important wetlands to attract nort ...

. Pulicat lake is a shallow salt water lagoon which stretches about along the coast. With lakeside and seashore development as well as several Special Economic Zones (SEZs) including a US$1 billion Medical SEZ, coming up in nearby Elavur, land prices in the area are rising.

History

India - Pulicat Lake - 003 - entrance to the Dutch cemetery

The Portuguese established a trading post in Pulicat in 1502 with the help of the Vijayanagar rulers. They built a fort there and held this fort until 1609 when they were defeated by the Dutch. The

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

occupied Pulicat fort in 1609. Between 1621 and 1665, 131 slave ships were deployed by the Dutch to export 38,441 Indians captured on the Coromandel coast and transported from Pulicat to be sold as slaves to Dutch plantations in Batavia. Pulicat was till 1690 the capital of Dutch Coromandel. It repeatedly changed possession, until finally occupied by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

in 1825. It became part of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

, which later became Madras state in independent India and renamed Tamil Nadu in 1968. The Dutch church has been built over several times and is rather dilapidated today, and the Dutch fort has fallen into ruin. The old lighthouse still stands at the opposite bank of the lake. The

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

dating to 1622 has been taken under the wing of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

and so has survived the passage of time. The grand, Dutch-inscribed tombs and graves, carved with skeletons rather than the cross, have been quite well preserved. The cemetery lies behind the market. Aadhi Narayana Perumal temple is an old temple located at Pazhaverkadu. Pulicat-Day is celebrated on World Wetland Day (2 February) at Pulicat by AARDE Foundation. Famous traditional catumaram competition and several competitions are held on this day. Small information center (Pulicat Museum) at Pazhaverkadu gives detailed information on Pulicat ecology and built heritage.

Fort Geldria

Fort Geldria or Fort Geldaria, located in Pulicat, was the seat of the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...

's first settlement in

, and the capital of Dutch Coromandel. It was built by the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

in 1613 and became the local governmental centre in 1616. It was named for Geldria, the native province of Wemmer van Berchem, the General Director of the company. James 2009, p. 34 Regularly protected by a garrison of 80 to 90 men, Fort Geldria was the only fortification in the Indian empire; James 2009, p. 32 all other positions of the Dutch Company were trading posts.

Wildlife

Pulicat is within the

Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary is a sanctuary for birds, 759 km2 in area, located in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh and a protected area of the Thiruvallur District of Tamil Nadu, India. Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish ...

. Every year between the months of October and March, thousands of migratory birds land here. Though many species can be seen, the

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...

s are the most visible, covering the swamps surrounding the lake, giving it a pink tinge.

References

External links

Pulicat Tourism

{{Authority control Former Portuguese colonies Cities and towns in Tiruvallur district