Tangasseri Lighthouse or Thangassery Lighthouse is situated at
Tangasseri
Tangasseri or Thangassery is a heavily populated beach area on the shores of the Arabian Sea in Kollam city, Kerala, India.
Location
Tangasseri is located about from the city centre and from Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. Archaeologi ...
in
Kollam city of the Indian state of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
. It is one of the two lighthouses in the
Kollam Metropolitan Area and is maintained by the Cochin Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships. In operation since 1902, the cylindrical lighthouse tower painted with white and red oblique bands has a height of , making it the second tallest lighthouse in Kerala coast. Tangasseri Lighthouse is one of the most visited lighthouses in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
.
History
Prior to construction of the lighthouse, the
British East India company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
had installed a tower with an oil lamp. In 1902 the present Tangasseri Lighthouse was completed, which by 1930 had suffered cracks in the tower that required jacketing masonry to be installed.
The light source was modified in 1932, 1940, 1962, 1967, 1990 and 1994.
In 2016, the Tangasseri Lighthouse got an elevator facility for its visitors.
Location
The lighthouse is located on the coast at Tangasseri in Kollam city and is the one of the locations in India that still maintains
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford English ...
culture. Tangasseri is home to remnants of an ancient
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
built coastal defence, the
St Thomas Fort, a
Portuguese Cemetery, a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
, the ancient
Port of Quilon
Kollam Port is one of the historic ports situated away from Downtown Kollam (formerly Quilon),14 km north of Paravur and 24 km north of Varkala Town It is the second largest port in Kerala by volume of cargo handled and facilities. L ...
and the
Infant Jesus Cathedral
The Infant Jesus Cathedral ( ml, ഇൻഫന്റ് ജീസസ് കത്തീഡ്രൽ) ( pt, Igreja do Bom Jesú) is a historic Roman Catholic church established by Portuguese during 1614, situated at Tangasseri in the city of Qu ...
.
Visitors are allowed access to the lighthouse between 11 am and 5 pm on all days except on Mondays.
Gallery
Thangassery light house - spiral inside - large.jpg, Upstairs in Tangasseri Lighthouse
Leuchtturm in Kollam.jpg, Tangasseri Lighthouse
Tangasseri Lighthouse, Oct 2016.jpg, Close view of Tangasseri Lighthouse
A distant view of Tangasseri Lighthouse, Oct 2016.jpg, A distant view of Tangasseri Lighthouse from Kollam Port Road
Kollam Port Road ( ml, കൊല്ലം പോര്ട്ട് റോഡ്) or Port Road, Kollam is a four lane road in the city of Kollam, India. The road connects historic Port of Quilon'' (Kollam Port)'' and Vaddy with Kochupil ...
Information board in Thangassery Lighthouse.jpg, Information board in Thangassery Lighthouse
Tangasseri Lighthouse, Mar 2016.jpg, Tangasseri Lighthouse as seen from Tangasseri breakwater
See also
*
List of lighthouses in India
There are many lighthouses along the long coastline of India and in the associated islands. They are administered by the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships, Government of India whose headoffice is located in Noida.
They are catego ...
References
External links
*
Lighthouses in Kerala
Lighthouses completed in 1902
1902 establishments in British India
Buildings and structures in Kollam
{{India-struct-stub