#tranquebar

Bien que la photo ne soit pas capable de rendre les jeux de lumières et les mouvements de ce magnifique sari en soie à droite, on devine cependant les délicats motifs floraux en camaïeu de rose/fuchsia rehaussés de fils dorés. Je suis bien incapable de vous dire d’où il vient, mais sachez qu'il y a plus de 70 styles de saris différents en Inde, et au moins 80 façons de les porter.

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At the beginning of the 17th century, Denmark-Norway commanded one of Europe's largest merchant and war fleets. The painting shows warships at Copenhagen and a view towards Copenhagen Castle. Painted by Bonaventura Peeters (1614-1652). Photo: Copenhagen City Museum

On 29 November 1618, king Christian IV sent the young nobleman Ove Giedde (1594-1660) off as admiral for a large overseas expedition of approximately 400 men to Ceylon, present-day Sri Lanka. The goal here was to establish a colony so that Danish-Norwegian merchants themselves could import the sought-after East Indian spices and textiles instead of having to buy them expensively in Europe, especially from Dutch and English merchants. The result, however, was not the establishment of a colony in Ceylon, but rather in Tranquebar, located in the lush delta of the Kaveri River in the small kingdom of Thanjavur on the east coast of South India. The vanguard of the expedition arrived here already in 1619, while Ove Giedde's fleet arrived in 1620. For the next 200 years or so, Tranquebar came to form the main station for Danish-Norwegian trade along the Bay of Bengal, which at the time constituted the largest market in the world.

During the Danish rule, which in Tranquebar lasted for more than 200 years, there were ongoing cultural encounters between Indian and European traditions, ideas, religions, art, architecture and administrative norms. Tranquebar was by no means an isolated European enclave in an Indian setting but rather a predominantly Indian village with a small but powerful European elite.

Peter Anker, who was governor from 1788 to 1806, was also an artist and is behind this painting of Tranquebar from 1790. Photo: Kulturhistorisk Museum, Oslo

The Tranquebar Mission Tranquebar was also home to the world's first Lutheran mission. It began its work in 1706, when the two German priests Bartholomæus Ziegenbalg (1682-1719) and Heinrich Plütschau (1676-1752) arrived in Tranquebar, sent by king Frederick IV (born 1671, regent 1699-1730) to convert the Indian subjects to Christianity. In the early years, the relationship between the trading company and the missionaries was marked by tension, but gradually the mission became an integral part of the life of the colony. The missionaries studied the dominant language of the colony, Tamil, and immersed themselves in the local culture and religion. The mission made particular efforts in the field of schools and was particularly successful in converting low-caste Hindus

Illustration of Tranquebar from the 17th century; the artist is unknown. From: Wikimedia Commons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaNew Jerusalem ChurchTranquebar Lutheran Church

Tranquebar

We traveled around Tamilnadu for about 14 days road trip it’s was a mesmerizing experience, exploring Dravidian architecture, food and culture. This is Tranquebar, locally known as Tharangambadi, one of my favorite place and we both are ecstatic when we reached in the early morning. The place was residence and headquarters for about 150 years to Dutch East India Company, after 2005 tsunami a Dutch foundation has restored many things.