The drive on the Puducherry-Tranquebar highway (NH45A) zips through Cuddalore, Chidambaram and Sirkazhi. Teased by the ocean and vast fields that make way for the meandering road, the car suddenly swerves to the right, narrowly missing a pair of buffaloes with studded horns, “Tranquebar, madam,” prompts the driver.

There is nothing Danish about Tranquebar except its name, a coat of arms and crown of King Frederick IV embossed on the whitewashed entrance and the medieval castle Dansborg that rises from the sandy beach like a Sphinx. What a castle it is! Magnificent in size and defiant in character, it fuels more than passing curiosity about the men who nonchalantly threw their arms around the Coromandel Coast in early 17th century. Dansborg Fort is in fact believed to be one of Denmark’s biggest forts, second only to Kronborg in Elsinore, the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

History records that the Danish venture in India was a short-lived affair. The Danish East India Company lasted only 34 years. Initially, they trained their eyes on Sri Lanka but when competition with the Portuguese turned sour they headed for the banks of Cauvery River on the Coromandel Coast where they established a trading post at Tarangambadi (corrupted by the Danes to Tranquebar) with the permission of the Thanjavur ruler on November 20, 1620. By 1625 they ceased to trade for themselves and turned to ferrying goods of their one-time enemy, the Portuguese. In effect, Tranquebar was used as a transit port and remained one till the British took it in 1845. The tiny museum located in the castle disappoints.
Entry fee Indians ₹5, foreigners ₹50
Timings 10 am-5.30 pm, Fridays closed.

So all you get in the 5 sqkm area of Tranquebar Fort is the Dansborg castle, a few colonial bungalows, some warehouses, a dozen or so streets that criss-cross the area and the Land  Gate. There is also a 14th-century Masilamaninathar Temple on the shore that is fast being demolished by the sea and a mosque (a few turns of streets inside the settlement) whose minaret is an exquisite survivor of 16th-century Moor architecture. With renovation work on and moves afoot to turn this historic enclave into a heritage zone, the village of waves may soon find itself on the heritage map. Pack a food basket and plenty of water for this trip. Tranquebar is 15 km from Karaikal, 53 km from Chidambaram and 117 km from Pondy. Neemrana Hotels’ The Bungalow on the Beach (Tel: 04364-288065; Tariff: ₹4,500- 6,000) is a heritage hotel offering 8 rooms with sea views and Indo-Danish cuisine.
Taxi from Puducherry ₹2,500/ 2 hrs.