Clare Arni

Tarangambadi is an old Danish port established in 1620 in the fan of the cauvery's delta. King Christian IV of Denmark wanted a share in the profitable network of trade that other countries like England, Portugal, and Holland were reaping such rewards from. The Danes made a treaty with the local ruler Ragunath Nayak to colonise what they came to call Tranquebar and made it the headquarters of the Danish East India Company.Read More

By the time I reached Poompuhar a storm was approaching. The wind whipped the rain in circles and churned the sea into froth above the submerged ancient city. I pushed my way through the blustery weather, along the black sand, searching for the mouth of the Cauvery.There was nothing left of the once great port where the Cholas had traded with Rome and then I found the pitiful little stream that was the Cauvery.Read More

When I arrived in the traditional temple town of Chidambaram the streets were full of hundreds of pilgrims who had come for the festival at the ninth century Nataraja temple. Shops selling flower garlands, coconuts, and multicoloured kum-kum lined their path, and hand turned mini Ferris wheels echoed with the screams from the children inside.Read More

Thanjavur was the capital for almost a thousand years for the Cholas (9th-13th centuries), the Nayaks (1535-1676) and the Marathas (1676-1855). The Cholas defined the agrarian structure in this 'rice bowl of Tamil Nadu' where the fan of the Cauvery Delta was irrigated to give the lowlands a source of almost constant water. Read More