Pondicherry Old Lighthouse, Puducherry

Pondicherry Old Lighthouse, Puducherry

Pondicherry Old Lighthouse is located opposite to the colossal Gandhi Statue located on the Beach Road. It was built in 1836. The lighthouse was considered to be quite modern for that time with its unique circular structure and square base. The beacon was imported from France and this was the first lighthouse in Puducherry. Before this lighthouse was built, there was no other signal for ships coming into Puducherry.

The 29 meters tall lighthouse was shut down in the year 1979, but is an interesting place to visit. The old lighthouse had first beamed light on 1 September 1836. This 19th Century Lighthouse in Pondicherry is a significant landmark and its unique architecture of a round tower made it a modern lighthouse at the time it was built.

History

There is an interesting story behind its construction. At that time there was no signal for the ships coming to Pondicherry. The only light that was there was the fire located on the top of the Red Hills situated at about 3 Kms to the west of the town. Therefore, all the principal merchants and captains of the ships set up a committee and asked the government to build a lighthouse. The French planned to build a tower displaying a light for the guidance of mariners at night. After much delay the project was finally taken up during the tenure of Governor Saint Simon in 1835.

In November 1835, the area around the ‘mât de pavillon’ was selected. The engineer of the project, Louis Guerre laid the foundation at the end of 1835 and the inauguration ceremony of the lighthouse took place in February 1836. However, the lighthouse was not used from that time since the beacon, which was coming from France, did not reach Pondicherry till later and so the first time it was used was on 1^st July, 1836.

At the time it was built, it was considered a modern lighthouse for its time because of its unique architecture of a round tower. The Old Lighthouse was built at the cost of 10000 French Francs. Louise Guerre , the engineer became famous because of this outstanding building and soon came to be known as 'Colonial Engineer'. He later became the head of the Public Works Department in the French India Colony.

Structure

It was a fluted tower built above a rectangular base, 29 m high, with 3 openings: a shop, a place for the watchman and an inner staircase leading to the top where the light was placed. The cost of construction was 10,000 francs. The foundation has a depth of nine meters to stablilize the sandy ground on which it was built. Its light beam could be seen from a distance of 15 miles. The light source consisted of six oil lamps and two reflectors. The light source was converted to electric lamps in 1913. The power of the lamp was increased in 1931. The new lamp had a range of 26 nautical miles. It took 36 seconds for one full rotation of the beam.

It is to be noted that this structure was different from the existing one: the base was a simple rectangular building and not a circular two - storied construction as seen today: the circular building dates from the end of the 19^th century, the modification took place probably when the light was improved in July 1886; as for the second storey of the lower structure, perhaps, it was added some 50 years back.

On September 12, 1931, a revolving light of 1,000 watts replaced the fixed light. As the lighthouse went out of order frequently, in 1970, a new lighthouse was constructed in Kirapalaiyam village, to the south of the town. Now, this abandoned lighthouse has been converted partly into a museum.
The beautiful view was not restricted to just the night sea travelers the citizens of Pondicherry could also see the view from the top after dropping a little money in a box at the gate of the lighthouse.

The lighthouse keeper was a Frenchman who was paid 600 francs a year for lighting it at the onset of evening. This lighthouse was subject to changes at various times. The major change was made in the structure when a round base was built encircling the older rectangular base of the lighthouse. The 19^th Century Lighthouse in Pondicherry is regarded as a milestone in French technical achievements in Asia.

Connectivity

Pondicherry Old Lighthouse is located opposite to the colossal Gandhi Statue located on the Beach Road. It is located at about 600 meters from Pondicherry GH Bus Stop, 700 meters from Aurobindo Ashram Bus Stop, 3 Kms from Puducherry Main Bus Stand, 2 Kms from Puducherry Railway Station, 6 Kms from Puducherry Airport and 150 Kms from Chennai Airport. Pondicherry Old Lighthouse is situated on the Beach Road on Pondicherry Bus Stand to JIPMER (Gorimedu) Bus Route. Tourists can get down at Government Hospital (GH) Stop. The place is located at a walkable distance from this Bus Stop. Taxis and Autos are also available to reach this place from any part of Puducherry. Nearest Railway Station is located at Puducherry. Nearest Airport is located at Puducherry and Chennai.

Location