Pulicat: Difference between revisions

{{RefimproveMore citations needed|date=May 2013}}

| image_skyline = Pulicat Name Board.jpg

| image_alt = Pulicat Name Board

| pushpin_map_caption = Pulicat (Tamil Nadu)

| coordinates = {{coord|13.416667417700|N|80.316667318500|E|display=inline,title}}

| subdivision_type = [[Country]]

| subdivision_name = [[{{flag|India]]}}

| elevation_m = 29

'''Pulicat''' or '''Pazhaverkadu''' '''([[Tamil language|Tamil]]:பழவேற்காடு)''' is a historic seashore town in "North[[Chennai ofMetropolitan Chennai"Area]] inat [[Thiruvallur District]], of [[Tamil Nadu]] [[states and territories of India|state]], [[South India]]. It is about {{convert|60|km}} north of [[Chennai]] and {{convert|3|km}} from Elavur, on the southern periphery of the [[Pulicat Lake]]. Pulicat lake is a shallow salt water lagoon which stretches about {{convert|60|km|mi}} along the coast. With lakeside and seashore development as well as several Special Economic Zones (SEZs) including a US $1 billion Medical SEZ, coming up in nearby Elavur, [[land price]]s in the area are rising.

[[File:Pulicat 1703.jpg|thumb|left|A 1703 illustration of the view of the town]]
[[File:India - Pulicat Lake - 003 - entrance to the Dutch cemetery.jpg|thumb|200pxupright|Entrance to the old [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[Cemetery]] at Pulicat]]

The [[Portugal|Portuguese]] established a trading post in Pulicat in 1502 with the help of the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagar rulers]]. They built a fort there and held this fort until 1609 when they were defeated by the Dutch. The [[Dutch people|Dutch]] occupied Pulicat fort in 1609. Between 1621 and 1665, 131 slave ships were deployed by the Dutch to export 38,441 Indians captured on the Coromandel coast and transported from Pulicat to be sold as slaves to Dutch plantations in [[Batavia,_Dutch_East_Indies Dutch East Indies|Batavia]]. Pulicat was till 1690 the capital of [[Dutch Coromandel]]. It repeatedly changed possession, until finally occupied by the [[British India|British]] in 1825. It became part of the [[Madras Presidency]], which later became Madras state in independent India and renamed Tamil Nadu in 1968. The Dutch church has been built over several times and is rather dilapidated today, and the Dutch fort has fallen into ruin. The old lighthouse still stands at the opposite bank of the lake. The [[cemetery]] dating to 1622 has been taken under the wing of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] and so has survived the passage of time. The grand, Dutch -inscribed tombs and graves, carved with skeletons rather than the cross, have been quite well preserved.{{factcitation needed|date=July 2017}} The cemetery lies behind the market.

Aadhi Narayana Perumal temple is an old temple located at Pazhaverkadu.<ref>{{cite web|title=Poor conservation process harming temples in Tamil Nadu: Unesco’s report to Madras HC|url=https://scroll.in/latest/846683/poor-conservation-process-harming-temples-in-tamil-nadu-unescos-report-to-madras-hc | publisher=scroll.in | date=9 August 2017 | accessdateaccess-date=13 December 2018 }}</ref>

Pulicat-Day is celebrated on World Wetland Day (2 February) at Pulicat by AARDE Foundation. [[Catamaran|Famous traditional catumaramcatamaran competition]] and several competitions are held on this day. Small information center (Pulicat Museum) at Pazhaverkadu gives detailed information on Pulicat ecology and built heritage.

[[Fort_Geldria|'''Fort Geldria''' or '''Fort Geldaria''']], located in Pulicat, [[Tamil Nadu]], was the seat of the [[Dutch Republic]]'s first settlement in [[India]], and the capital of [[Dutch Coromandel]].<ref name="MM">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/07/02/stories/13021283.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020326044940/http://hindu.com/thehindu/2001/07/02/stories/13021283.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 March 2002|title=Madras Miscellany|last=[[S. Muthiah|Muthiah, S.]]|author-link=S. Muthiah|date=2 July 2001|worknewspaper=''[[The Hindu]]''|accessdateaccess-date=18 February 2010}}</ref> It was built by the [[Dutch East India Company]] in 1613 and became the local governmental centre in 1616.<ref>{{cite book|title=European Commercial Enterprise in Pre-colonial India|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1998|series=The New Cambridge History of India|volume=2|pages=127&ndash;128|isbn=978-0-521-25758-9|oclc=489951836}}</ref> It was named for [[Gelderland|Geldria]], the native province of Wemmer van Berchem, the General Director of the company.<ref name="James34">[[#James|James]] 2009, p. 34</ref> Regularly protected by a garrison of 80 to 90 men,<ref>{{cite book|last=Lach|first=Donald F.|author2=Edwin J. van Kley|title=Asia in the making of Europe: A Century of Advance|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1998|series=South Asia|volume=3|pages=1067|chapter=The Downfall of Two Empires: Vijayanagar and Golconda|isbn=978-0-226-46767-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qBZg0OhbiXMC&pg=PA1067|accessdateaccess-date=18 February 2010}}</ref> Fort Geldria was the only fortification in the Indian empire;<ref name="James32">[[#James|James]] 2009, p. 32</ref> all other positions of the Dutch Company were trading posts.<ref name="James32"/>

Pulicat is within the [[Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary]]. Every year between the months of October and March, thousands of migratory birds land here. Though many species can be seen, the [[Flamingo]]s are the most visible, covering the swamps surrounding the lake, giving it a pink tinge.{{factcitation needed|date=July 2017}}