Lighthouse, Chennai

Chennai Lighthouse

Chennai Lighthouse
Location	Kamarajar Salai, Marina Beach, Santhome, Chennai
Year first constructed	1796 (First tower) 1844 (Second tower) 1894 (Third tower) 1977 (Current tower)
Year first lit	1977 (Current tower)
Foundation	Reinforced concrete (Current location)
Construction	RCC
Tower shape	Triangular cylindrical with lantern and double gallery
Markings / pattern	Horizontal red and white bands
Height	46 metres (151 ft)
Focal height	57 metres (187 ft) above MSL
Original lens	375 mm 3rd order revolving optic inside 2.5 m dia lantern house (BBT)
Intensity	110V 3000W Incandescent Lamp
Range	28 nautical miles (52 km; 32 mi)
Characteristic	Two white flashes every 10 seconds
Admiralty number	F 0936
NGA number	27072
ARLHS number	IND-010[1]

Coordinates: 13°02′23″N 80°16′46″E / 13.0396°N 80.2795°E / 13.0396; 80.2795

The Madras Light House (Tamil: கலங்கரை விளக்கம்) is a lighthouse facing the Bay of Bengal on the east coast of the Indian Subcontinent. It is a famous landmark on the Marina Beach in Chennai, India. It was built by the East Coast Constructions and Industries in 1976 replacing the old lighthouse in the northern direction. The lighthouse was opened in January 1977. It also houses the meteorological department and is restricted to visitors. It is one of the few lighthouses in the world and the only one in India with an elevator.^[2]

Location

The lighthouse is located on Kamarajar Salai (Beach Road) opposite the office of the Director General of Tamil Nadu Police and All India Radio's Chennai station. The lighthouse marks the end of the promenade on the northern half of the Marina Beach. It is also the junction where Kamarajar Salai, Santhome High Road and Dr.Radhakrishnan Road meet. The lighthouse and the surrounding areas are served by the Light House MRTS train station located nearby on Radha Krishnan Salai 13°02′42″N 80°16′36″E / 13.0450°N 80.2768°E / 13.0450; 80.2768.

History

The present lighthouse is the fourth lighthouse of Chennai. Before the end of the 18th century, when Madras was an open sea shore, where goods were loaded and unloaded from boats, bonfire lit by fisherwomen was used to guide the menfolk to the shore. The arrangement of exhibiting light to assist British East India Company's vessels arriving at Madras and to enter the port during the 17th and 18th centuries is not known since no record is available. The first conventional lighthouse started functioning in 1796 when the terrace of the officer's mess-cum-exchange building (the present day's Fort Museum at Fort St. George) was chosen as the site for the first warning beacon which used a large lantern to aid vessels approaching the port in preventing the risk of shoals of Covelong in the south and the hidden sand banks in the north. This lighthouse with the oil wick lamp functioned till 1841.

The second light house was erected during 1838-1844 on the north side of Fort St George. The construction of this regular lighthouse tower in the compound of the present High Court was taken up in 1838 and completed in 1840 on which the wick lamp was shifted as the supply of the new equipment by Stone Chance, Birmingham was delayed. The new flashing light consisting of Argand lamps and reflectors started functioning from 1 January 1844. It was functioning for the next 50 years until 1894, when in 1886, during the reconstruction of the Madras Port after a cyclone, the port officer wrote to the Madras government alerting them of a possible threat to vessel traffic in the region from a Tripasore reef spotted around 40 miles south of Madras near Seven Pagodas (now known as Mamallapuram). The port officer then recommended that a lighthouse be installed to alert ships about the impending danger. Responding to this, the government shifted this lighthouse equipment with lantern onto the dome of the new High Court building. This became the third lighthouse of Chennai and was functioning from the tallest dome of the Madras High Court. It started functioning on 1 June 1894, with argand lamps and reflectors manufactured by Chance Bros, Birmingham which had originally been installed in the 160-ft-tall lighthouse tower. This lighthouse later became crucial for the development of the Madras port.

An improvement of equipment was introduced in 1927. This was later decommissioned after the present one was constructed on the Marina beach near Santhome in 1976, which was unveiled on 10 January 1977. An electrical lighthouse equipment manufactured by BBT, Paris was installed on the new tower, which maintains a range of 28 nautical miles for vessels and is one of the tallest lighthouses in the country.^[3]

Coconut oil was considered the best fuel for a lighthouse lamp because it made the light burn bright in the lighthouse. Gas lights were used later followed by dischargeable lamps. In the beginning, lighthouse lamp had a steady flame. When ships began to confuse this with city lights, it was decided to use a flickering light in light houses. The lighthouses at Chennai and Mamallapuram use dischargeable lamps, which rotate inside a bowl of mercury. In recent days, LED lights are preferred.

The Chennai Lighthouse District

The Chennai Lighthouse, along with 23 other lighthouses along the eastern, southern and western coast of the Indian peninsula, comes under the administration of the Chennai Lighthouse District. In accord with the Lighthouse Act of 1927 and the Lighthouse (Amendment) Act of 1985, the Chennai Lighthouse District comprises under its jurisdiction part of Kerala State which is south of latitude 9º00'N and state of Tamil Nadu, which is south of latitude 13º00'N and west of longitude 80º30'E and the union territory of Pondicherry, which include the following lighthouses:^[4]

1. Alleppey
2. Kovil Thottam
3. Tangasseri Point (Quilon)
4. Anjengo
5. Vilinjam
6. Muttam Point
7. Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin)
8. Manappad Point
9. Pandiyan Tivu DGPS
10. Kilakkarai
11. Point Calimere
12. Kodikkarai
13. Ammpattinam DGPS
14. Pasipattinam
15. Rameswaram
16. Pamban
17. Nagapattinam DGPS
18. Karaikal
19. Porto Novo
20. Cuddalore Channel Buoyage
21. Pondicherry Lighthouse and DGPS
22. Mahabalipuram
23. Madras (Chennai)
24. Pulicat DGPS

The director general at the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships located at Noida has under him or her four deputy director generals, namely, Jamnagar, Chennai, Kolkata and the head quarter. For administrative control, the entire coastline has been divided into seven districts having their regional headquarters at Jamanagar, Mumbai, Cochin, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata and Port Blair. The Chennai Lighthouse District is administrated under the Regional Director (Chennai), who along with the Regional Director (Cochin) comes under the deputy director general (Chennai).^[5] The Regional Office at Chennai provides information on the geographical region between Alleppey Lighthouse to Pulicat Lighthouse. The union government is planning to build three new lighthouses in the Chennai Lighthouse District at an estimated cost of 25 million each.^[6][7]

The Towers

The entrance channel tower (date unknown)

Located north of the port, the entrance channel tower is about 24 metres (79 ft) high with a focal plane of 26 metres (85 ft), flashing white, red and green lights, and the tower is visible only from a distance closer to the entrance channel. This tower was assigned an Admiralty number of F0938 and NGA number of 27074. This tower is still active.^[8]

The first tower (1796-1844)

The first light at Madras, a lantern on the wall of the Fort St. George, is inactive since 1844.

The second tower (1844-1894)

The second lighthouse was a tall granite Doric column erected in 1841 and is located within the compound of the Madras High Court to the north of Fort St. George. This round fluted stone tower with gallery is 49 metres (161 ft) tall.^[9] This tower was assigned an ARLHS number of IND-027. This tower is inactive since 1894 after it was moved atop the dome of the new High Court building built in 1892.

The third tower (1894-1977)

The lantern from the second tower was moved to one of the tallest ornate towers of the Madras High Court building, which was constructed adjacent to the second tower in 1892. It was assigned an ARLHS number of IND-026. This tower is inactive since 1977.

The fourth tower (1977-present)

The present lighthouse is a triangular cylindrical concrete one with lantern and double gallery and is 11 stories high. The tower is attached to a three-story circular harbour-control building. The total height of the tower is 46 metres (151 ft) with the light source standing at a height of 57 metres (187 ft) from the mean sea level. The source consists of 440V 50 Hz main supply (with standby Genset).

The base of the present lighthouse tower was damaged by the waves from the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004, but there were no reported casualties.

Developments

Chennai Lighthouse is one of the 13 lighthouses in India that are identified as heritage centres to portray maritime history of India.^[10] A lighthouse museum has been planned at a cost of 50 million.^[11][12] The union shipping ministry is planning to build museums, rooms, cafeteria, souvenier shop, viewers gallery, 4D cinema hall, gaming zone and aquarium at the Chennai lighthouse.^[13][14]

Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships has planned the remote control and automation of lighthouses in Cochin, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata directorates at a cost of 304.5 million.^[15] As a first step towards automation of lighthouses, Radone, an equipment that can detect radar signals from ships and helps captains identify the location, has been installed on most lighthouses. The automation of lighthouses in the Chennai Lighthouse District is estimated to cost about 50 million during the 11th Five-Year Plan.^[16] The 22 lighthouses in the Chennai Lighthouse district will be monitored and controled from conveniently located positions termed as Remote Control Stations (RCSs). These RCSs will be ultimately linked to Master Control Station, proposed to be located at Chennai for effective control.

See also

	Chennai portal
	Nautical portal

• Chennai Port

References

1. ^ Chennai/Madras (New) Light
2. ^ "Lighthouses in India". Lighthouse Depot. http://www.lighthousedepot.com/lite_digest.asp?action=get_article&sk=285. 
3. ^ From an oil wick lamp to LEDs: A long way for seafaring tradition
4. ^ Lighthouse Act
5. ^ Organisation Chart
6. ^ TN coast to soon boast of three new lighthouses
7. ^ Automatic identification: Ministry to safeguard coastline
8. ^ Lighthouses of India: Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
9. ^ High Court Building
10. ^ India: Project for Promotion of Tourism in Lighthouses
11. ^ New project to promote tourism in lighthouses
12. ^ Modernization programme for Aguada lighthouse
13. ^ Now, holiday at a lighthouse
14. ^ Lighthouses across the Country to be Developed as Tourist Attractions for Maritime History of India
15. ^ New Projects
16. ^ The Working Group Report on Shipping and Inland Water Transport for the Eleventh Five Year Plan

External links

• Photo of the original lighthouse
• The Hindu - The second longest beach?

Lighthouse, Chennai
Next station north: Tiruvallikeni	Chennai suburban railway : MRTS		Next station south: Mundagakanniamman Koil
	Stop Number:7	KM from starting:7.05